Prior to Gulaal, if debate over any movie ever heated-up, I appeased the situation by saying, “Chill, it’s just a movie.” I did it for Slumdog and Dev.D. However, I will not do the same for Gulaal. It’s not just a movie for me. Gulaal is what India is currently. Gulaal is what we all are. We all are somehow part of this system. Gulaal has taken Indian cinema many notches higher and Anurag has established himself as a farsighted filmmaker.

There can be many disclaimers for Gulaal. Do not watch it with Anurag-DevD impinged on your mind; watch it with intact brain. The older the wine, the better it tastes. And so it is with Gulaal that was in making for 7 years since 2001.Censor ate it the way they did Anurag’s debut Paanch that never got released. Gulaal, in Anurag’s own words, is his angriest film.

Plot: The opening sequence of Gulal has Dukey Bana, an aspirant of ‘Rajputana’ (separate state for Rajputs of Rajasthan) addressing a huge gathering where everyone has their faces smeared with red Gulaal. His impassioned words supposedly leave a mark on all attendants except one man.

Flashback

Dileep Singh, a 28-year-old bespectacled, oil-combed hair, docile young man accompanied with his caretaker Bhanwar Singh comes to Rajpur to study law. His roommate Rananjay is stark opposite. Called ‘Ransa’, Rananjay lives a lavish life of self-indulgence in wine, women and weed. Ransa, who is son of His-Highness, has defied his father, wealth and has a vision of his own. Ransa readily takes Dileep under his fold and tags him along.

Dileep is ragged and thrown naked in a dark room where young lady teacher Anuja (Jesse Randhawa) was already ragged and thrown in. Ransa gets furious at this and instills courage in Dileep and together they go to take revenge. They both fall prey. Bhaati, the right-hand of Dukey Bana approaches the duo and takes them to Dukey Bana for help. Dukey asks Ransa to contest the college elections for the post of General Secretary. But fate had something else written.

Enter bastard duo of brother-sister (Karan-Kiran). They are illegitimate children of His Highness and Ransa is their half-brother. Kiran is Ransa’s competitor for GS post. Karan kidnaps Ransa, kills him and hangs him at the chauraha. Dukey now makes Dileep stand-in for election against Kiran. Dileep wins the election, aided by Dukey’s maneuvers.

Dileep is then enticed by Kiran who asks him for the post of Cultural Secretary. Their affair changes the lives of each and every character where people get killed, dumped and the bastards survive.

Characters:

Dileep (Raj Singh Choudhary, also co-writer of the film) is a soft-spoken and humble Rajput. His passive behavior is often made fun of; ‘Kaye ka Rajput be’. Teetotaler Dileep, who when refuses the drink offered by his room-mate Ransa (‘Legaa?’), is snapped with ‘Toh kya meri Legaa’.

Kiran, comes to him after he wins; and allures him into an affair with her charm. Soon she is seen looking straight into him with passion-filled eyes after an adoring sex. The innocent boy he was, he takes it to be true love. He goes onto a killing spree when confronted with the fact that she was just using him. Is he a loser? I do not see him as a loser. What was his mistake? He had just come to study. He acknowledges that he is ‘Darpok’ and ‘Fattoo’. Was he a loser for believing in love? Who would not? She blames him for making her pregnant. And this after she clearly tells him in beginning she doesn’t ever want to. Then what the hell she was thinking? Is only a man to be blamed?

Ransa (Abhimanyu Singh), a Rajput by blood and legacy, Ransa has everything but he defies everything and lives life at his own terms. Most honest and the blunt of lot. He is man with several questions. Just as a common man who has questions that never get answered in our country. He might not be a puritan but he is not a hypocrite either. He gets the best lines. When his bastard half-brother kidnaps him and asks him to withdraw from the election, he retorts, “Agar tere baap ne sahi time pe withdraw kar liya hota toh tu najayaz nahi hota”. He is rough but he is sensitive enough to take on anyone who insults his gentle room-mate. A His-Highness in making, he has no qualms in throwing everything and rebelling against the corruption. He is a man of his words and action.

Dukey Bana (Kay Kay Menon) is a rebel who hopes for a separate state for Rajputs. Kay Kay in one of his most restrained act ignites the whole movie. He is unethical and his stand is not much justifiable. Yet his blood-boiling performance as impulsive Rajput scripts his finest performance ever. We have many fanatics like him who are hell bent on a separate state for whimsical reasons they themselves make up.

Rest of the cast can be termed more than the supporting; Deepak Dobriyal (Bhaati) who won critical acclaim for his Omkara act comes with another stellar performance. He is not just another right hand to Dukey Bana. He has his own ways with him, ridicules him when at fault. He conveys more through his body than the words. The scene at the paanwaala, where Bhati just nods his head, raises eyebrows, makes other facial expressions to answer questions while chewing paan. A restrained yet powerful performance without uttering a single word.

Karan (Aditya Srivastava) manipulates everyone (including his own sister Kiran). He is ruthless beyond thoughts and has just one purpose; to become the senapati, which will automatically get him the surname of His Highness.

Prithvi Bana (Piyush Mishra) is foreign studied, Lennon-Bhakt elder brother of Dukey Bana and has an escort (Ardh-Nari). The duo leaves no chance to make fun of the happenings around including Dukey’s irrational demand of Rajputana. Piyush excels in all the four roles (Actor, Lyricist, Composer and Singer) with his soulful lyrics and mind-fuck compositions.

The Ladies: Anuja (Jesse Randhwa) who we all knew as a Bikini Model is the real surprise. Anuja leaves an impact while playing the role of a teacher who gets ragged by the students, though she doesn’t have much dialogue. Her close-ups with grim-stricken eyes camouflaged with the cigarette smoke tell us more than the few words she spoke throughout. Madhuri (Mahie Gill) whose actual debut is Gulaal (and not Dev.D) is a patakha. On one hand, her thoomkas will make you mad and on the other, you feel sorry for her portrayal as a dejected lover (of Dukey Bana). Mahie has a striking resemblance to Tabu and same is emphasized quite repeatedly. Kiran (Ayesha Mohan), a bastard-turned-bitch is director’s delight. How well a man can be fooled by a woman’s innocent face has never been shown better. She jumps from one man to other to get her work done; hardly realizing her own brother was using her. The last scene, where Karan takes over as Senapati, has Kiran standing in the army below with silent tears rolling down her cheek. Even that doesn’t fill my heart with any sympathy for her.

Amidst all this is Mishra’s compelling lyrics and affecting music. From an anthem like ‘Aarambh’ to political ‘Ranaji’, Mishra creates a setting parallel to the plot.
Sample these:

“Jis kavi ki kalpana mein
Zindagi ho prem geet
Us kavi ko aaj tum nakaar do”


“Sunsaan gali ke nukkad par jo koi kutta cheeckh cheekh kar rota hai
Jab lamp post ki gandli peeli ghupp roshni mein kuch kuch sa hota hai
Jab koi saaya khud ko thoda bacha bachakar ghum saayon mein khota hai
Jab pul ke khambo ko gaadi ka garam ujaala dheeme dheeme dhota hai
Tab sheher hamaara sota hai”


"Surmayi aankhon ke pyaalon ki duniya
Satrangi rangon gulaalon ki duniya..o duniya
Alsaayi sezon ke phoolon ki duniya
Angdaai tode kabootar ki duniya
Karwat le soyi haqueeqat ki duniya
Deewaani hoti tabeeyat ki duniya
Khwahish mein lipti zaroorat ki duniya
Insaan ke sapno ki neeyat ki duniya..O Duniya
Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai"


Anurag says this is his best piece. On the other hand, I feel his movies are exceptional and each one is a cinema par excellence. The year so far has been a delight for cine-maniacs and the craving has just started. Bring them on. Next such could be Vishal's KAMINEY.