Gulaal's colours unmatched

Kay Kay Menon kicks ass maan, that is how my friend had described the movie ‘Gulaal’. After watching it, I should say he not only kicks, but delivers the knock-out punch. He is a marvelous actor; let me repeat the obvious here, for words can’t suffice how strong his performance in the movie is. He is feisty by nature, as exemplified in his other movies, Sarkaar, Shaurya, Life in a Metro etc, but here his intensity is seeped gradually, drip by drip, on the whole canvas.

Imagine a guy who is roguish but also zealot. He himself is a goon but deep in his heart, also espouses the cause of freedom of the state of Rajputana from the country of India, a seditious act but for him vindictive about the injustice meted out to his forefathers by the founders of this country. He has no qualms though about sleeping with other woman, or killing his brother in a fit of petulance. He advances his motives through other guys but also respects their innocence and purity. You can imagine by now how diverse the characterization of this man should be. Menon matches excellence here.

His work should get double mention because he is the only so-called star in the movie. In keeping with his favour of the unknowns, Anurag Basu has again picked up an almost non-descript cast. The two skinny girls are sexy, but hardly coquettish enough, as depicted in the movie. Abhimanyu Singh as Ransa delivers a brilliant performance and we should be seeing more of him in future. But I don’t want to see that guy, Raja Chaudhary (I had to look for his name), enacting the role of Duleep in the movie, again. The character demanded a feeble character, but he is so wimp that you always feel irritated and angered. May be that is what the director wanted to incite J Two cents for Anurag Basu too. With an intense Black Friday, he had captured our imagination. He has not ventured into mainstream since then, and I don’t think he needs to. If he continues making these solid flicks, he will create an enviable niche of his own. Such varied has become Bollywood.

Not true? May be not for you yet, but for me, now I have the option of watching a slapstick Aloo Chaat, or a soul-stirring Firaaq, or a horrifying ’13 B’ tomorrow. Really I can’t wait.