RAANJHANAA: extremely likable! miss it at your own risk!

Well, I don’t want to waste any minute to pronounce Aanand L. Rai’s RAANJHANAA one of the best movies this year. It makes me really restless as a viewer [ you could actually feel the beats, my heart is skipping in excitement] after experiencing so much good things coming in place for this simple-rustic yet very unpredictable-very ‘matter-of-fact’ romantic drama that rides on the brilliance of music, applause-worthy performances, writing with an eye to look beyond detailing and an extremely skilled direction.

One more thing that you can not look away from being an inseparable part of the film is Banaras. This place has its own multifaceted character to watch out for. Banaras has never been portrayed so tasteful in Bollywood so far. In his teens, Kundan [played by ‘kolavery di’ fame Dhanush] follows Zoya [the complexed but lovable Sonam Kapoor] in the by-lanes of this holy city and you, sitting in theaters, could smell colors flowing freely in the ambiance. 8 years later, Zoya meets Kundan at one of the ghaats to give him the shock of his life that she is in love with someone else and again you would not miss the quietly poignant sound of river Ganges for any moment of time.

Well-written characters are also what make it a ‘not just another run of the mill’ experience. Swara Bhasker [you have loved her in Rai’s past sleeper-hit TANU WEDS MANU] plays a loud-mouthed, big hearted girl next door, falling for the carefree Kundan. Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub gets away with the best of cheeky one-liners but more than that, he amazed you in emotional scenes too. Abhay deol- a potential student leader-cum-social activist-cum-aspiring politician as the love-interest of Zoya is a textbook performer. Look at his body-language & the attitude he wears with Nehru jacket-denims & black kurta…and I bet you would not fail in taking him into account for any of the Delhi University leaders. 

& now, let’s talk about Dhanush. This man slips into the ‘happy-go-lucky, uncomplicated-far from sophistication’ character of Kundan like anything. You can never draw a line where Dhanush is not kundan. It’s a tailor-made role for him and if he not, I can’t imagine who would have been in his shoes. Sonam Kapoor has to show certain kind of transition to her character and she did full justice to this multi-layered personality.

Film’s last merit but not the least in any which way is the unpredictable nature of writing. From cheesy one-liners to cutely delightful love portions, from earthy emotional outbursts to ‘you never see it coming’ twists, it has all to entertain you...and to shock you especially in the second part where this romantic journey takes a serious turn, landing intelligently into a political drama. There’s more to it but I leave it to you to explore. A R Rahman’s music is of course one of them that still making me excited to watch it out one more time, sooner the better. MISS IT AT YOUR OWN RISK! [3.5/5]