SPOILERS ALERT!
First things first. There are many occasions where I've hooted and screamed and rooted for this average-looking, dark, almost anorexic man. He looks like any face you'll find in a crowd. But there's something about Dhanush that sets him apart from every other actor in this industry. Because when he acts, he's never really acting. What does this man possess, that makes me feel like I'm watching all of my collective emotions, desires, fears, anxieties and feelings being played out on screen?
Apart from playing a stunning variety of mostly uncouth characters in films like Thulluvatho Ilamai, Kadhal Kondein, Pudhupettai, Mayakkam Enna, 3 and my personal favourite, Aadukulam, as well as being forced by the industry to be involved in absolutely forgettable commercial potboilers like Sullan, Padikkathavan, Venghai, etc, Dhanush's real claim to worldwide fame was the insanely viral song "Why this Kolaveri Di".
Even after dabbling in so many different things, it still made me apprehensive to think about how he was going to make the crossover to Bollywood, an industry filled with fair, good-looking, six-pack donning male actors. And which added to the dilemma was the fact that he was a Tamilian, a breed that is almost negligible in prowess when it comes to speaking Hindi.
And then I watched him in his first frame in Raanjhanaa. All the doubts that existed vanished almost instantaneously.
To be totally honest, there's nothing new about Raanjhanaa's storyline. It's about a boy who is smitten by a girl in his childhood, falls insanely in love with her and how he relentlessly tries throughout his life to make her his own. This premise has been the story of virtually almost every Tamil movie ever made. But where Raanjhanaa succeeds is in making this done-to-death concept so real, so believable and actually likable.
Raanjhanaa revolves around the holy land of Benaras(captured stunningly by Natarajan Subramaniam and Vishal Sinha) and the lives of a boy, a girl, their friends and families in its narrow lanes, temples, ghats and markets. Kundan(Dhanush) is the son of a Tamil Brahmin pandit, who falls in love with Zoya(Sonam Kapoor) when he lays eyes on her for the first time.
A dozen fail pickup lines, a couple of songs and almost 17 slaps later, puppy love begins to brew. And all goes well until Zoya finds out Kundan isn't a Muslim(which he pretended to be) and she discards him instantaneously.
With a slit of a wrist(this happens quite a number of times during the course of the story), Kundan 'convinces' Zoya to fall back in love with him. But this time, Zoya's family finds out, and packs her off to complete her schooling in Aligarh, after which she would go on to attend college at JNU in Delhi. During all these years, Kundan is still in Benaras, going on with his mundane life while still waiting for his Lady Love to come back, which he believes she will, and that they'll live happily ever after together. She does come back, but as luck would have it, she doesn't even remember him.
The rest of the movie is a series of Kundan's ploys to win Zoya and her family over, who have always thought of him nothing more than an errand-boy. Subconsciously, even Kundan realizes that the two of them are a perfect mismatch, but still tries relentlessly just get her to say that she loves him. His antics and his selflessness border on the insane, and he even goes to the lengths of uniting Zoya with her beau(played brilliantly by Abhay Deol). Every time he fails, he tries even harder. At some points in the film, it becomes hard to digest the things that Kundan does for Zoya. Not that it isn't realistic, it's too emotionally draining.
One particular scene that literally had me feeling for the character involves him standing on the street, looking at Zoya in the balcony, and trying to make her remember who he is. Without uttering a single word, Kundan carries out a heart-wrenching charade as a desperate attempt to refresh her memory. This is one scene among many others that truly shows Dhanush's brilliance as an actor. I thought Ranbir's performance in Barfi(the scene involving Ranbir and Ileana in the rain with him expressing his lament over his poor financial state and societal status) was brilliant, but this scene literally gave me goosebumps.
It is so moving, that one can't help but remember a similar heart-wrenching scene from Moondram Pirai(or Sadma), the 1982 tear-jerker starring Kamal Hassan and Sridevi. This is just one among many beautifully subtle references I stumbled upon during the course of the movie.
First things first. There are many occasions where I've hooted and screamed and rooted for this average-looking, dark, almost anorexic man. He looks like any face you'll find in a crowd. But there's something about Dhanush that sets him apart from every other actor in this industry. Because when he acts, he's never really acting. What does this man possess, that makes me feel like I'm watching all of my collective emotions, desires, fears, anxieties and feelings being played out on screen?
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| Dhanush in Aadukalam(2011) |
Apart from playing a stunning variety of mostly uncouth characters in films like Thulluvatho Ilamai, Kadhal Kondein, Pudhupettai, Mayakkam Enna, 3 and my personal favourite, Aadukulam, as well as being forced by the industry to be involved in absolutely forgettable commercial potboilers like Sullan, Padikkathavan, Venghai, etc, Dhanush's real claim to worldwide fame was the insanely viral song "Why this Kolaveri Di".
 |
| Dhanush in '3'(2012) |
And then I watched him in his first frame in Raanjhanaa. All the doubts that existed vanished almost instantaneously.
To be totally honest, there's nothing new about Raanjhanaa's storyline. It's about a boy who is smitten by a girl in his childhood, falls insanely in love with her and how he relentlessly tries throughout his life to make her his own. This premise has been the story of virtually almost every Tamil movie ever made. But where Raanjhanaa succeeds is in making this done-to-death concept so real, so believable and actually likable.
A dozen fail pickup lines, a couple of songs and almost 17 slaps later, puppy love begins to brew. And all goes well until Zoya finds out Kundan isn't a Muslim(which he pretended to be) and she discards him instantaneously.
With a slit of a wrist(this happens quite a number of times during the course of the story), Kundan 'convinces' Zoya to fall back in love with him. But this time, Zoya's family finds out, and packs her off to complete her schooling in Aligarh, after which she would go on to attend college at JNU in Delhi. During all these years, Kundan is still in Benaras, going on with his mundane life while still waiting for his Lady Love to come back, which he believes she will, and that they'll live happily ever after together. She does come back, but as luck would have it, she doesn't even remember him.
The rest of the movie is a series of Kundan's ploys to win Zoya and her family over, who have always thought of him nothing more than an errand-boy. Subconsciously, even Kundan realizes that the two of them are a perfect mismatch, but still tries relentlessly just get her to say that she loves him. His antics and his selflessness border on the insane, and he even goes to the lengths of uniting Zoya with her beau(played brilliantly by Abhay Deol). Every time he fails, he tries even harder. At some points in the film, it becomes hard to digest the things that Kundan does for Zoya. Not that it isn't realistic, it's too emotionally draining.
One particular scene that literally had me feeling for the character involves him standing on the street, looking at Zoya in the balcony, and trying to make her remember who he is. Without uttering a single word, Kundan carries out a heart-wrenching charade as a desperate attempt to refresh her memory. This is one scene among many others that truly shows Dhanush's brilliance as an actor. I thought Ranbir's performance in Barfi(the scene involving Ranbir and Ileana in the rain with him expressing his lament over his poor financial state and societal status) was brilliant, but this scene literally gave me goosebumps.
 |
| Ranbir Kapoor in Barfi(2012) |
It is so moving, that one can't help but remember a similar heart-wrenching scene from Moondram Pirai(or Sadma), the 1982 tear-jerker starring Kamal Hassan and Sridevi. This is just one among many beautifully subtle references I stumbled upon during the course of the movie.
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| A similar heart-wrenching scene in Moondram Pirai(1982) |
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| Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi(2005) |
It is only the second half where the film veers away from its original plot and gets muddled in the big bad world of politics. Honestly, it seemed like an afterthought in the script when they decided to add politics as a backdrop of the epic romance. Raanjhanaa somewhat fails in this aspect, one in which Sudhir Mishra's masterpiece, Haazaron Khwaishein Aisi(2005) so wonderfully succeeded in weaving a beautiful tale of love, loss, aspirations, desires and political insurgency. However, a lot of what happens during Raanjhanaa reminds me of HKA(one of my favourite Indian films ever made). I'm very very sure Anand L.Rai used HKA as a reference while making Raanjhanaa as well.
There are a couple of scenes in the second half which were very very strong. One of the scenes which I don't want want to mention right now as it would reveal the plot. Another scene is when Kundan is sitting on the ghats and meets an educated, wise Sadhu with a DSLR. It's a weirdly discomforting scene, but absolutely beautiful to say the least. My most favourite scene in the second half however is the one where Kundan speaks in Tamil to a police officer. The first word he uttered in Tamil, all of the Tamilians across the theater erupted with joy among shrill, deafening cheers. An emotional triumph!
It all culminates into a gripping, very highly emotional climax that is sure to leave you in tears, or definitely moved. The end is a bittersweet redemption to the meandering second half.
What helps the film in achieving this connect, among many other things is Rahman's magic. Ofcourse he doesn't churn out perfect albums at the moment, but songs like the title track and Tum Tak go very well with the mood of the movie, and are shot beautifully.
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| Swara Bhaskar as Bindiya |
Regarding the performances, every single actor irrespective of the size of the role, makes the best out of his/her screen time, especially the wonderfully talented Swara Bhaskar as Bindiya and the extremely likable Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub as Murari. Abhay Deol who plays a college student doesn't look like one, but is absolutely effortless in this role. He plays the role with a certain air of cool confidence that is very difficult to come across these days.
But the real surprise for me in Raanjhanaa is Sonam Kapoor. I generally have a very strong aversion to Sonam Kapoor and never liked her in anything except her short, confused role in Delhi 6. But here, she looks like a woman any normal guy would fall head over heels in love with, and backs that up with a more than adequate performance. For the first time ever, I felt Sonam gave everything she had into giving a wonderfully layered natural performance. Not to mention her crackling chemistry with the contrastingly-skinned Dhanush, which makes your heart actually go out to the characters. What a charm.
Ofcourse, I've said enough and more about the lanky embodiment of supreme brilliance, Dhanush K Raja. He is the mind, body, heart, soul, limbs, joints, and basically every force behind the magic of this movie. Though his Hindi is a little incoherent, he still quotes Ghalib with extreme confidence. He also dances on the streets of Benaras with uninhibited irreverence to the onlookers, the exact same way he does in 'Ottha Sollala', the amazingly charming song from Aadukalam(2011). I can definitely say that Anand Rai signed Dhanush for Raanjhanaa the moment he watched this song, and also decided to recreate the exact same scene with the exact same camera angle and the exact same situation!
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| Dhanush in 'Otha Sollala' from Aadukalam(2013) |
I can't begin to imagine the effort he put into playing this highly complex character. He has played this character so bloody brilliantly that it creates a mystery beyond the scope of the character, and you actually begin to wonder and anticipate what he's going to do next. He is the one who transforms this simple storyline into something larger-than-life. You laugh with him, laugh at him, smile at his antics, frown at his misfortunes and empathise with his plight. I can't wait to see what he does in Bharatbala's latest film 'Mariyaan', a true story of survival about kidnapped Indian labourers in Sudan.
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| Mariyaan(2013) - releasing this July |
I don't remember the last time when I felt compelled to actually write about an actor and his movie, and considering the theme of this movie, I've really never done this before. But Raanjhanaa, irrespective of however simple and sappy it is, works for me on so many levels. And to see Dhanush carrying this almost single-handedly on his shoulders is just so wonderfully satisfying.
I could write much more but I think I've more than overstayed my welcome. But watch Raanjhanaa. Watch it for its simplicity, for its quirky charm, its mesmerizing locations, for its grey characters, for the sheer audacity, power and passion of love.
And above all, watch it for Dhanush. You will not be disappointed.
And above all, watch it for Dhanush. You will not be disappointed.
