Raanjhanaa always had something interesting and intriguing from the beginning, apart from it being Dhanush’s Bollywood debut as a lead actor. The music, the cinematography, the vibrant city of Benaras and the dialogues had impressed me when I saw the trailer.  There was just one reason for me to doubt the outcome of the film – the director. Anand Rai’s earlier flick, Tanu Weds Manu, truly challenged the intelligence of the audience and I had absolutely no reason to believe that this one would be any better. However, that was not how it was!! It was better, far far better!

 

The ever so peaceful & majestic Ganges, the hustle and bustle of a typical Indian street, temple music and the Ram-Leela performances added just the perfect background to the entire film making it effortless for anyone to connect with what’s going on. The film begins with this brilliant scene where the protagonist sees his love interest for the first time.  The scene beautifully narrates the leap that the younger generation has taken. Love, romance and courage are no more a taboo for kids. Love at that age, they say, is devoid of all barriers created by society and mankind. So was his love.

This relentless perseverance is central to the life of Kundan. There is a certain charm that Dhanush manages to create throughout the film. As always, he impresses all – the young and old, the men and the women, the romantics and the anti-romantics! Needless to say, he is at his best. On one hand, the film has a charming Dhanush (especially in his reds!!) and then there is the ever so hot Abhay Deol.  An intense and soulful performance is what follows!! Drool! Sonam Kapoor seems to have put in a lot of hard work to not seem cold and pale. I won’t say she has succeeded in it, but yes, there is a significant improvement from her Saawariya days. A performance that is worth a mention is that of Swara Bhaskar. Pain, love, passion and joy – she seems to have mastered the art of expressing every emotion.

 

The highlight of the film for me was AR Rahman’s music score and Himanshu Sharma’s dialogues! They are just perfect. The music is soulful and representative of the region. Great sitar interludes, classical music coupled just the right amount of Sufi influence makes each song brilliant. Give Rahman 2 words and he’ll make music they say. That’s what I see with Tum Tak. There is a lot of resemblance to his own compositions in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Yes, I don’t care as far as they are awesome!!

 

The first half of the film passed by like a whiff of cool breeze while the second half was not so impressive. Overall, the film was a great entertainer and is surely worth one’s time.

 

(P.S: My name should indicate the interest that I might have in literature and language! I love good stories and I love my script. The opening screen had a prop being used which had something written in Kannada!! Wow!! I jumped up my seat and yelled with joy and people around me were wondering what’s going on!!)