Ram Leela

This Goliyon ki Raas Leela has enough blood for the Vietnam War. The promos notwithstanding Sanjay Leela Bhansali would want the audience to go along with the idea that somewhere in Rajasthan are a whole load of morbidly blood thirsty citizenry willing to kill and get killed without purpose. The narration that lasts a life time starts with the sale of guns and rifles as if they were vegetables at the Monda market!!
The local Montague and Capulet are Rajadi and Saneda and the civil war between the two warring groups is at Ranjar. Before you can say Ram Leela, the principle heir apparent of the respective groups headed by Tinu Anand and Dhanker (Supriya Pathak) namely Ram (Ranveer Singh) and Leela (Deepika Padukone) are in love. The romance is aggressive (a la Dev D) and ill suits the space and structure in which the tale is weaved. It is strongly smooch flavoured and looks very contrived. The two meet with consummate ease in the midst of flowing vitriol and hatred. The script lingers painfully languid from one bloody incident to another in the midst of which our protagonists are sharing lip locked moments or pistol shooting moments. Most of the other characters walk in and out of the script to leave a few bloody moments.
The filmmaker is so much in control of the anarchy that you wonder what sadistic element is being let loose. Yet the film is not a complete looser. The scale, the texture, the rich tapestry, the vibrancy, the colour from Rajasthan, make it an amazing treat to the eye. The sets are astounding, the costumes awesome and what is Romeo and Juliet without a balcony scene and the “what’s in a name!” thrown in for good measure. Never ever before has detail got the better of a tale.
He may have completely lost it in the department of storytelling but in grandeur he is a class act. Scene after scene the filmmaker is throwing Vincent Van Gough at you. The montages are so wildly colourful and painstakingly hued that for the moment not only nothing matters, but the story be damned. Colour, costume, art, sets, music have never navigated cinematic space with such richness ever before. In fact Sanjay Leela Bhansali who had hitherto used colour magically in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam reiterates that he is a master in the area.
Unfortunately as a film it is a raunchy gorgeously coloured bloody version of the Bard’s famous love tragedy. The script simply does not move, it lingers in the art form it is wrapped, warped.
Ranveer Singh is too much body. Toned ideally the body somehow fails to convert the punch filled dialogues to a heartfelt statement. Deepika looks a million dollars. She fails to add the necessary coarseness that the script would demand of her, but watching her throughout the film is a visual delight. In case you are looking for a performance then it doubtlessly is Supriya Pathak. Jog down memory lane and recall the debutant in Kalyug enjoying “whatz your problem!” and contrast the powerful character here and you would concede that she has come a full circle and stands out in the film with a very powerful performance.
The problem with this Goliyon ki Raas Leela – Ram Leela has too much of the former and even the later are a prey to it. Watch it if you are the type that is willing to spare a thought for the effort of filmmaker.