Ram-Leela

I watched this film with mixed expectations. On one hand, I had seen the Nagada Sang Dhol and Lahu Muhn Lag Gaya clips on you-tube - exactly what caught my eye and made me want to watch it. On the other hand, a- not-so-good rating and most reviewers claiming it was very bad were lowering my expectations. I did, however, watch it, and I loved it.

The film is intense, wonderfully directed and benefits from great acting. I am not familiar with any of the actors; nor with Bollywood films in general, which I do not find appealing because of their over- dramatisation of... pretty much everything. And mostly, poor acting. This is where Ram-Leela stands out. Apart for a few scenes, the director made use of the actor's skills, and pushed them to the point they save the sometimes-poor script. There's great chemistry in there, as well as some more than convincing acting, all in wonderful colours and costumes.

I had a hard time understanding why it's got such harsh reviews, given how good it is, but reading them I realized what the problem is (and probably why I liked it): Ram-Leela is not a film for puritans. While it seemed quite tame to me, certain watchers found it "vulgar", or too sexual. From my point of view, it's aligned with European films. What it lacks in plot-line (although decent), makes up with daring performances and honest acting. As for those claiming it's not a love story, I agree: it's a battle of egos, and most important, a battle with the self for each of the characters. This could have been emphasized more, but you can't have everything.

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali returns with a bang with this highly commercial venture based adaptation of William Shakespeare's romantic classic "Romeo and Juliet", showcasing excellence with great technical and lead work. The director brings the Desi adaptation on screen with high gloss and great moments 25 years after what the 1988 Hindi classic "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" (Dir: Mansoor Khan) had brought. This film lies among his best works "Khamoshi" (1996), "Black" (2005) and "Guzaarish" (2010) with some nice twists and moments. The flaws in the film lies with the over melodrama and even over romantic factor in the film as well as its length which could have been cut down by editor Rajesh Pandey who also succeeds in bringing some great moments in a slick yet stronger form. The film's cinematography by Ravi Varman is excellent where every frame is painted well with sheer excellence and the execution of the shots by Ken Metzker in his DI work has been put up well. Production Design by Wasiq Khan, reminds of the brilliance of Bhansali's previous genius Nitin Desai in the director's previous works. The choreography is brilliant too and the music score by Bhansali and Monty Sharma is colourful, foot tapping and beautiful. The dialogues (Siddharth and Garima) are good and are also loaded with some nice punchlines worth of Taalis and Seetis. The screenplay by Bhansali and his team is good with its nice structure. In performances, Shruti Mahajan: Take A Bow for her selecting a brilliant supporting cast with Sharad Kelkar, Richa Chaddha, Abhimanyu Singh, Jameel Khan and Barkha Bisht who fit well in their respective roles. Supriya Pathak Kapur is excellent and is worth to look out for. In the lead, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone come up with a sizzling chemistry as well as great performances, with the latter showcasing more excellence. Overall, this film is worth your ticket. Just sit back and enjoy the celluloid based vibrant splendor.

Apparently, this was one of the most awaited and anticipated movies of the year and the controversy just before the movie release ensured that the shows were sold out! I too was eagerly awaiting for this one and had really high expectations considering the SLB tag.

Let's talk the good stuff first. Brilliant performances by all, stunning and spectacular sets, fabulous music and a whole lot of color. Up till now I had some doubts about Deepika's acting talent, but boy can she act. She was superb and fantabulous in the movie, and I am not talking about her beauty. Supriya Pathak was incredible as Ba. Ranveer again displayed what a brilliant actor he is.

So with all this amazing stuff about the movie, why doesn't it still work. Poor story or should I say, no story whatsoever! The movie just keeps rolling and you end up thinking how is this scene different from the previous one. The story is so bad (and believe me I am not exaggerating even one bit) that nothing else works for the movie. All the viewers with me in the theater were yawning and loudly calling out for the movie to finish.

God knows why the critics are going gaga for this one. I had always believed in Rediff's review and I just wish I had done the same this time as well. Rediff gave it just 1 star.

Do yourself some favour, don't watch it at all.

SANJAY LEELA BANSALI once again comes with Beautiful Love Story - Which will make you entertain throughout the movie.

Theme: RAM-LEELA is Story of RAM who belong to RAJWADIS & LEELA who belong to BAWAALS . Basically there's a Big conflict between the two Villages & the Love Birds comes across when RAM goes to his RIVALARY Village for playing HOLI.

The movie comes with Eye catching visuals and framed beautifully.Songs are beautifully and suited well for the them.

Acting:Good chemistry between lead couples.

Note:An excellent love story just like a beautiful poem

Can i watch with family:Yes but some mild love making scene

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, one of the most anticipated movies of the year releases with all its bang and reveals itself as least related to stuff for which it had been declared controversial.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's take on Romeo-Juliet, despite a known script, seems quite refreshing. The visuals, nobody questions, is by far Bhansali's best. Utterly flawless. You might want to compare the flawed VFX effects of movies like Krrish 3 and Ra. One and find Ram-Leela's visuals standing far ahead of them. The symmetry he puts in, the pattern he develops in every visual is like the best artist would.

SLB's poetry, dialogs and expression are so well that you might want other directors to get training from him. The professionalism is of Hollywood standard.

The songs are already chart-topping (Nagade Sang Dhol was No.1 on i Tunes for 7 consequent weeks), and when you watch them in the movie you feel mesmerized. So well choreographed are these dances that you couldn't stop yourself from thinking of performing them on some occasion. Though a bit raunchy, Ishkiyaon Dhishkyon seems more funny than vulgar. Priyanka's item number gives mph effect.

The strongest part of Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela is the star performances. We do not doubt that Deepika Padukone, who has established herself as an equal of the Vidya Balan and Shaban Azmi only betters herself with this movie, giving her critics a yet bigger challenge. She, as Leela, is flawless. You wouldn't be watching Deepika Padukone, but Leela in the movie. Though in Cocktail, Ye Jawaani ha Deewani and Chennai Express, Deepika was the soul of the movie, here she has to share it with Ranveer Singh who acts equally well. This is his best performance so far. In fact, this is the best performance of the year by a male actor. Richa Chada is shockingly real as Leela's sister-in-law and Supriya Pathak, though sounds a bit like Hansa, is exhilarating and fear-inducing. Every dialog she delivers is pitch perfect.

The perfection that Bhansali has expressed in all the aforementioned topics gets polluted by the flawed script. Though in the first half you do not notice how time passes with the songs, acting and the chemistry setting fire to the screen, the second half takes a U-turn. The second half begins with impracticality, which moves on to deal with various serious topics, which is exceptional to a love story. What becomes a problem here is the absence of effective execution of these scenes. The sub-plots are in abundance but all last for so less time that the tears of Leela and Ram do not reflect on the audience's eyes. Before the audience could feel the pain, the scene changes. The ending becomes more like a fairy tale which ruins all the realistic happenings of the movie.

Despite its flaw, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela stands as WORTH WATCHING. One must definitely watch this class-and-mass movie for entertainment, visuals, star performances, songs, and by far the best adaptation of Romeo and Juliet by Bollywood. Go fall in love with Ram-Leela!