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PROEM: It was an intensely hued picture which showed a young boy standing with a fascinated glance in his eyes & a pretty girl portraying the semblance of cheerfulness amidst the vibrant colors of pink, green, yellow & red; thereby recreating the festival of Holi in a rectangular first look poster of 'Raanjhanaa' !!

Colors always attract our eyes.Also I felt curious about the movie after knowing that it belongs to romantic genre.'Love' is probably the only word in a Dictionary which neither can be explained in a sentence nor has any perfect synonyms.Today while watching this love story, I could virtually visualize that thought of Rose Franken: "Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.." !! Let me illustrate this journey of 'Raanjhanaa' in the following paragraphs !!

MOVIE: Shot in Benaras & Delhi, 'Raanjhanaa' narrates a tale of love through Kundan (Dhanush), Zoya (Sonam Kapoor) & Akram/Jasjeet (Abhay Deol)..Kundan (a Brahmin boy) & Zoya (a Muslim girl) were brought up in Benaras, where Kundan expressed his love for Zoya during his teenage days.After growing up, Zoya took admission in Jawaharlal Nehru University where she fell in love with an university student cum socialist Akram..What happens next forms the crux of the story.

'LIKE's: 1) Cinematography by N. Subramanian and Vishal Sinha is astounding + Editing by H. Kothari & Choreography by Bosco-Caesar are impressive + Story/Screenplay by H. Sharma is a bit different than an usual romantic drama + Dialogues are extremely witty at many sequences + Acting by the leading & supporting casts are marvelous + Set design by T. U. Khan is befitting + Direction by Anand L. Rai is appreciable !!

2) MUSIC: A big applause to A.R.Rahman for such an wonderful soundtrack (well supported by Irshad Kamil's catchy lyrics) & appropriate background score..For example,

a) When Kundan showed his anger on Zoya for the first time, there the synthesizer chords fluctuated in a bizarre way to create the effect of displeasure & it was done repeatedly with different chords to break the harmony, so that audience could better relate to the scene.

b) In a gloomy conversation between Kundan & Zoya, where Kundan suddenly felt the ray of hope, he turned up his head towards Zoya..In that split second, Rahman used the rhythm of 'Tabla' in a tricky way to express Kundan's expectation which struck the heart of viewers too !!

3) A SPECIAL MENTION TO :

a) That scene where Zoya was about to leave Benaras by train with teary eyes & Kundan ran to meet her, multiple water patches were shown in the rail station, as if rain just happened, thereby subconsciously magnified the mood of separation since rains are often attributed to a heavy heart..

b) MakeUp Artists for giving Sonam the minimal touch up, which amplified the innocence of a face rather than glamour..Beauty can either flashes the eyes of a beholder like a mid-day sun or soothes the same like a morning dewdrop..Since the latter better suits the character of Zoya, so the lipstick/blusher/eye-shadow even eyeliners were absolutely unnecessary here apart from the marriage scene, where a loud make up was needed & make up experts also did the right job there by painting the line of eye-liner a bit above the corner of eyes + stark red lipstick..

'DISLIKE's: Very few are there, for example; 1) In the song 'Tum Tak', the lip movements of Dhanush were not synchronous with the voice of the playback singer..Looked like, the song was coming from a mike & the actor was just singing on his own..

2) First half was too romantic & at times, the efforts of Kundan to please Zoya looked silly..In Second half, the focus were more on politics, thereby concentration of romance got diluted by leadership activities..

3) Both Dhanush & Sonam looked misfit in the role of school going teenagers + Opening sequence was dull + Too much slapping on Kundan's face by Zoya ultimately invited humor rather than sympathy..That profound scene where Akram's mother was about to touch Kundan's cheek for greeting, I heard some boys laughing crazily behind my seat & saying, "Stop..Stop..No more slapping" !!

MESSAGE: There is a lyrics from the musical 'Cinderella' which says: "Do I love you because you're beautiful, Or, are you beautiful because I love you ?" !! One can easily relate this line to those love struck eyes of Kundan which glitter more than the pole star even in the shadow of Zoya..Of late, Zoya fell in love with Akram, because she considered 'Kundan part' as a childlike crush + Akram fitted the bill as per educational & social qualification..From here, the dilemma of selecting a lover/partner arrives, accompanied by a dialogue where Kundan's friend Murari (M. Z. Ayyub) told him that girls are more likely to marry Doctors/Engineers rather than ordinary boys of the same locality, since the question of love comes secondary to their mind..Obviously material satisfaction plays a vital role in such decisions..But, if an abstract force (love) plays a guest appearance in the same scenario & makes one cherish that pleasure somewhat like this: "To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world", then should not one rise above the narrow parameters set by the society/religions ?

Once Tom Robbins said: "We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.." !! Life does not give us multiple chances..In this densely populated sphere of Earth, there is always a scarcity of those persons who can sacrifice his/her deepest desires to bring sunshine in the face of their loved ones..Don't let go that kind heart, if by chance you find him/her..

With the mellifluous touch of Shehnai, 'Raanjhanaa' sublimely delivered this tacit message in a pictorial way, making the film worth a watch !!

Absolutely Recommended !!

A POETRY: Certainly it was embarrassing, when I first realized that I had been changing automatically & no longer be classified under 'Child' category...Some restrictions from my elders expectedly came into my way, in the form of 'to do' & 'not to do' lists, making my mind echo that poem by Cilla Henriette: "I was awakened...To a light of liberation/ It was bright but shy...I wonder why/ I was a child yesterday...But today is different/ I'm just like a clay...To be shaped or bent"..

Today, while watching 'Gippi', I was reliving a slice of my adolescence & school days...In fact, everyone (especially womenfolks) can relate to this film, since almost everybody experiences that freakish combination of discomfort-pleasure, arrogance-humiliation & jealousy- sympathy during their transition from childhood to adulthood, which kind of reflects that idea of Carol Burnett, "Adolescence is just one big walking pimple.." !! Here, let me draw a picture whether 'Gippi'-the latest presentation from Dharma Productions & UTV Motion Pictures effectively cures such pimple of juvenility or not...

A MOVIE: Based in Simla, the movie tells the story of a 14-year-old girl Gippi (Riya Vij), who is quite ordinary in terms of studies, sports & looks..At home, she faces trouble for her parents are divorced, whereas in school, she is constantly teased by an attractive & intelligent girl (hence, popular in the school campus) Shamira (Jayati Modi)...Meanwhile, she feels awkward with the hormonal changes affecting her physically & mentally, followed by a failure in her first love-story with Arjun (Taaha Shah)..What happens next forms the crux of the drama..

'HIGH's : The movie scored really high in Cinematography (Anshuman Mahaley) + Editing (Yashashwini Y.P) + Music (Vishal-Shekhar) & Acting (full marks to Riya Vij & Divya Dutta..The supporting casts also shined in their respective roles)...The kids looked as fresh as morning dew, thereby adding the required sweetness to the show !!

'LOW's : The movie scored equally low in Screenplay (so, deccelerating the flow & increasing the predictability of the story) + Climax (lacked right intensity) + Showing Gippi dancing to Shammi Kapoor numbers looked out of place, because teenagers of today's era would normally connect to contemporary songs/heroes...Also, Shamira's meanness toward Gippi (for no reason) gets diluted in audience's mind, when Gippi does the same towards Ashish(Aditya Deshpande) & Kabir(Mrinal Chawla), without any strong provocation = All written by debutant Director Sonam Nair showed the mediocrity of her effort...

A MESSAGE (Perfection vs Imperfection): The moment Gippi learnt that 'A beautiful thing is never perfect' (Tagline of 'Gippi'), the movie silently delivered a subtle message regarding the pursuit of perfection & imperfection…Interestingly, this pursuit is nothing new…Let's see chronologically, 1)In Egypt (around 2500 BC) Pharaohs were considered as perfect human beings, thus worshipped in the temples as GOD.. 2) Aristotle (around 323 BC) defined 'perfection' as "something which is complete + has attained its purpose"… 3) During renaissance (around 16th Century), sculptors made masterpieces of perfect human body…In addition, Leonardo Da Vinci used geometry to make flawless human figure… 4) In today's world when women pamper themselves with 'Dior' in their lips or 'Gucci' in their eyes and men indulge themselves in 'TAG Heuer' in their wrists or 'Giorgio Armani' in their wardrobes, the same conflict between perfection & imperfection whispers..

And this conflict has no end, unless one decides what is more important: Attainable happiness or unattainable satisfaction !! Since perfection has no fixed terminology, so the same thing can be viewed as perfect & imperfect by different observers...But, if you can give your best at whatever you do,without thinking of 'being perfect', then irrespective of the material outcome, achievement will surely greet you since you are the best judge to yourself...Constantly aiming for perfection gives birth to despair since it has no limit, symbolizing the thought of Vladimir Horowitz: "Perfection itself is imperfection" !! Won't you agree that luscious smiles are mostly asymmetrical/ 18 Karat gold ornament always glitters more than 22 Karat gold ornament or, a husky voice is often more alluring than a smooth voice ?

As the movie ended, an imperfect girl (Gippi) truly brightened those lines of a perfect beauty (Marilyn Monroe), "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring..." !!

An OPINION: Although having a deep message, the movie somehow failed in impactful execution...Overall, 'Gippi' is good for a one time watch only, complemented by a feel-good factor...Go & watch this Coming-of-Age flick where a small girl proves that 'Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect...It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections' (Tagline of 'Gippi')... Recommended !!