When was the last time you saw a mysteriously metaphorical figure that was half man /half monkey do to tandav to the tune of utterly exquisite old and new poetry in a film?:-
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai,
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai,
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazuay qaatil mein hai;
Waqt aanay pey bata denge tujhe aye aasman,
Waqt aanay pey bata denge tujhe aye aasman,
Hum abhi se kya batayen kya hamare dil mein hai.
When was the last time you heard coarse words like Bhosdi-ke, chuti-yapa & laundiya-baazi being mentioned in a hindi film without the director being accused of cheap exploitation? Gulal gathers a dozen odd characters under the spotlight of college politics and holds up a mirror that strips everyone naked in the harsh, charged atmosphere of casteism, ambition, deceit and violence.Gulal is topical,stronlgy atmospheric and harsh but definitely recommended watching for its sincerity of purpose, powerhouse performances (Kay Kay Menon, Abhimanyu Singh and Raja Singh Chaudhary) and truly exceptional use of music( lyrics and music by Piyush Mishra) as a means of propogation of political thought. In fact, Mishra’s lyrics themselves make Gulal worth a second watch. It’s dififcult to absorb the full weight and significance of songs ranging from “Jaise Dur Deshke Tower Mein Ghus Gaye Aeroplane”/“Iraq Mein Aake Bas Gaye Uncle Sam” to “Yuddh hee to veer ka pramaan hai” in a single viewing.
For a film that been more than five years in the making, Anurag Kashyap’s Gulal holds up surprisingly well for its riveting two and half hours of viewing time, its somewhat predictable third act and unrelenting intensity non-withstanding. Gulal starts with the abominable ritual of hostel ragging, moves onto the treacherous machinations of campus politics and ends with a bitter endictment of love, life and everything that the material world may have to offer. Yeh Duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai? Apparently, Sahir Ludhianvi’s song from Pyasa was the sole inspiration for the film’s story.
The metaphor of Gulal as the red-mask-of-revolution is slighlty off-sync and the context of rajput-revolution half/baked in the context of their relative affluence in the state. (Yes, there have been upheavals in Rajasthan in the recent past-but that was in the lower gujjar community) Gulal is conceived as a bloody tragedy of Shakesperian proportions and AK almost pulls it off with a nihlistic, relentless screenplay where every character exists in shades of gray. Perhaps, the film's only flaw lies in its lack of dramatic-relief and its related scope of ambition. There are far too many complexed, flesh and blood characters who are drawn out and then not resolved as well as they deserve to be. The exact stakes and advantages that are up for grabs upon becoming the College General Sec are never elaborated and the character of the teacher (Jessy Randhawa) who is stripped/humiliated in the beginning of the film is abandoned half-way through. Also fluttering unnecesssarily in and out of the second half of the film is Mahie Gill ( Dev D’s Paro) as Kay-Kay’s nachne-waali mistress.
All in all, Gulal re-affirms the status of Anurag Kashyap as one of the few brave new Indian filmmakers who have the talent, vision , courage and conviction required for standing out in the glut of dynastic dip-shit that hails itself as the tuxedoed face of indian cinema. Karan Johar- chal side hat!
When was the last time you heard coarse words like Bhosdi-ke, chuti-yapa & laundiya-baazi being mentioned in a hindi film without the director being accused of cheap exploitation? Gulal gathers a dozen odd characters under the spotlight of college politics and holds up a mirror that strips everyone naked in the harsh, charged atmosphere of casteism, ambition, deceit and violence.Gulal is topical,stronlgy atmospheric and harsh but definitely recommended watching for its sincerity of purpose, powerhouse performances (Kay Kay Menon, Abhimanyu Singh and Raja Singh Chaudhary) and truly exceptional use of music( lyrics and music by Piyush Mishra) as a means of propogation of political thought. In fact, Mishra’s lyrics themselves make Gulal worth a second watch. It’s dififcult to absorb the full weight and significance of songs ranging from “Jaise Dur Deshke Tower Mein Ghus Gaye Aeroplane”/“Iraq Mein Aake Bas Gaye Uncle Sam” to “Yuddh hee to veer ka pramaan hai” in a single viewing.
For a film that been more than five years in the making, Anurag Kashyap’s Gulal holds up surprisingly well for its riveting two and half hours of viewing time, its somewhat predictable third act and unrelenting intensity non-withstanding. Gulal starts with the abominable ritual of hostel ragging, moves onto the treacherous machinations of campus politics and ends with a bitter endictment of love, life and everything that the material world may have to offer. Yeh Duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai? Apparently, Sahir Ludhianvi’s song from Pyasa was the sole inspiration for the film’s story.
The metaphor of Gulal as the red-mask-of-revolution is slighlty off-sync and the context of rajput-revolution half/baked in the context of their relative affluence in the state. (Yes, there have been upheavals in Rajasthan in the recent past-but that was in the lower gujjar community) Gulal is conceived as a bloody tragedy of Shakesperian proportions and AK almost pulls it off with a nihlistic, relentless screenplay where every character exists in shades of gray. Perhaps, the film's only flaw lies in its lack of dramatic-relief and its related scope of ambition. There are far too many complexed, flesh and blood characters who are drawn out and then not resolved as well as they deserve to be. The exact stakes and advantages that are up for grabs upon becoming the College General Sec are never elaborated and the character of the teacher (Jessy Randhawa) who is stripped/humiliated in the beginning of the film is abandoned half-way through. Also fluttering unnecesssarily in and out of the second half of the film is Mahie Gill ( Dev D’s Paro) as Kay-Kay’s nachne-waali mistress.
All in all, Gulal re-affirms the status of Anurag Kashyap as one of the few brave new Indian filmmakers who have the talent, vision , courage and conviction required for standing out in the glut of dynastic dip-shit that hails itself as the tuxedoed face of indian cinema. Karan Johar- chal side hat!
Anurag Kashyap has arrived.
A tad late –but he has definitely arrived.
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