When the superlative soundtrack for Delhi-6 was used at a level subservient to the narrative, there were rumours about AR Rahman’s dissatisfaction. The composer is going to have no such issues with Raanjhanaa, where the songs (heightened by masterful lyrics) are employed as vital, montage-filled conduits to the characters’ emotions (Aise na dekho…), and as bridges over troubled waters. The musical sequences take over storytelling duties from the songless stretches, and the film feels like a unified whole. We never have to make that reality-based leap we do in some other films during the song stretches – no suspension of disbelief is needed. There’s very little synchronized choreography, and the locations are remarkable because of how unremarkable they are. These songs aren’t items – they’re just a more heightened, stylised form of the narrative. Raanjhanaa isn’t the first film to use songs in this fashion (Omkara springs to mind), but – and if only in this regard – it’s certainly one of the finest.
The story is where some serious suspension of disbelief is required. On the surface, Raanjhaana is similar to Tanu Weds Manu, the director Anand L Rai’s earlier (and first) film. Here too, we have a love triangle, with an intriguingly flawed woman at the centre. Both films are lovingly detailed with local colour and humour. (My favorite bit here involves a wedding band, whose sleeping members, when roused, instantly slip into Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai, like a reflex action honed over decades.) And Rai continues his fascination with film songs of a certain era by working them into the narrative – there it was Kajra mohabbat wala; here we have Saamne yeh kaun aaya. But Raanjhanaa, despite opening with the title song of Aashiqui, is not exactly a love story. There’s love in this story, the scary kind that involves razor blades and slit wrists and forgetting that it’s one’s wedding day – but this is essentially a story of atonement, of washing away one’s sins, and that’s why it needed to be set in Benares, by the Ganges. Attaining mukti, the film says, isn’t simply the consequence of lowering yourself into these sacred waters. You have to work at it, taking in stride the hostility of the people around you, the way Rajesh Khanna did in Dushman.
But that angle will have to wait. At first, it’s the Selvaraghavan oeuvre that we’re reminded of. In an instance of love at first sight – naturally – a dark-skinned Tamilian boy (Kundan, played by Dhanush) falls for the fair “north Indian” girl (Sonam Kapoor’s affecting Zoya), who’s far above his station. He’s the guy her family calls on to serve Rasna and Rooh Afza to guests, and to replace gas cylinders. (The latter situation results in one of the film’s funniest moments.) She’s educated. She’s committed to causes. And she’s casual. Her actions aren’t deeply premeditated, invested with meaning. If she wears the anklets that Kundan picked out for her, it’s because she likes them and not because she’s trying to send him a coy message, and if she embraces him – a lot more than we can digest, especially after she comes to know about his feelings for her, about him – it’s because she likes him, not because she loves him. When she smears Holi colours on his forehead, she’s just getting into the spirit of the festival – but he reacts as if touched by God. He’s wanders about in a divine trance. Even Kundan’s friend (the terrific Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) knows what Kundan doesn’t, when he says, “Mohalle ke laundon ka pyaar aksar doctor aur engineer le jaate hain.” Zoya is destined for someone who’s at the receiving end of those glasses of Rasna and Rooh Afza.
We enter classic Tamil-cinema territory when Kundan begins to stalk Zoya. When he approaches her and reveals his feelings, she slaps him. And again. And again. Fifteen slaps later, she agrees to meet him, not because of his love for her but because of his “consistency,” his dogged determination – and this consistency, this refusal to take no for an answer, is what some would call stalking. (When, following Zoya, Kundan lands up in Delhi, a friend asks, “Ab kya?” What now? But he’s just being… consistent.) Raanjhanaa reminded me of other Tamil films as well, especially the ones with dysfunctional love stories. When Kundan, standing outside Zoya’s house, attempts to jog her memories (she’s forgotten about him after being away for eight years), his sad-clown miming harks back to Kamal Haasan in Moondram Pirai, and when an angry Zoya, fed up with her family’s matchmaking, asks her mother if she wants to see her settle down with a “Kundan jaisa jaahil,” I thought of the scene in Aboorva Sagodharargal when the vertically challenged Kamal Haasan is mocked by his mother. And the flashbacks with Abhay Deol were reminiscent of both Mouna Raagam and Aayidha Ezhuthu.
We think that Kundan’s “consistency” will wear down Zoya’s resistance, and that she’ll fall for him – but we gradually realise that the Dhanush-Sonam pairing makes perfect sense. This isn’t about lusting after and lassoing the “other” – fair-skinned, educated and English-speaking, as we often see in Tamil cinema – but about pursuing the unattainable. And along these lines, when the film, in its second half, takes a very different, unexpected direction – ardour gives way to activism; the Holi colours of Benares give way to stark Che Guevara posters on the JNU campus – I was left with mixed feelings, torn between admiration for what was being attempted and frustration that a film dealing with such serious subject matter had chosen to take an audience-friendly approach, showcasing its protagonist as someone you just can’t help loving. (Kundan is like a puppy. At one point, he crouches like a canine outside Zoya’s home.) Slowly, the heinousness of his “crime” begins to feel like a distant memory, an afterthought, as we begin to question Zoya about her inability to appreciate this charmer, as if it’s her fault. She’s even made to apologise for rejecting his conciliatory overtures, through cups of tea. A blatant kind of hero-centeredness creeps in, and there isn’t enough of a buildup to Zoya’s big decision (and her subsequent political sacrifice). Another problem is that the two halves of the film are so different in tone – the first half is intense, saturated with love and loss and hurt and obsession and rage, and the post-interval portions are cool, contained. Why this schism?
The people around Zoya and Kundan are unconvincingly drawn. I was never able to wrap my head around the actions of the character played by Abhay Deol, who just doesn’t seem the kind of person who’d do what he does in Benares. (His portions are the weakest in the movie.) Bindiya (Swara Bhaskar) is a cipher too. She makes overtly sexual passes at Kundan, whom she loves and wants to marry, but even when he tells her he loves Zoya, she participates in a charade that will help Kundan’s chances with Zoya. At times, she appears as deluded as he is. When Zoya laughs at Kundan, he thinks it’s because she’s shy, and Bindiya, even after being rejected, seems to hold on to the idea that Kundan is hers. Seeing him spit up blood in the hospital is when she realises he’s no longer “her Kundan” – the truth is that he never was her Kundan. In a sense, she’s as much a stalker of Kundan as Kundan is of Zoya, but she has very little screen time to flesh out this arc. These choices don’t derail the film, which never fails to keep us invested in what happens next, but they make us wonder how much better things could have been if Abhay Deol’s character had taken a more principled stand in Benares (the way he does in Delhi), and if Bindiya had had the sense to move on.
Dhanush does his best to hold it all together. It’s not a stretch by any means (for that, you’ll have to seek out Pudhupettai or Aadukalam), but it’s still a beautifully modulated performance. It helps that Kundan such an author-backed character, whose every move is calculatedly crowd-pleasing. The reason behind the “I Miss You” card. The “You forget me” moment. The devastated drive into the Ganges. The reimbursement of the cost for apples. The contrast between him and the “intellectuals” at JNU. And best of all, the way he convinces Zoya’s dad that someone else may be right for her. Dhanush couldn’t have asked for a better part, a better launch. We take to him instantly. But Tamil viewers may miss the edge that makes his persona so divisive. At first, there is enough of the creepiness we’re used to, which we’re both attracted to and repelled by, but gradually this is sanded away and the character becomes cute, almost too much so. One can only hope that this isn’t a step towards becoming a cuddly hero – not that there’s much on that frame to cuddle.
Copyright ©2013 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Utkal Mohanty
June 22, 2013
My take ( written at 2pm last night):
Just back from Raanjhaana, and am totally bowled over. It’s a monster of a film, big in ambition and originality, craft and beauty.
While walking out of the theater I was wondering what must be the IQ of Anand L Rai. How the hell could he think of Dhanush for a Banaras film? How could he think of AR Rahman when conventional wisdom would demand a northy composer . And then how could he write lines like these and direct the film with almost total control.
So as I said where shall I start from? Maybe with Dhanush . Havent seena performance like this since the hey-days of Kamal Hasan at his peak during Swatimutyam, Moonrum Pirai days. He acts with every muscle of his body. Jst the close up of his eyes transfix you to immobility. And when he moves it has the fluidity of a dance. And well, when he dances, you can’t take your eyes off him. But if he did just this, it would be great . But he does more. He is true to the character in every monkey trick, in every emotion he displays, in every gesture he makes. And in the second half, where he is in a totally different setting from the rustic Banaras, and the narrative has moved to a more realistic plane he is still convincing, and so controlled.
But all this talent would have to no avail if the material that Rai present was anything short of a classic. If YJHD was about nothing much happening, and about playing down passion and play up practical concerns, this is just the opposite. It is all about grand passion, cruel twists of after, the dark contours of human emotions, and o things that transcend the mundane. The earthiness that Rai showed in Tanu Weds Manu is very much intact here. As is the word ‘ chutiyapa’. The colours, sounds and smells of Banaras come alive in each shot. The writing is rich in poetry, rhetoric and humour ..all delivered in charming language of the locale where the film is based.
And the music. Just the other day I was waxing eloquent about composers like Sneha Khnailkar and Amit Trivedi..and they are bloody good. But Rahman…he touches parts of your being you possibly are not aware of possessing. I bow in admiration once again to Anand L Rai for intuiting that Rahman is the man for the job, and then using his score so brilliantly. None of the osngs intrude into the narrative and on that count iut stands head and shoulders above films like YJHD and countless other love stories that are considered great in Hindi cinema. The beauty of Rahman is, you givea tapori dance situation like the holi sequence here, what he thinks of is not Balam Pichkari or Laagan Lagi or Ek Baar Aaja, but Raanjhaana o Raanjhana. Give hima marriage mehndi sequence and what he comes out with his a not Mehndi Laga ke Rekhna but ‘ Ay Sakhi’ with a high-octave ‘ sa’. Of course the credit for this template should go to the director as well. That’s why it is so heartening to find someone like Rai who has found his muse I Rahman after Imtiaz Ali, even though they had commercially very successful collaborations with other music directors like Pritam or Krisna. I mean having someone like Rahman has such an ennobling effect on you that you will hesitate to create something crass, something calulatuve and devoid of high ambition. The good thing about Rahman’s music here is that it had me in its grip totally while viewing the film, even though I cant remember the melodies clearly. Which means the songs are going to live with me for long, demanding multiple engagements.
And now to the film itself. Like I said it is not a trifling story . It is in the territory of Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, Emily Bronte. It is our own Wuthering Height, Casablanca, Ryan’s Daughter served in true-blue Bollywood ishtyle. There is a small patch of just a few minutes in the second half that make you a little restless and an awkwardness in stitching the two halves together seamlessly. But soon things fall into place. As Kundan establishes himself as a natural leader, the process so natural and convincing, the film regains its fluidity. And the university scenes , a little not-in-sync in the beginning. Are nevertheless quite well done and add a layer of seriousness and sophistication to the film that one cannot imagine in films like say, Tere Naam or Ishaqzade. The climax is a triumph … of dramatic denouement, poetic flourish and imaginative myth-making. The final scene of older Kundan running playfully with the younger Kundan in Shiva’s costume is a among the most memorable and imaginative finales in recent memory.
And did I mention that all the supporting actors arte superbly cast and perform admirably. And that Sonam not only acts well but looks very pretty too?. And this is perhaps among the three best ever love stories and among the three best ever performances in a love story in Hindi cinema? ( Don’t ask me which are the other two, I can’t think of any right now. I am just playing it safe.)
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Kumar Alagappan
June 22, 2013
I was curious to read what you felt about the movie as some of the other critics for sure wouldn’t have been accustomed to Dhanush’s ugly-loser boy-but-street smart avatars in Tamil cinema. Predictably, some of these reviews (by the uninitiated) noted that Dhanush was a revelation as an actor and some were even condescending that you needn’t look good to act. I was always worried that he was getting typecast in such roles and after looking at the Raanjhanaa trailer I felt that he is playing an extention of his tamil screen-self in his Hindi-debut. But, your review was reassuring, I think Anand has given him chance to try out a less-edgy but a spirited character.Will definitely have to watch.Thanks Brangan.
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sachita
June 22, 2013
Dhanush is such a fine actor who is heavily typecast. I really want to see him in upper middle clashish role… i think he will be able to pull it off.. and i want to see that.
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Aparna
June 22, 2013
What a fine review! Will watch the movie, just to see all this on screen!
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Praveen
June 22, 2013
You might like to read this
http://annavetticadgoes2themovies.blogspot.in/2013/06/review-199-raanjhanaa.html
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venkatesh
June 22, 2013
Now this is a must-see. I must be getting old or something but i prefer the Selvaraghavan style hero than the Mani Ratnam one and its good to see that coming over to Hindi,
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venkatesh
June 22, 2013
Utkal Mohanty : Do you think you should get your own blog space ?
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brangan
June 22, 2013
Kumar Alagappan: “some were even condescending that you needn’t look good to act…” Which was this? They haven’t heard of Om Puri or Nawazuddin Siddiqui? 🙂
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Kutty
June 22, 2013
Thanks for dedicating a whole paragraph to Dhanush. It was a breathtaking performance in more than one sense. Watched the movie in Calcutta where many still see him as the “Why this Kolaveri” guy or Rajini’s son-in-law and by the end of the movie it was clear who the crowd favorite was. And most refreshingly, the laughs were for the dialogues and not the accent!
And many seemed to miss the point that Swara’s role is as impractical as Dhanush’s in the undying love for the first love In fact, while Swara only goes as far as helping stop Sonam’s wedding, Dhanush goes one step further in trying to get the couple in love married. There is mockery towards her character, while the hearts go to Dhanush’s character. Which is perhaps reason for some angst towards the character development.
The director should also be applauded for using the Hindu-Muslim divide as just that and not getting preachy about it. Though he exploits it to the hilt in terms of the colors he lends to the screen in the first half.
Abhay Deol’s character seems to be the victim of some random editing or it is a character completely wasted. The political scenes were the weakest (the BJP supporters might meanwhile be lustily cheering at the aspersions being cast in the second half) and lacked the depth to make our hearts go out to Abhay or the AICP. Dhanush’s quick elevation was even more ridiculous.
BTW. Wanted to hear your views on the transformation in Hindi cinema over the last couple of years. There is at least one movie every month which is off the beaten path and succeeds at it. In the same time frame, Tamizh cinema seems to have taken a backward step with the story lines being stagnant and more “mass hero” movies which continue to take the viewers’ intelligence for granted. Do you also sense the same or is it just me being away from Chennai and therefore not viewing the movies in the same frequency?
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Rahul
June 22, 2013
My girlfriend was deeply dissatisfied with this film – it offended what we termed as her aesthetic sense. Her problem was not that Sonam`s character or the story was unrealistic , just that such a cute, cuddly, puppy like Dhanush -we used about the same adjectives as you have – deserved a less antagonistic object of affection.
My reading was a bit different – I thought it was a version of Devdas. Devdas,in my opinion, was fuelled by two very conflicting symbiotic emotions that fed off one another – his love for Paro ,and his narcissism. There was a deep vanity in his self destruction. Similarly, for Dhanush;s Kundan, the love for Zoya is almost as strong as the desire to become a nobody. His narcissism manifests as his doing servile things, both in the Zoya household and in the JNU group. There was a distinct discomfiture in him when he sees Zoya profess her love for him- just like Devdas he loves himself too much to have his love for Zoya brought to fruition by the way of a conventional closure. As he lay dying, he is almost relieved that he does not have to reconcile his two loves any more – so I thought it was a logical conclusion.
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Vasisht Das
June 22, 2013
Idukku poi ivlo build-uppaaa?.
Anand Rai has obviously watched Dhanush’s hit movies where he repeatedly played characters who have a Ph.D. in glorified-stalking (always a fair complexioned, unattainable type girl) and loser-narcissist syndrome (iow, Devdas).
In a minor variation to the on-going ‘South-Remake’ epidemic, Raanjhanaa sounds like someone just enthusiastically remade virtually his whole Tamil film career instead of just the plot of one movie. (Director bro Selva-psycho-Raghavan, just missed a chance to debut in Hindi with this trick).
But, then again, oy not, I say?
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RC
June 22, 2013
What intrigued me was that there was nothing fiesty about Zoya, nothing that explains her being nominated as the party president in the second half. In the scenes where Abhay Deol’s political agenda is shown, she only meets him at the end of his lectures/speeches and latches on his arm; and she keeps her mask down at a dumping ground so she can bat eyelids. All I saw was that she was on the fringe of his politics, and happily so. She joins him at his rallies like I’d go to my husband’s office party.
And Rangan, wouldn’t you want to say something about how Sonam plays Zoya? (especially since you spent so much time on Dhanush?) I saw some reviews about this being her career’s best performance, but she frustrated me so much! I wish Aanand Rai had stuck to Kangana instead!
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awkshwayrd
June 22, 2013
Didn’t you say in your Tanu Weds Manu review something to the effect that the old classic songs in the background fade away after a while and are replaced by a tonally inconsistent mess (or that was my interpretation at least). I felt the exact same way about this movie. It basically ran out of story at interval point. The director sets up a fairly detailed charming quasi-realistic setting (exactly like he did in TWM) but then runs out of story ideas worthy of these characters (again exactly like in TWM). In this ‘realistic’ setting Kundan wouldn’t have looked back or bothered with Zoya after his big ‘moral victory’ against her. He would have gone and gotten married.
Something interesting is that not only does Dhanush barely have any lines in the 2nd half, but whenever he speaks his accent is suddenly more pronounced. It’s as if he ran out ‘proper-accent-quota’ so the editor cut out all of his dialogue. Most of the 2nd half feels like montage sequences and all of the characters become mere puppets in the director’s attempts to generate what is a non-ending.
Something interesting that struck me is how this kind of ‘irresponsible lout who causes irreparable damage and now has to redeem himself through seriousness’ narrative has never really worked in Hindi cinema (apart from maybe in the aforementioned Dushman). As soon as you take away the irresponsible loutishness, the movie gets bogged down in heaviness, and you’re faced with the fact that redemption just isn’t that easy or entertaining a hook to hang a mainstream movie on, specially in matters of life and death.
It feels like the movie is heading towards an indictment and deconstruction of how destructive obsessive passion can be, but then ends up glorifying it anyway ..
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venkatesh
June 22, 2013
Am i the only one who thinks that some parts of Dhanush’s acting is really the Rajini of old ?
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anuradha
June 22, 2013
There is a reason why there are critics and then there are Critics.The reason why I have read,-and disgreed,agreed and even been bafffed by some of BR’s reviews ,is that he approaches it with a passion, respect and an indepth knowledge of cinema.I recently read a review of Ranjanhaa by an “established” critic and it starts on this note:
“Let me begin with an honest confession. As I drove to the preview theatre to watch Raanjhanaa, I wondered how I would spend over two hours gazing at a hero as plain as…”-
The review begins on an unbelievably condescending note , showing a lack of at the very least research to understand that the actor she has been writing about has done more that “Kolaveridi”
Honestly, kudos to the rest of regional cinema not making it to cannes and the100 years of Indian cinema.let Bollywood sashay down the aisles ,give us big fat indian weddings and speak in golbally acquired accents in their interviews abroad..If that and reviews like above say that we have made it, its better to be at home!!
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Yashwanth Varma
June 22, 2013
“Attracted to and repelled by”.. nice phrase. There was one like this in the movie The Great Gatsby.
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Deepa
June 22, 2013
I saw the movie & found nothing it great as the review tries to project! Seemed a bit mediocre actually.. The story-line being bit unrealistic for today’s times plus it didn’t seem grounded at many a junctures.. The use of colours, in the name of aesthetics, probably covers up for some of the flaws.. The direction, pretty average..
One obvious thing about this review is that it appears totally biased (in favour of) towards Dhanush & his performance (probably because Dhanush is from TN & so is Baradwaj and also probably as he’s Rajanikant’s son-in-law.).
I found nothing superlative about Dhanush’s performance. It’s just another one… It could’ve been more nuanced in many places.
And also see that there’s hardly any space given by Baradwaj to Sonam! She did have enough role to play so as to deserve an equivalent review-space.
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naveen Pillai
June 22, 2013
I sense a deep Chetan Bhagat influence here ( From the book Revolution 2020) . Rai have successfully changed theme …
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Eva
June 23, 2013
My request to everyone: please go and see the movie once more. As myself, you will perceive it differently at a second viewing.
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indianmalefeminist
June 23, 2013
@Vasisht Das – haha, interesting parallel re: Selva movies. True that. But I think Selva shows them as characters who are barely likeable and instead of glorifying obsessive passion, shows the destructive side of it IMO, as @awkshwayrd said. I guess that’s the big difference here.
PS @Brangan – I thought you didn’t like Aadukalam all that much?
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brangan
June 23, 2013
Kutty: And most refreshingly, the laughs were for the dialogues and not the accent!
But they did explain the accent, no? He was a Tamilian, as shown.
Regarding Dhanush going one step further in trying to get the couple in love married, that’s the atonement angle I talked about. Is no else seeing this in that light? That scene by the Ganga with the stranger (after the Punjab visit and before Dhanush goes to Delhi) explicitly points to this.
I don’t think Hindi cinema has “transformed” as such. There’s still a lot of crap. But the multiplex model has really helped because it’s become possible to make Hindi films exactly the way you want and not have to pander to thoughts of “will the B and C centres like it”. It’s a question of economics. With regional cinema — say Tamil cinema — you can still make movies the way you want, but within a certain framework. The room for deviation isn’t that much, in the sense that an Udaan or a Bombay Talkies cannot be made here.
Rahul: Interesting reading there, but I guess I don’t see it as Devdas because that sadism/masochism angle isn’t there. Devdas was a sadist when it came to Paro, but masochistic enough not to accept Chandramukhi’s love. Here, this Devdas wants this Paro’s love.
I don’t get this, though: His narcissism manifests as his doing servile things, both in the Zoya household and in the JNU group. I saw this JNU thing as part of his atonement. Where’s the narcissism here?
RC: What does being feisty have to do with becoming head of a party? Maybe she’s a good worker. Maybe they thought they could cash in on a sympathy wave by nominating her. As for Sonam, I found her quite affecting and said as much in my review.
awkshwayrd: I looked up my Tanu Weds Manu review and didn’t quite see what you said. I felt this was a much better film. There, the only novelty was Kangna’s character, a rebel who’d do anything to piss her parents off, even shunning the man who’s clearly good for her. Otherwise it was just the same old love triangle. Here, the love story is only in the first half and it gives way to a very different kind of drama.
In this ‘realistic’ setting Kundan wouldn’t have looked back or bothered with Zoya after his big ‘moral victory’ against her. He would have gone and gotten married.
Er, I think I disagree here 🙂 See, he’s ready to marry Bindiya because he knew he had no chances with Zoya. But the newspaper bit happens and he’s outraged that she lied — but he also sees that there’s a chance again. He’s crazily in love with her and “realistic” life doesn’t play into his decision-making at all.
anuradha: The comments under that review are very entertaining 🙂
indianmalefeminist/Vasisht Das: Actually, this was a Selva movie that Selva never made. Even in the second half, the crouching-like-a-dog-outside-her-house moment was pure Selva.
PS @Brangan – I thought you didn’t like Aadukalam all that much?
Yeah, that’s what everyone seems to think…
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Utkal
June 23, 2013
naveen Pillai: Good that you pointed this out. The Kunadn-Zoya-Jasjit equation has astyrong parallel with Gopla-Arati-Raghav threesome. And the background is Banaras. But then, it could be a coincidence. And if Rai indeed has been inspired by Revolution 2020, he has worked on it enough to transform it to a fairly different story, though the core sentimnets are from the book.
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Kutty
June 23, 2013
Rangan : I was comparing with movies where even with a Tam background angle thrown in, the laughs are directed at the accent (maybe because the directors intended it). In this case, Dhanush’s performance was credible enough for the accent to just become a side-show.
And regarding the atonement angle, doesn’t that come after Deol’s misfortune? Whereas his attempts at getting them together was purely the actions of a crazed lover. Not sure if it can be put in the same bracker.
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oneWithTheH
June 23, 2013
“But the newspaper bit happens and he’s outraged that she lied —”
Okay, my reading of that scene was that he wanted to “rescue” Zoya from the lie(and from Akram), he didn’t know at that point that she was a part of it. Not until the scene in the hospital where Akram tells Kundan that it was all part of a plan.
The movie didn’t work for me at all. The first half was all the hundred thousand episodes of thorathi-thorathi-love-panradhu that tamil cinema offers so effortlessly. Every time Kundan mouthed dialogue like “Rickhshawale! Paise math lene, bhabhi hai tumhari”, my mind was churning out translations in tamil. And that ruined it for me.
Second half was intriguing at the start but I was throughout struggling to figure out what exactly Zoya was feeling for Kundan. Kundan’s sudden netha-giri was unconvincing as well. Clearly, his rise through the ranks was making Zoya uncomfortable. But the party people didn’t seem to care about that after democratically electing her the leader?
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Rahul
June 23, 2013
“Here, this Devdas wants this Paro’s love.”
I think an alternate reading is possible. He does not really want Zoya’s love but wants to stay near her and feel jilted. Remember, he says, the more he started getting success in politics the more Zoya hated her. Even before, he says to Zoya -“tumhari jagah koi bhi hoti toh mai aise hi toot kar pyar karta”. : He is more in love with the idea of an idealized love than Zoya herself. Ergo, there you have the Devdas syndrome.
” I saw this JNU thing as part of his atonement. Where’s the narcissism here?”
The difference between Zoya and Kundan is not of religion but of station. Zoya does not mind being with a Hindu but she wants someone who is not “jaahil” – someone her equal. Still, Kundan always posits himself as a worshipper, not as a lover. That he does come to be her equal in politics is not through learning and education, but through street smartness. That changes nothing between him and Zoya -accept that she dislikes him even more.
This is why I see this as narcissism – his desire to be the jilted lover surpasses everything else.
Also, I don’t really buy this idea of “heinous crime” and “atonement” . All said and done, Zoya was more guilty of Abhay’s death. It was she who made him adopt a false identity. It was she who kept this from Kundan who would probably have stood by her if she would have confided in him. I think Kundan’s guilt is fueled by his Devdas complex more than anything else 🙂
By the way, my girlfriend pointed out an interesting thing. Many years ago, there was a lover similarly rejected by her girlfriend again and again in Kabhi haan Kabhi naa. Who was it directed by? Another Kundan. 🙂
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Sev
June 23, 2013
I’m still not clear on how Abhay died, and what was Kundan’s role in it. Could you explain that bit, please?
All in all, I liked the idea of the film through the promos, and enjoyed the truncated version I watched though I was taken aback by the ferocity of Kundan’s obsession and the dismal turn of events in the second half. Judging by the promotional clips, I’d taken this to be a frothy love story with dollops of humour (which I now think describes only the first half). For some reason, some reviewers, particularly females, are taking affront at the way women (especially Bindiya) are treated in this film. Being a woman myself, I can understand their concerns but I think the director is being true to the small-town mindset. Come to think of it, such mildly sexist language is pretty routine even in the bigger towns in India where the notion of being politically-correct hasn’t quite set in yet, unlike the West. In fact, Kundan’s obsessive, stalkerish-love is also very small-town, Bollywood-inspired. Since I trace my roots to a small town and have spent a few years there, all characters felt real to me.
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Sev
June 23, 2013
I forgot to mention how much I enjoyed your write-up-it lent me an entirely new perspective and made me watch the movie again. Thanks!
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Utkal
June 23, 2013
The second half has problems..mainly in term sof a total shift in the tone of storytelling. But even so, it si the second hlaf that makes the film it is. It is the second half that lifts the film above such gratuitous films like Tere Naam or other stalker films. The Deelhi portions may not be as assured and the scenes as fluid as the Banras portions., but the director is at leasr as specific about the locale and the action here as he is about Banaras.
It si in the second half that the tale of redemption and slow wearing out of Kunadn’s obsession plays out. And without that it may as well be a Darr or Anjam, with gritier production and better music. Now it is a much more mature and more substantial work.
TRue Sonam falls a little short in rising up to the challenge posed by her complex character. But Dhanush more than makes up for it. His rise to political stardom is essayed very smartly. It is in the best of folk tale tradition…the tradition of Charandas Chor. THe core truth captured here is how the native wisdom of seemingly unlettered and clownish persons like Raj Narain or aloo Yadasv can mkae that connect with people because of their very lack of sophistication. I thought that was very smart writing.
And I don’t think the film at all says, ‘ the government is bad, and, by implication, that the politics of the youthful is the country’s only hope.’ Some of the characters in the film do. I think there is a difference.
The film is telling the story of Kundan, and Zoay and its tragic trajectory ennobled by genuine passion and the process of redemption.
The last speech by Kundan is ( Ab mood mein nahin hoon.) is as close to genuine poetry you can get in Hindi cinema. And the last scene with Kundan running playfully with a younger Kundan in Shiva costume is a masterly visual translation of that poetry and a fitting coda to a doomed person that had tasted ecstasy of true passion and could nver bear to livea mundane life without the high of an obsessive passion.
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awkshwayrd
June 23, 2013
brangan: This was the specific line I was referring to (the last line in your TWM review) “The songs on the radio, however, have long since disappeared.” Something similar happens here, where the lightness of touch and the classic songs in the background of the first half give way to a heavy handed second half.
I couldn’t buy into the 2nd half at all, perhaps because his atonement, where he tries to get them together, happens before Abhay Deol’s demise scene. The “scene by the Ganga with the stranger (after the Punjab visit and before Dhanush goes to Delhi)” happens after, at which point Kundan seems to be completely lost, with no clear idea of how to atone, and unfortunately this carries over to the direction of the movie, which seems to be lost as well with no idea what to do with his character. His hanging around JNU has more of an air of somehow getting Zoya to acknowledge him, rather than any attempt at real atonement (because really, how DO you atone in such a scenario?).
As for his readiness to marry Bindiya, that came across more as ‘you think you’re the only girl and I can’t get married as well?’ defiance (he says as much to Zoya). I liked that angle ‘coz it adds a nice, very accurate edge to his character. Once he sees the newspaper, he sees a great chance to screw over her plans and gain the high moral ground, so to say. It’s done quite accurately too for that particular character of a small town UP boy (UP boy here so I recognized the sentiments shown all too well), Once a girl rejects you, (specially since she clearly lied to him and in his eyes, played with his feelings for her) she’s a big **** (insert expletive of choice) and must be set straight. Good sense does prevail, once he sees the fallout, but its too late.
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Utkal
June 23, 2013
Sev: I’m still not clear on how Abhay died, and what was Kundan’s role in it. Could you explain that bit, please?
He died from the internal injuries caused by the beating he received. He got beaten up because Dhanush revealed his identity through the report published in the newspaper.
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Sev
June 24, 2013
Just out of curiousity-how come Zoya never felt any remorse for concocting the plan that eventually led to Jasjeet’s death? How come she rests all the blame on Kundan’s shoulders?
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Utkal
June 24, 2013
Sev: Zoya’s concocting the plan was necessary for marrying Jasjit as she saw it. And it was succeeding until Kundan’s action spoils it. That way Kundan’s action dealt a double blow to her happiness. And remember, we all blame someone else for our misfortunes than ourselves.
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tejas
June 24, 2013
A little correction – Anand Rai’s first film wasn’t Tanu weds Manu, it was Strangers.
kthxbai
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Swarpeti (@Swarpeti82)
June 24, 2013
Rai’s Ranjhana is not a love story. At least I don’t think so.
Yes it starts with love. It starts with people falling in love. But it is anything but a story about love.
If at all, it is a story about the human inability to let go. It is about the violence inherent to the act of holding on as well as letting go. And it is about finally coming to terms with the act of letting go.
Again, contrary to reviews, I found the second half of the film richer than the first half.
Yes, it is a very intelligently made first half, rich with cultural references, references that doff a hat to our cinematic past and of course the mythical reference to Lord Shiva and his beloved Ganga.
The true arc of this story lies in the subsequent struggle of Kundan to come to terms with the other having moved on. The need for an answer for the other having moved on. And the rage at being tricked and let down yet again, even in that ‘answer’ (here the fact that the girl cites religion as the reason, only to renegade and prefer another hindu).
I find the issue of class divide, and the schism between small-town living and urban bourgeois living incidental to the story.
What remains at the very core is the story of the struggle between letting go-not letting go. And the vulnerabilities inherent to such struggle. And the fact that such vulnerabilities, given a chance, will always succumb to manipulations. As in the case of Kundan’s, at the hand of his love, Zoya.
And then, later, in the case of Zoya, at the hand of a political leader.
Some of the characters are aware of this conflict. Like in the case of Murari, Kundan’s friend, who realises that this love story is killing his friend in more ways than sustaining him.
Others aren’t aware until the end.
One of the first to let go in this story is Jasjeet, the man Zoya loves. In not attempting to hide his identity and in eventually letting go of life itself, he sets the ball rolling for the other characters.
Kundan and Zoya are both affected by this death. But in different ways. Kundan realises that a mistake has been made, but he doesn’t know how to change it, how to right it. His first impulse is to seek it in spirituality.
In one of the most poignant scenes in this film, a man tells him that he cannot hope to atone for his crimes through refuge in religion. He has to act.
And that’s when he goes searching for an alternative way to let go.
His search takes him back to Zoya and her realities; those which he is not familiar with but wants to understand. Because that would be his first step to letting go of her. To accept that she is not how he remembers her, but a whole new person, with a very different life. His love for her still gives him hope of her accepting him, but perhaps he is aware of the futility of that hope.
Zoya on the other hand is not yet ready to let go. She sees Jasjeet’s death as a crime perpetuated by Kundan, unwilling to see her role in it.
She holds onto Jasjeet through his work for the political party he had started.
Kundan’s presence and his intervention in this attempt of hers, draws her resentment. It is her desperation to hold onto Jasjeet and not so much to her stake in the party leadership that perhaps leads her to commit her final act of betrayal.
Her intentions are made clearer by her accepting her crime and identifying her accomplices.
As Zoya dresses Kundan in the clothes of Jasjeet for the final rally, Kundan perhaps realises her dilemma that for her to be able to let go, he will have to show her the way. In not resisting, in not holding onto his life, in letting go of his life, he lets go of her and lets her let go of her pain.
I think it is interesting that a political setting is used to play out the end of this story. Politics is another world where change in order is inevitable and yet, more often than not, that change is established in a violent way. The old order resists change, unwilling to let go of power. The more they hold on, the more violent the process of letting go becomes.
The character of Zoya, at times feels like a poser, may be an outcome of being played in a certain way by Sonam Kapoor. She’s fast turning into one of those actors who comes across as competent but only as long as they are not given any dialogues to mouth. The moment they open their mouth, they throttle their characters.
The final monologue of a now dead Kundan is one of the most wonderful, compassionate endings I have seen in recent films. His letting go, his dilemma even as he does so, his hope for an acknowledgement from his beloved, even as he’s dying, his acknowledgement of the only girl who truly loved him and he never could, all of it is so heart-breakingly convoluted, you realise this is what it is to be a human.
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Utkal Mohanty
June 24, 2013
You have put it well, Swrpeti
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Vanya
June 24, 2013
Deepa: I think Baradwaj was being generous in not discussing Sonam’s performance in as much detail as Dhanush’s. She was adequate enough in the cutesy, smiley bits, but when it came to displaying any complexity or inner turmoil, she was painfully ill-equipped. If you do want a review of her performance from Baradwaj, try his piece on Aisha; everything he said about her there applies here too. And before you go accusing me of bias too, I’m not from TN.
That being said, my sister and I couldn’t come up with any alternatives, from among Sonam’s contemporaries in Bollywood, who could have turned in a more nuanced performance. Sad day.
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vpjaiganesh
June 24, 2013
havent seen the movie, still couldnt help wonder about the similarity of Forrest Gump love story. The JNU campus description you provided, reminded me of Gump in the activists hideout in Washington DC – his lady love too political minded, treats him like a toy, uses him to get around didnt she?
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Anu Warrier
June 24, 2013
Watched Raanjhnaa yesterday and was blown away by Dhanush’s performance. (Haven’t watched him before, so I didn’t have any points of comparison.) Thought the director had a good hold on what he wanted to say even though the plot made a sudden (to me) deviation in the second half. Sonam impressed me, though that is not saying much – none of her other performances were anywhere close to her Zoya and that is a lot.
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Nirja
June 25, 2013
I was trying so hard to find a logical explanation to the ending, of the character of Kundan having to let go and Rahul’s explanation is the best theory for me so far. Yes, Kundan is just that kind of lover. He is bordering arrogant in love but equally charming. What Dhanush has done is breathe life into his character by the nuances. How could he have lived for 8 years in Benares thinking that him and Zoya are in love? And by trying to come close to his parents by changing gas cylinders and doing small chores when he knows that she is the daughter of a professor and an educated woman in herself? Love can make one do many things but for him it hasn’t made him rise above anything. How could he not wanted to have been a something worthwhile for Zoya? The Notebook scene was on my mind where at least Noah wrote the letters and she waited for them.
Also, if Kundan’s friend can see the paper, how did no one from Zoya’s family not spot it?
Zoya’s character is so muddled up and Sonam is too polished to play the part but as mentioned before there really is no one in the current milleu who could have pulled it off.
Also, was Zoya taking revenge by sending Kundan to the rally or just letting him go?
But ultimately what this film is is a tragedy, the sheer tragedy of falling in love with the wrong people. No one is right for each other here and each has to drag on through life with the excesses of such a tragedy. And that was the only aspect of the movie that I liked. No one is a hero here, everyone is going through same grind. In that aspect, what Jasjeet said is right, everyone is an equal, give and take a kiss.
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Sev
June 25, 2013
I noticed no one mentions how perfectly cast Dhanush and Abhay are in their roles with respect to their physicality. Abhay is the handsome, sophisticated, upper-class charmer while Dhaush is a charmer-of-sorts but only within his social sphere (inspiring an obsession in Binidya) but pales in comparison to Abhay. While Abhay is tall, buff, and utterly handsome, DHanush is sickly-thin, short and very average (not that that is a bad thing, but here, the physicality of these two actors is important to narrate this story convincingly. In a book, a writer can use scores of words to convince the reader of his plot, but in a movie, the director has to create convincing imagery). It isn’t hard to see why Abhay was able to woe Zoya so easily -in fact, it looks like she made the first move since she’s so besotted with him. This film would not have been so convincing if an actor as gifted as Dhanush who was, however, a little more comely (for lack of a better word) in the conventional sense than Dhanush had been cast in this role (say KK Menon or Prashant Narayan). As I watched Dhanush’s agony, I was in tears but at the same time, I understood why Zoya could never fall in love with him. Even though she says it’s the difference in religion (I think she’s trying to spare his feelings), and many reviewers said it was a difference in socio-economic class, I think it’s much more than that. Jasjeet would have been equally beguiling even if he was a poor farmer’s son, in my opinion. Infact it was this seemingly perfect casting that had me extremely interested in the trailers of the film, among other things. So it’s ironical how a “seasoned reviewer” like Anupama Chopra didn’t catch this from the trailers. Apparently for her, the thought of seeing him in an entire film was unsettling! Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
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brangan
June 25, 2013
Rahul: As others have mentioned, you a very convincing case for this Devdas reading. The next time I watch this, I’m certainly going look at it through that prism. But tell me, through this POV, how do you see that Ganga-kinare scene that talks about mukti, and Dhanush’s subsequent resolve to “fix” things. (I’m not saying “atone” as we’re parting ways there.)
awkshwayrd: His hanging around JNU has more of an air of somehow getting Zoya to acknowledge him, rather than any attempt at real atonement
I think this is also because he wants to make things right but doesn’t know how — but he does know that he has to be around her if he has to make things right. I think had the politics angle been better handled, we wouldn’t be complaining. But those portions were so off-key that it detracted from what he was trying to do, and made it look like hero-giri.
tejas: “kthxbai?” thanks 🙂
Sev: This is part of the Selvaraghavan playbook too — pitching the Dhanush type with the Abhay type. Fair vs dark. Educated and upwardly mobile vs tapori. Rich vs poor. Etc.
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Utkal Mohanty
June 25, 2013
Actor Amitabh Bachchan says he feels jealous whenever he watches wonderful films like Raanjhanaa, which he is not part of. The 70-year-old veteran saw the Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor-starrer in celebration of India’s victory at the Champions Trophy.
“It was a delight. I get so enviousafter seeing all these wonderful films, and lament and regret that I am not in them, even in a small capacity, for I love the immense talent and finesse that today’s cinema with its young brigade brings to the world,” Big B posted on his blog.
The actor also has a few movies in his “to-watch” list. “I shall be seeing some other unreleased films given to me by Anurag Kashyap, by some talented directors and actors … a joy always,” he wrote.
On the big screen, Amitabh will soon be seen in Prakash Jha’s Satyagraha.
Amitabh Bachchan is also looking forward to watch Richa Chadda’s performance in the film. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan is keen to watch director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba’s movie Fukrey.
Big B is specially looking forward to watch actress Richa Chadda’s performance in the movie, which also features Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma, Priya Anand and Vishakha Singh. “I wish to see Fukrey which is garnering praise from all quarters. The performances are good, and one such comes from Richa Chadda, who Anurag brought to meet me on the sets (of a TV show).
“She was so good in Gangs Of Wasseypur and I believe has done very good work in Fukrey too,” Big B posted on his blog. Big B will soon be seen in Prakash Jha’s Satyagraha, and he is busy shooting for his debut TV fiction show with Kashyap.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Amitabh-Bachchan-regrets-not-being-in-wonderful-films-like-Raanjhanaa/Article1-1082033.aspx
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Rahul
June 25, 2013
“But tell me, through this POV, how do you see that Ganga-kinare scene that talks about mukti, and Dhanush’s subsequent resolve to “fix” things. (I’m not saying “atone” as we’re parting ways there.)”
I think Kundan feels more responsible towards Jasjeet’s family and his legacy than towards Zoya . Jasjeet does say to Kundan that he had a lot left to do etc. This can also explain why Kundan started taking interest in politics at the cost of alienating Zoya. So, I see this as a parallel story line that is not directly connected with the Kundan- Zoya relationship.
Finally, I realize that I may have been inadvertently painting Kundan as a psycho. I think a more sympathetic reading is warranted. He is an extremely sensitive person who is unable to reconcile the various differences (religion,class,education) between him and Zoya. But more than that, after he meets Zoya after 8 years, he is unable to reconcile the image of Zoya with what she has become, or rather, what she is when he gets to know her more. I think he is sensitive enough to realize that she is fickle, does not have enough self awareness to own up to her responsibility in Jasjeet getting beaten up etc. When I say he suffers from Devdas complex, I dont mean his motivations or personality are similar to Devdas – just that he is pulled apart by two forces, his idealistic love bordering on worship for Zoya and his inability to reconcile that love with reality due to his strong sense of self and a childlike desire to keep the Zoya of his childhood dreams intact.
Sometimes, you hang around someone not just because you love them, but also because you want to fall out of love with them, which I think is the case with Kundan.
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Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan
June 26, 2013
This review of Anna M Vetticad was so different and was a staunchly a feminist perspective which other reviewers including BR glossed over i think:
//Raanjhanaa harks back to an earlier era when stalking was considered legitimate courtship in Bollywood; when film after film told roadside Romeos that when a woman says no, she means yes or maybe. The film also seems to say:
(a) that girls will always screw men over
(b) that Muslims will always screw Hindus (and Sikhs) over
(c) that women are too stupid to be trusted with their own life’s plans.
Either that, or this is just the most garbled, aspiring-to-be-profound film to emerge from Bollywood in a while. The point about the Hindu-Muslim equation is subliminal; but there’s nothing subtle about the girl-boy equation it puts forward….
No doubt people like Kundan and Bindiya do exist in real life. What makes this film dangerous (perhaps intentionally so, since this is a populist position) is that their behaviour is made to seem lovable here; they’re being projected as charmingly hopeless romantics. //
http://annavetticadgoes2themovies.blogspot.in/2013/06/review-199-raanjhanaa.html
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Sev
June 26, 2013
@ Sanjay Kumar N
I found Anna’s review a little baffling. I’m a woman and all for sexual equality but I am also practical enough to know that prejudice is inherent to being human, and there is no way I can wish every man to think of women with respect. The converse is also true-women can also be sexist (I know I once made a sexist remark to a male friend about men’s uncontrolled libido, and had to face his displeasure for quite some time). All I’d like to see is some political correctness in our speech and actions.
But my feminist ways don’t stop me from appreciating this film. And I appreciate the accurate depiction of men and women characters here. I don’t know why people want to read messages in a work of fiction. If this movie is giving any message, IMO it is about unrequited love and the pain it causes-almost like a physical malady (a message similar to Marquez’s Love in the time of cholera) and, like a previous poster said, the inability to let go of our most cherished desires and the vulnerability that brings with it. One could also infer something about atonement (not sure what). I don’t infer the sorts of sexist messages she’s attributing to this film. I was disappointed by her analysis of the movie because she’s surprised me in the past by coming up with a nuance analysis of movies wherein I couldn’t see any nuance at all such as Jab Tak Hai Jaan.
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brangan
June 26, 2013
Rahul: “I think Kundan feels more responsible towards Jasjeet’s family and his legacy than towards Zoya .”
Hmmm… Even through your Devdas reading, I don’t see Kundan’s actions as Jasjeet-oriented rather than Zoya-oriented.
Sev: ” I don’t know why people want to read messages in a work of fiction.”
This cannot be said enough. I went through the same thing with Ishaqzaade, where people said the film gave a regressive message that it’s okay to go love the man who cheated you and in a way raped you. The film showed a character who did this, which doesn’t mean that the film itself is advocating this.
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Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan
June 26, 2013
“I don’t know why people want to read messages in a work of fiction”…that was extremely naive…whether we like it or not, cinema’s influence or for that matter mass media has on our life is phenomenal in modern times, how can we neatly compartmentalize them? …to suggest that filmmakers through their works do not perpetuate their prejudices/biases is very dishonest…much or part of our world view is shaped by the media and some subconsciously or otherwise we internalise…there are lots of research paper which have been published and i fail to understand why BR is hell bent on denying the direct linkage between the cinema and how it conveys stereotypes…
i find it very amusing that none of the mainstream tamil/hindi films have shown a pious Brahmin as a devious character, while on the other hand none of the muslims have been divorced from the militancy angle in any recent movie say post 1991-92 or more so after 9/11..
the film makers are merely making this subtle character insertions to go with the popular perception of the people have towards the minority or disabled or women…that way it is dangerous, no matter how vocal you are in your denials…
see sexism is more pronounced when uttered by pea brained men than women for the simple reason that it is one of the methods of the powerful to shut the foul up of the disadvantaged…and it is supported by the social norms which is hideous, but very much active if you oppose the status quo ! in that sense the empty words of reverse racism/ reverse sexism does not exist or simply a tool to show the already privileged as victim, when the reality is just the opposite
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Rahul
June 26, 2013
“Hmmm… Even through your Devdas reading, I don’t see Kundan’s actions as Jasjeet-oriented rather than Zoya-oriented.”
Honestly, these discussions take a life of their own. I am not sure what i will feel if and when I see the film a second time – or even what I felt the first time around 🙂 That said , I only see the guilt part as Jasjeet oriented, but I also feel that guilt can be exacerbated by the Devdas complex, and that makes pulling everything apart that much more difficult. The undisputed take away from this is that Dhanush has made this character so layered that the more we peel off, the more emerges.
” I don’t know why people want to read messages in a work of fiction.”
I will take issue with this. When deconstructionists are allowed to run riot then why not message mongers? Of course, sometimes it will stick and sometimes it wouldn’t – we should not sell short our faculties of discussion and reasoning. And it need not be as simplistic as – ” The film showed a character who did this, which doesn’t mean that the film itself is advocating this.”
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brangan
June 27, 2013
Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan: BR is hell bent on denying the direct linkage between the cinema and how it conveys stereotypes
No, I don’t deny this. Or let me put it this way. I don’t know enough about the subject to say anything authoritative about it one way or the other. This is my personal view, that’s all, and it’s based on my belief that there are two aspects to any narrative:
(1) The story has to be true to itself. If there’s a Brahmin character in the story and if his being pious moves things forwards (or adds a certain flavour to the story), or if the character is Muslim and his being a terrorist pushes the plot forward, then that has to be honoured. Because the story has demands of its own. It has an integrity of its own.
(Can you pick a different story? Sure. But that’s another discussion.)
(2) Seeing this story play out on screen may cause some people to be affected in some ways. A liberal Muslim may be offended as being stereotyped as a terrorist. A westernised Brahmin may get irritated at being shown as a puja-performing guy.
The question is, should (2) influence (1)? Should artists turn “responsible” or should they stay true to their art? This is an age-old question, and I fall on the side that says that the only responsibility of an artist is to serve his material the best possible way.
So, no, I am not DENYING that there may be a correlation. Just saying that it’s not art’s business to be too concerned about causing offence. There are of course others who think/feel differently.
Rahul: We need not stop discussing this. Those who see films as vehicles for messages *are* going to see the film as advocating or advancing a viewpoint. (Which is why, in the West, the release of a film ends up with so many op-ed pieces.) And while that’s interesting to read, it adds little — IMO — to one’s review of a film. In the sense that I may hate the “pious Brahmin” character because it’s a cliche or because it adds nothing to the film, but I would not look at the character as reducing a community to a stereotype.
“This particular Brahmin in this particular film is pious.” That’s how I usually see it. And, of course, three weeks from now I’m going to write a review that goes against all I said above, and you guys are going to pounce on me for that 🙂
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Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan
June 27, 2013
//So, no, I am not DENYING that there may be a correlation. Just saying that it’s not art’s business to be too concerned about causing offence. There are of course others who think/feel differently.//
i don’t get this BR, absolutely no! when it comes to moral judgement there are no two opinions or middle ground…the same way as you can’t be half pregnant! the premise is very clear, much of our understanding of the people around who are different from us are influenced by many factors-the people around you, the society, the education and so on…in this long laundry list comes mass media who off late more than ever have started influencing hugely…the insidious messages that it conveys in Malayalam cinema has been wonderfully brought about in this piece:
http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6677%3Acaste-in-cinema-and-music-the-kerala-experience&catid=119&Itemid=132
//Caste is very prominent in the mainstream films – no matter whether it is ‘art’, ‘commercial’ or ‘parallel’. It may not be very obvious that it is caste playing there. For instance consider this character in the film ‘Aryan’. The hero (Mohanlal) tells a Dalit police officer that it is his inferiority complex that is the problem. Now we understand that it is an issue related to the politics of reservations. When a Dalit officer comes into a top position, it becomes an issue for the upper-castes in multiple ways. This attitude causes clashes in society. We can see many such characters.// Further he notes
//In Malayalam films, the lead characters are almost always either from a middle class Nair family, or Syrian Christian. If you talk of complexion, the hero and heroine are fair and it is the trouble-makers who are dark. The thugs are dark-skinned, with some odd features – usually a Muslim or a Dalit. As I said the casteism may not be very obvious, it may appear like something else. It is not like the caste atrocities, seen usually.
Even when there is a depiction of caste atrocities, it is shown as something done by some bad guys, and not as a problem with the system. Recently there was this film ‘Celluloid’ in Malayalam. It talks about caste. But if we take a close look, caste is not presented as a problem in the existing system. Tactfully they have placed it as a problem of the ‘old times’.
‘Those days there was caste, not now’. Thus it ends up merely as a critique against some casteists of the past, by the liberal upper-castes of today. They think that their ancestors have done this, but we are against it. By doing it, they are trying to establish that they have become casteless. Similarly the film says that there are vestiges of caste in some people in the modern times. That is only the ‘vestiges’, there is no caste left in the system. As if casteism remains in certain people, like the character that resembles writer Malayattoor Ramakrishnan in the film.//
My crib with the scriptwriters is this BR: why is it that the script always demands to show bad persons always have dark skinn or coming from cheris or “good” women always are submissive and “docile”? If 9/10 movies show that as the stated or understated character sketch (heck you can’t miss this even in Chotta Beem) of bad men’s skin tone, it is a huge problem and we can’t dissociate its influence on the public at large.
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AV
June 27, 2013
If someone could put in SPOILERS before their take it will BENEFIT others who haven’t watched the movie so far. Swarpeti (@Swarpeti82) – Take note!!
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Sev
June 27, 2013
“My crib with the scriptwriters is this BR: why is it that the script always demands to show bad persons always have dark skinn or coming from cheris or “good” women always are submissive and “docile”
I’m not well-versed in southern films, so I can’t comment on that but within this particular movie, both male characters were quite sympathetic. In fact, it was the fair maiden, Zoya, who can be considered casually callous in how she toys around with Kundan and even Jasjeet. So the conventionally beautiful reveal shades of gray here while the “unconventional” looker (I hate to use this term because I really think beauty is entirely subjective, and in this film’s context, Dhaush really looked very charming) was the sympathetic character all along. So I don’t think this film is mirroring the conventional prejudices that are rife within INdian popular culture.
And I think books too can be misinterpreted-one could be tempted to conclude that The End of The Affair condones adultery, or The English Patient does the same because in both books, the main characters find “true love’ through an adulterous relationship. But I think that would be a gross over-simplification of the books’ plots and characterizations.
I think, in my case, age and experience were factors that helped me realize the boundary between reel and real life. When I was younger, it was easier to misconstrue reel life for real life. Now it’s a little easier to draw that distinction in my mind. Whether this is true of other people or not, I can’t say. And if this a problem unique to INdia, I don’t know. I live in Canada and here movies don’t quite loom as large over the popular culture as they do in India. That place if filled by Hockey. But we should realize that in India, offence can be manufactured and mobs hired to suit one’s own ends-I see political parties and even movies’ PR people doing that all the time. So it’s hard to figure out how much of the offence caused by a movie or book is real and how much isn’t.
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Mambazha Manidhan
June 27, 2013
The film is superbly shot and staged. But, there’s barely any chance to experience the narrative with like eight nonstop music videos. It’s tiring after a while. I loved the soundtrack though.
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Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan
June 28, 2013
//But we should realize that in India, offence can be manufactured and mobs hired to suit one’s own ends-I see political parties and even movies’ PR people doing that all the time. So it’s hard to figure out how much of the offence caused by a movie or book is real and how much isn’t.//
i am not for mobilising mobs which disagree to my world view…my views are “how to show the disagrement and get a space to screen it, when the mainstream movies of maniratnam or balachandar which show certain elite sensibilities as cool/normal without looking unsophisticated or subversive”
i am against a system which is still dominated by upper caste or intermediate castes world view being shown as right and ‘conventional’…to draw an analogy it is like in Hollywood you have movies made mostly of the caucasian or whites life and the dominant culture usurp the popular symbolism and attached with their own, where a Jazz/Blues music are seen as connesiuer’s delight or are seen as refined against a gangsta rap
see i have a plot like this: “a devout muslim who prays regularly is a loving husband, father and son…is a straight forward police officer and darling of the masses for his uprightness who hunts for a militant hindu terrorist who beheads “mleechas/chandalas (infidels in sanskrit) while chanting gita’s slokas and which is played by Shamsuddin (who had to rechristen it to more hindu sounding name as Shaam to get acceptability)”…i mean none of the tamil films in its 100 or more years of existence was able to depict a story like this. Do you know why? there is an insidious censorship within the industry which likes a certain story to be told where a certain character sketch is what it deems fit to be shown…
i was a big fan of “The Big Bang Theory” until i heard the criticisms about it being made which made me to realise how insidious the sexism was while it depicted the characters…like a genius astrophysicist is always a white caucasian, the women scientist feels less comfortable about her intelligence and somehow her geekiness is not so cool as Sheldon or the scientist friends neighbor is dimwit woman or an ethnic friend is always from asian race and will at best play his sidekick…
one last thing the attacks at Sikhs in gurudwara in US was caused by how little an average US knows about the rest of the world, the victims pleaded against showing them in a typical way. also this link shows how dangerous it gets when stereotypes of certain sections of the population are depicted in mainstream media:
//My worst fears seemed to come true when I went to the blogosphere to check on the progress of this thread. “Boston Terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Family Got Welfare Benefits.” “Welfare Jihad: Boston Bombers and their family were on living on US taxpayers’ dime.” “Bombing the Hand That Fed Them: Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Family Received Mass. Welfare Benefits.” These are actual headlines from news reports and blog entries. There are also reports that several lawmakers have already proposed pushing back the debate on immigration reform to further consider U.S. policy on refugees and asylum-seekers.//
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/let-us-resist-stereotypes-in-wake-of-bombing-m19nnjc-206036331.html
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aditebanerjie
June 29, 2013
The one and only Shobha De gets it right… http://www.mumbaimirror.com/columns/comment/Does-Raanjhanaa-glorify-stalking/articleshow/20823409.cms
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Sev
June 29, 2013
How does SHobha De get to be a “writer” and publish books while better, more talented minds languish in the sidelines? The perks of being well-connected and having a loaded husband, I guess. All I can say to her “review’ of this movie is-Barf!
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Utkal
June 30, 2013
As usual Sobhaa De, like the spelling of her name, gets it all wrong. Firstly, just because we love the Gabbar Singh’s character and Amjad Khan’s performance does not mean we approve of his action. “Dhanush (talented, vaghera-vaghera …BUT!) is shown hounding poor Sonam (a commendable performance) in a manner so crude and relentless, it is a wonder she doesn’t push him off the nearest cliff. ” So why doesn’t she? Why do powerful women like Madonna and Migella stay ina an abusive relationship until things get too ugly? Maybe the director knows a little more about the complexities of human mind and heart than Sobhaa De?
“Of course, the plot goes all over the place trying to convince us about the nobility of his single minded passion”, she says. No, no one in the audience thinks thee is anything ‘ noble’ about his passion. It is a passion, obsessive passion. The question of nobility or otherwise doesn’t come to the picture.
“Now, if only Kundan had taken the hint and stopped harassing Zoya right at the start, so many lives would have been spared. ” Yes. But doesn’t she realise there would be no film then? Just as there would have ben no play if Othello had realised how stupid his suspicion of Desdemona was. The film is interesting because of the flaws in Kundan’s character, and the audience knows that Kundan is not t a perfect being.
Raanjhana’ (I had no clue what the title stood for… I assumed it was the heroine’s name spelt South Indian style), So now we have to applaud Sobhaa De’s ignorance as wel? Why would a true-blue north Indian go fora south Indian spelling?
“What sort of a signal is the film sending out to all those misguided romeos who think it is perfectly okay to fling acid on a girl’s face for having the gall to reject romantic overtures and improper attention? ”
Based on what is shown in the film, the answer would be: Such obsessive behaviour can be destructive, with terrible consequences all around. That the only way to get over the obsession is to be engaged in some activity, even if it is serving tea. That you can earn the respect of the one you love if you become something and establish yourself as somebody.Even then there is no guarantee that you will win her love. But you will be at a much better space, with more choices.
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Utkal
June 30, 2013
And talking of messages, Madam De forgets that there is a message in the film for the Zoyas of this world too. That you cannot have your cake and eat it too. If you mean No, better stay away from the likes of Kundan. No need to get physical and smear gulal on his face. No need to go scooter riding and sharing pani puris. You should be savvy enough to sense who can play along by your rules and who cannot. Every culture has its own codes of how a woman says , Come on, get me. And you cannot afford to get the signals crossed. And knowing all this if you want to be adventurous in your relationship and wants to have a devoted ‘serf’ on the side, go ahead, but beware, there can be consequences.
One more thing. Madam De, with her limited grasp of things, perhaps fails to notice the following: Kundan does not throw acid at Zoya, he cuts his own wrist. Kundan does not conspire to or work at getting Jasjeet beaten up. All he was doing was exposing a bit of falsehood, which, yes, could work towards his benefit.
And finally, “…one wonders what the director had in mind – is it a doomed Hindu-Muslim love story significantly set in Varanasi? Or a statement film about student politics in Delhi? ” So talented filmmakers interested in the complexities of human relationships now have to make movies that Madam De can reduce to 10-word summaries?
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indianmalefeminist
June 30, 2013
http://mumbaiboss.com/2013/06/24/the-vigil-idiot-raanjhanaa/ 😀
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Ra's Al Ghul
July 2, 2013
The Abhay Deol episodes appeared staright out of a Maniratnam movie. A young, charming activist/politician full of confidence undone only by his love for a girl and an ill thought out plan! That can be an apt description of Karthik’s arc in Mounaraagam.
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ramitbajaj01
July 3, 2013
Movies do affect our actions. Here is an example from +1 NCERT psychology book- “Three groups of children were shown a particular 5 min clip. The common portion of the clip was that a boy (model) enters a room full of toys and he starts hitting them very violently. To the 1st group, it was shown that the boy was awarded for such a behavior. To the 2nd group, it was shown that the boy was punished for his behavior. To the 3rd group, nothing extra was shown; the boy was neither rewarded nor punished. And later, all the kids from 3 groups were together put into a room full of toys and they were secretly observed. Kids start hitting the toys. And it was found that the kids from 1st group were the most violent ones and the kids from the 2nd group were the least violent ones. Thus, Bandura, the psychologist, concluded that observers acquire knowledge by observing the model’s behavior, but performance is influenced by model’s behavior being rewarded or punished.”
And perhaps it is this characteristic of our psychology that is being exploited by advertising companies- we see people liking things that they have no reason for liking.
BR, u said- “Those who see films as vehicles for messages *are* going to see the film as advocating or advancing a viewpoint. (Which is why, in the West, the release of a film ends up with so many op-ed pieces.)”
Perhaps, they are concerned people. And they realize that most of the population sees movies only as a source of entertainment. So, by engaging people into discussion, they are trying to weed out the -ve effects that a movie could have on movie-goers. And also perhaps, they are trying to ask the movie-markers to be a little more responsible and concerned, not that it would kill the art. That would be like saying- u can create art only by being irresponsible and unconcerned.
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Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan
July 3, 2013
Ramit Bajaj: whoever you are, your comments were awesome! i can’t help wondering the defense one is putting for a bad character as some literary master piece instead of its ill effects on the society…i am pained by the cartoons that the kids are watching like chotta bheem which are very regressive and portray certain traits as normal…such as dark skinned persons are always the villains, women are meant to be subservient…to me it is tantamounting to child abuse! if creators lack this basic decency and hide behind moral relativism (as one to its own) then there is no much hope!
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An Jo
July 3, 2013
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Rahini David
July 3, 2013
I have to admit that ramitbajaj01’s NCERT book example makes more sense to me.
Also, I have noticed that if you meet young people who watch English movies and sitcoms and read contemporary English fiction, they are less likely to view premarital sex with disdain. Same goes to widow remarriage, homophobia and other topics considered “not Indian Culture”. This is of course assuming that the person has not travelled extensively.
If travel can open minds, then fiction can too.
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brangan
July 3, 2013
Mambazha Manidhan: But, there’s barely any chance to experience the narrative with like eight nonstop music videos.
Er… the music videos are very much part of the narrative, with lots of exposition. They’re not just singing and dancing here 🙂
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ramitbajaj01
July 3, 2013
@sanjay kumar- i guess showing a bad character is fine, but it’s just that we also have to show its rightful fate. like, showing rape in a movie is fine, but we also have to show that the rapist is punished.
i’ve never watched chhota bheem but m stunned to know that they are showing dark-skinned persons as villains always, considering that it’s originally made in telugu.
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Utkal Mohanty
July 3, 2013
ramitbajaj01: There is a lot of difference between NCERT clips and art. They should conduct the experiment with the same clips of a boy hitting toys violently and getting or not getting punished by different directors, say Satyajit Ray, Raju Hirani and Sanjay Gupta. And you should compare results.
That’s the problem when sociologists start talking about art. Art is different from propaganda. It is about exploring truth and beauty. And the effect it creates on human behaviour is too subtle to be ascertained through experiments by NCERT teachers.
For the record, Kundan does not end happy as result of his ‘stalking’
For the record, the Kauravas went to heaven after dying,while the Pandavas had to spent a short stint in hell before joining the Kauravas there.
Go figure
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Utkal
July 3, 2013
ramitbajaj01: NCVERT should have let three different directors , say Raju Hirani, Anurag Kashyap and Sanjay Gupta direct the clip about a boy hitting the toys and getting or not getting punished. Then the experiment could have done to gauge the reactions to clips by different directors. Art is not jus about what is shown, but also how it is shown.
Art is different from propaganda. It starts where political correctness stops. Art is in search of truth and beauty. Ho wit acts on human consciousness and how it affects human behaviour is beyond the ken of NCERT teachers.
Just for the record, Kundan, the so called ‘ stalker;’ is not rewarded with a happy ending.
Just fora record the ‘Kauravas’ go to heaven after dying, while the ‘Pandavas’ can join them only after doing a stint in hell.
Go figure.
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indianmalefeminist
July 4, 2013
Absolutely agree with ramitbajaj and Rahini. And @Rahini, your observation is very true, English (both British and American) TV shows (esp.) and movies did have significant effect on shaping my political stances on a lot of things – ranging from religion to misogyny and homophobia. So I’d entirely agree with you on that point personally 🙂
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Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan
July 4, 2013
Ramit Bajaj: Yes they do show it…not only that any Amar Chitra Katha comics sends across such messages…art for art sake would have sounded a cool thing maybe few years ago, but not anymore with the studies which link the influences of media on forming opinions as strong, one has to come out of the old paradigm to realize that movies can be made with “sensitivity” and certain social responsibility, without compromising on their “creativity”!…
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ramitbajaj01
July 4, 2013
Utkal- nice point about ‘what’ and ‘how’.
For the record, i don’t have any issue with Raanjhana movie.
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indianmalefeminist
July 5, 2013
“Just for the record, Kundan, the so called ‘ stalker;’ is not rewarded with a happy ending.”
Um, it’s depicted as more of a sacrifice if anything – especially the voiceover at the end glorifying his love towards her and all that. It’s not about political correctness as far as I’m concerned, it made me go – “WTF, seriously?” if anything. The script required me, by the end to sympathize with the protagonist, and that didn’t happen, that’s all. And I’ve had this problem with other tamil films too as Baradwaj mentioned, but they were brainless crap anyways, not a serious attempt like Raanjhanaa (which I didn’t hate or anything, mind)
As opposed to say, Aadukalam (which I thoroughly enjoyed), where Dhanush is actually shown in grey shades – say he stalks the heroine, etc. but he also doesn’t hesitate to beat his mother.
As for the whole Kaurava thing, I find a lot of parts unethical and contradictory with religious texts, and I’m an atheist, so no comments 🙂
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Utkal Mohanty
July 5, 2013
indianmalefemini: “..shown in grey shades – say he stalks the heroine, etc. but he also doesn’t hesitate to beat his mother.” That makes him all black. Where is the white to make him grey?
“Um, it’s depicted as more of a sacrifice if anything – especially the voice over at the end glorifying his love towards her and all that.” So a stalker cannot sacrifice, is it? And a stalker cannot feel love?
And if you try and catch the words of his voice over at the end, it is far more complex and different from, glorifying his love’. It is an admission that he has lost. That he is weary. That destiny dealt him a raw deal by making him fall in love with a girl like Zoya. That there are many things in life over which one does not have control.
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Mambazha Manidhan
July 5, 2013
Yeah.. albeit in a compressed form. I would have preferred that it had unfolded in real time rather than being fast-forwarded thru wordless montages with the sounds of Benaras muted out.
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Maru
July 6, 2013
I’m late to this party, but I enjoyed brangan’s review and some of the discussions here. I found Ruhul’s neo-Devdas view compelling but I’m not sure that Kundan had that Devdas-like self-loathing, arrogance and sense of entitlement. This seemed much more to me as an ode to the small town Raanjhanaa. Bindiya seemed like the female counterpart to Kundan. Brangan, I thought the point of her character was to show that the role can cut across both genders and Swara Bhaskar is terrific in the limited time she gets.
It takes skills, motivation and hard work to make something of oneself (like Zoya did) but schooled on a diet of movies like Saajan, with enough ardor and fervor, it’s considerably easier to chase fool’s good and make a career of being a Raanjhanaa. It was all going per the Raanjahanaa script, right down to sacrificing for the idol’s happiness when tragedy strikes. I thought that atonement scene by the ghats was less about atonement (not that he’s not sorry about the tragedy) and more about getting back into Raanjhanaa mode and snapping out of his paralysis. But Kundan is like a fish out of water away from Benaras and his idol no longer coquettish and warm is now sullen and resentful. His success in student politics is unwitting and would be almost comical if the issues weren’t so serious. He’s a reluctant hero, so it’s almost a relief to be able to slip into Sydney Carton mode – It’s a far far better rest….. I found the climax poignant and quite moving, more so than any of Dhanush’s breakdown scenes. The Raanjhanaa is dead, long live the Raanjhanaa!
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indianmalefeminist
July 6, 2013
“That makes him all black. Where is the white to make him grey?”
Have you seen the film? That’s the two aspects what makes his character grey. I don’t think I have to point out the white bits individually, do I? Really?
“So a stalker cannot sacrifice, is it? And a stalker cannot feel love? “
No, he can. Just like Dhanush in say, Kadhel Kondein (although he’s kind of a sociopath in the film) or Aadukalam here too. He’s absolutely passionate about his love and would make sacrifices for his love and loved ones. But I didn’t feel like the filmmaker trying to force him as a goodie-goodie guy down my throat. I was able to appreciate all the grey shades in those cases. But here during the climax, the whole voiceover thing felt like it was trying to do exactly that – I mean knowingly walking into it – come on now, as if they were shouting “OMG look how awesome this guy is and how great and “pure” his love is!” there. I just felt it loud and wasn’t able to empathize with Dhanush’s character at all.
“it is far more complex and different from, glorifying his love’.”
None of the lines felt anything except like glorifying his love towards Zoya. It’s a well written version of exactly the same, imo anyhow.
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ramitbajaj01
July 6, 2013
when zoya tells kundan about how she and akram fell in love, kundan, in a blow to his sense of entitlement, throws himself and her into Ganga.
when he comes to know about akram’s true identity, he, unconcerned about the interests of others, reveals everything in public, causing huge embarrassment to Zoya. A typical sadist behavior. in devdas, devdas delivers a blow on paro’s face when she rejects his proposal.
just before his marriage, kundan gets to know about akram’s condition and doesn’t consummate his relation with bindya. much like in devdas, when chandramukhi and devdas are about to consummate their relation, devdas gets to know about his father’s condition.
in order to redeem himself of his guilt, he indulges into self-depreciating masochism. when he should really have moved on, he still doesn’t think much of his life and career. much like devdas, who becomes alcoholic after paro’s doli.
moreover, it was his utter arrogance that he is capable of making amends when zoya just wanted him out of her sight.
kundan oozes out last drops of blood when zoya touches him. like devdas who had been holding on to his breath untill he sees paro.
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Praveen
July 6, 2013
Another One here
http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/no-stars-113070501041_1.html
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indianmalefeminist
July 7, 2013
@ramitbajaj01 – Top analysis again.
And if someone still thinks Kundan’s character isn’t idolized or glorified, I’ll just quote Rai here:
“He dies a hero. What I love about my hero Kundan is that he dies happily for love.”
PS: “In a small town pursuing a girl, until she says yes, is a sign of true love” – what is this some sort of perverse form of cultural relativism? So under some conditions it’s okay to stalk girls and not take no for an answer, romantic and sign of true love? FFS.
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ramitbajaj01
July 7, 2013
indianmalefeminist- thanks for quoting Rai. It clears quite an air.
in the first half of the movie, i don’t think there is much case of stalking. Stalking is when u r fed up/ irritated of the person, u want to get rid of him/her and he/she is still following you. But Zoya in mvoie doesn’t seem to mind Kundan’s presence. She rather enjoys slap-sessions. She even invites him, ‘kal thapar khane aana.’ i belong to a small town and i have seen many such cases. girls do normally say yes after keep on postponing to accept the proposal at the first place and playing on and giving suggestive invitations. It is not stalking.
even later, when zoya returns from JNU, she gets to know about kundan’s obsession, still she keeps on asking favors from him and making him her confidant and in a way staying close to him. i wonder how could she mistake him as just-a-friend. if at all, there is a case here of stalking againt kundan, then there should also be one against zoya for abetment to stalking. Much like, there is a case against aditya pancholi for abetment to suicide in jiah’s case.
but in 2nd half, there is full-fledged stalking. and zoya, out of her desire to ignore kundan, becomes a poor victim and she doesn’t realise that she’s being eaten inside out. she didn’t want to see kundan, yet he was making his presence felt. if she had sought to get rid of him, say by taking help of her friends or with the help of police, she could have saved herself of the torture and the forced mis-steps that she took later on. but she was in a weak situation. she was bereaved. one really doesn’t realise sometimes what is good for him/her.
there is a sharp contrast b/w zoya and kundan. zoya, the pragmatic and action-oriented girl, doesn’t think of taking revenge by inflicting pain on kundan, instead she strives to take jasjeet’s vision forward. whereas, kundan, the romanticist, would not leave the other person alone and would continue to make things worse.
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Utkal
July 7, 2013
There really is something about Dhanush’s eyes in Raanjhana. If, as Marilyn Monroe said, “The real lover is the man who can thrill you just by touching your head or smiling into your eyes”, then unconventional-looking (as film reviewers euphemistically call him) Dhanush is the next Rajesh Khanna of Bollywood.
But there is more to Mr. Kolaveri than his eyes alone. His ability for rapid emotional transformation, his lack of self consciousness and, in sharp contrast to the narcissistic toy boys of Bollywood, his body confidence make him among the most electric debutantes of our time.
Just as A.R. Rahman’s score for Raanjhana makes traditional Banarsi chaitis and kajris palatable yet recognisable, scratch the surface of Kundan and you will find the archetypal Tamil hero somehow made acceptable to an all-India audience.
Tamil heroes, their swarthy complexion, hefty waistlines and OTT emotions have always been at the fringe of the Hindi film industry. Sivaji Ganesan’s quivering jowls, MGR’s pencil-thin moustache and Rajnikant’s antics were too much even for an audience no stranger to flights of fantasy. Yet, in Tamil Nadu, millions worship them and consistently voted them to power in the state. The biggest stars of the North are not a patch on the emotional pull of the Southern superstars. What psychological oddity in millions of Tamilians accounts for such behaviour?
Dhanush provokes you into reflecting that the fanatical response to Tamil films may not be in the vices of its viewers but in the virtues of its performers. To understand the theatrical virtuosity of the South Indian star, one needs to understand a related area of self expression: temple devotion. Performing arts in India, after all, have their origin in the telling of a religious story to an illiterate audience.
http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/gaze-of-the-tamil-lover/article4884224.ece
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venkatesh
July 7, 2013
From the article referred to by Utkal above :
“Kamal Haasan’s very Dhanush-like performances in Sagar and Sadma have weathered the test of time and are received better now than when they were released. ” – Really ?!
Hyperbole much .
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Sonu
July 18, 2013
Was this a blooper or did I not understand the meaning? In Kundan’s dialogue before leaves for the rally and after Zoya dresses him up for it, he says: tu ab bhi musalman ko hindu bata rahi hai. Shouldn’t it have been the other way round? She was still trying to describe a hindu as a muslim: Kundan’s hint that he knew she was lying.
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brangan
July 21, 2013
Two pieces in the Hindu today (one by Swara Bhaskar, who played Bindiya):
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/crazy-love-in-banaras/article4935904.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-halo-around-male-antics/article4935937.ece
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indianmalefeminist
July 21, 2013
From her (Swara’s) article:
“Raanjhanaa’s Jasjit lamenting that plans born of women’s minds cannot be trusted; Sharma’s men are bewildered at the ways of women. This may make them conservative but not misogynists.”
Say what now? You don’t have to rape or kill women to harbor misogynist views. You can be a very decent guy otherwise and still have misogynistic views (or racist, or homophobic). Whether we view it as merely portraying reality or whether the film’s essence is misogynistic is debatable – but I have no idea how that views could considered to be NOT misogynist.
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Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan
July 21, 2013
Disappointing article by Swara Bhaskar…seemed very biased and all her rebuttals sounded like a tame apologia…and some sort of cognitive dissonance in accepting the obvious
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Sonu
July 23, 2013
indianmalefeminist: by your logic then, when women bewildered by men’s ways say that men can’t be trusted, they are being men-haters? Please look for the shades of grey. Not everything is black and white!
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Rahul
July 24, 2013
I liked Swara’s piece , and not just because she echoed my Devdas reading 🙂 By the way, her mother is a professor of film studies in JNU.
I liked Chitra’s piece too. I am with her when she says – “In Raanjhanaa, there is no beloved except the self.” – but then, she thinks of this as an anomaly (“In Raanjhanaa, the director’s sleight of hand lends Kundan’s character a ‘cute’, underdog look to glaze over his suffocating male antics, and ends up creating a halo around him, and that is worrisome. “) In my opinion the self obsessed lover has been one of the few major archetypes in Hindi cinema. The careers of Guru Dutt and Rajesh Khanna are based on that archetype.
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brangan
July 24, 2013
kk: Why did Maryan, the alpha male, do this for Thomayya.
I think this is more like a “heroism” scene — nicely and subtly done — to establish that the sea was like his home. Going from one boat to another was like popping over to the neighbour’s to ask for some milk or sugar.
vijay: Did you read my “Raanjhanaa” review? I said: “Dhanush does his best to hold it all together. It’s not a stretch by any means (for that, you’ll have to seek out Pudhupettai or Aadukalam), but it’s still a beautifully modulated performance…”
tejas/Sara: I thought that the general sense gets through… Compare these two options:
Early on, Maryan says he finds himself at home in Sudan because “ellaarum nambala maadhiri manushanga dhaane,” and we need to feel his anguish when he realises how mistaken he was with this utopian assumption.
Early on, Maryan says he finds himself at home in Sudan, and we need to feel his anguish when he realises how mistaken he was with this utopian assumption.
Remove the Tamil and the sense gets through, I thought. But anyway, will keep this in mind for future reviews. The reason I don’t like doing translations mid-review is that it kills the flow if you put the meaning in square brackets right next to the lines, but…
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indianmalefeminist
July 24, 2013
@Sonu; What on earth are you talking about guy? Yes that is prejudiced, but to say that’s equally worse as the misogynistic comment would be false equivalence.
What’s your point anyways? I was talking about her comment about how it’s not misogynist, not the portrayal of characters themselves. Did you read my comment before posting this or what?
@Rahul: I agree regarding this being not an anomaly. As BR mentioned, quite common in Tamil films to stalk the crap out of heroine until she falls for him, although I never saw it entering the “multiple wrist slitting” phase.
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ramitbajaj01
July 25, 2013
movies’ male-characters are definitely misogynist, but the movie is not. it’s so heartwarming to see a female character air views on right wing. her kiss example really won me over. and otherwise also, she has been shown very upright, clear-minded and not at all submissive. she is very distinctive b/w right and wrong. the movie is a progressive step on women empowerment. but my major problem with the movie is its creation of ‘halo around obsessive love.’ After all the cheap/immature things kundan does, he gets to be a martyr. it is not done. things should be shown in proper light. because this movie appeared too real to be fictional. it was unlike other movies, say Rockstar, which was just too fictional to be real. My point is people do associate themselves with movie characters. we follow certain things and we reject certain things based on on-screen behaviors; subconsciously. it is a fact and we can’t debate it.
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brangan
July 25, 2013
ramitbajaj01: movies’ male-characters are definitely misogynist, but the movie is not.
Excellent point, and it reminded me of the discussion around “Ishaqzaade.” Reproducing a comment I wrote on that thread:
“I’m not sure that this film is ‘regressive’ in its attitude towards women. The *people* in the film are, sure. But the film, I thought, was just telling a story. Yes, bad things happen to the women here but does that make the *film* regressive? Something to mull over.
For that matter, I don’t even find films like ‘Vivah’ regressive. (See review here.) There are people like that still in India, and the film is just showing us a story about them.
I would think that a regressive movie is one without nuance, which revels in characters whose behaviour we find regressive. Something like the Kalpataru-directed family films of the 1980s, where the director takes a moralistic stance and leaves us with messages like ‘you have to obey your husband.’ By the end of these films, opinionated wives are subjugated, they learn to toe the line etc. But here the ‘take home’ isn’t regressive IMO. It just is. The characters may feel a certain way, but the film doesn’t seek to impose their views on us.
We know Parma’s mother feels a certain way, and we may find her views obnoxious, but she pays for her stance and her son doesn’t endorse those views. Rather he ‘atones’ for them, in a manner of speaking. So it didn’t feel regressive to me.
And adding to this, in “Raanjhanaa” too, the hero atones for his sins and dies, so I feel the misogynism is in him, not in the film. The big problem I had in this film was in this hero’s “cute-ification” in the second half, but towards the end, I didn’t have any issues.
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Ranga
July 25, 2013
My biggest grouse in the film was the ‘Bindya’ character. She seems to have been written into the script purely to satisfy a (regrettably) South Indian stereotype – that the ‘hero’ cannot have a woman rejecting him without another woman willing to selflessly subjugate herself tohim. Unlike the other characters in the film, Bindya doesn’t evolve or have a character-arc. Sure, every woman (and man) has crushes. But rarely, if ever, do these crushes carry on for years and years, as seems to be case in Raanjhana.
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indianmalefeminist
July 25, 2013
@ramitbajaj101 – Oh I agree. If it was directed at me, my criticism was regarding her claim that the characters were not misogynists – they were. But does that make it a misogynistic film? No. I think I’ve made that amply clear by now.
However as you said, the glorification of hero is worrying, which is, if anything, makes the movie incredibly frustrating – especially as you said, as the movie is more grounded in reality for most parts than over the top.
@Rangan – I doubt it – see Anand Rai’s quote here:
“He dies a hero. What I love about my hero Kundan is that he dies happily for love.”
“In a small town pursuing a girl, until she says yes, is a sign of true love”
Classic case of reading into it way too much I suppose 🙂 He does think Kundan died a hero – there. From the horses mouth. He also thinks it’s reflection of “true love” in a culturally relativist sense. And I do think the whole voiceover dialogue explicitly glorifies his ‘martyrdom’ in a not-so-subtle way. I can’t believe I have to point that out over and over? If not how could it be more obvious?
By that rationale, could any film be criticized on any grounds? For instance, I mean I’m sure there are racist cops with puritan mindset all over (I got sick while watching ‘Vel’ when Surya started lecturing women about how to dress “modestly” and had to cover up their “purushan mattum pakka vendiya udambu”), but if I said Hari was intending to portray a grey shaded cop with all those attributes – you would call crazy wouldn’t you?
I think you can clearly differentiate, in most cases, when filmmakers objectively portrays a society for all the grey shades (Selva does that well – a bit iffy on Mayakkam Enna) or when a filmmaker genuinely believes the gist of what he shows on screen to be perfectly ethical. I think Sooraj Barjatya films belong to the latter, not the former – the glorification of their views in their movies can be clearly differentiated from an intentional objective portrayal of grey shades or conservative society, no? At least that’s what I think.
PS: Sorry for the incredibly long post, by the way 🙂
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Sanjay Kumar Nirmuktan
July 25, 2013
//but if I said Hari was intending to portray a grey shaded cop with all those attributes – you would call crazy wouldn’t you?// that nailed it against those who felt the film [i]per se[/i] was not misogynist, but the characters were…i find no point in the continuous denial of this fact post after post…
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brangan
July 26, 2013
Ranga: Good point about Bindiya. Didn’t quite look at her that way, but you’re right about the ” (regrettably) South Indian stereotype – that the ‘hero’ cannot have a woman rejecting him without another woman willing to selflessly subjugate herself to him.” Thing, though, is that I seem to have seen this a lot of times but cannot recall, offhand, any instances. Can anyone help?
indianmalefeminist: Two things here:
(1) Why are we interested in what the director says is in the film? We are only interested in what we see/infer, no? What makes him the authority on his film — or, at least, why do we think always that he’s telling the “truth” when it comes to his film? I’m not saying he’s lying, but it’s really easy to convince yourself of things when you’re so close to something, and sometimes people who see films from a distance won’t see that at all. So “from the horse’s mouth” has no meaning for me, except at an anecdotal level. As in, “Oh, this is what he *says* his film is about,” which is a very different thing from “This is what his film *is* about.”
(2) The problem with art is that the same cold and objective standards cannot be applied to everything. There’s a lot of subjectivity in how you classify one film as being misogynistic (or whatever else) and not another, which may have the same “plot point,” but may have been treated differently. Sometimes the lines are clear (as you state with Hari). Sometimes they’re not, and we have to decide for ourselves. What may be an obvious statement of martyrdom to you needn’t be the same to me, as I saw the end not as “glorification” but of a man giving up because he’s just too tired of it all.
PS: Never apologise for long posts, always welcome 🙂
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ramitbajaj01
July 26, 2013
Discussing director’s POV is important because many people do relate with the director’s vision. And it’s upsetting to see a wrong premise being promulgated. Like u said- ” messages like ‘you have to obey your husband’ subjugate opinionated wives,” similarly Raanjhana did create a hero for many. It didn’t for me, that is another point. The friend i watched with was all praise for the love of kundan. He is of the opinion that you should continue bearing the pain in love, the other person would definitely love you back one day. And i am of the opinion that one should move on, there are other things as well in life. Of course, i shouldn’t be dictating terms to anybody and the way one wants to live life is one’s personal choice. But it really upsets me when somebody chooses to live a non-peaceful life. I don’t know the end of whose life would be sweeter/more peaceful but i,personally, would choose for more happy-days than just the one last happy-day. So, it kindof makes me question the director’s stand.
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ramitbajaj01
July 26, 2013
In Jab Tak Hai Jaan, had Anushka not fallen for Shahrukh, would the story have changed?
In Vikky Donor, Had that neighbour girl not been there, would that have reduced macho-ism of the hero?
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indianmalefeminist
July 26, 2013
1) I’m very interested in what the director has to say, BR. Because that’s what he’s trying to convey, and despite what your (or my) interpretation might be, as ramit said, most people seems to interpret this “correctly” as in what the director intended it to be. I just used it as a point to back something that was blatantly obvious to me (i.e. the director clearly seems to think that this is some expression of “true, divine love”).
2) I don’t think it was subtle here at all, really. We’re supposed to sympathize with Kundan at that point for the movie to work – and unless we think this is some sort of expression of “true love”, how are we supposed to empathize with a character with a stalker at all? I don’t know how I can make this any more clear really. Well, I can’t prove anything, even if you argue that Hari intended to actually make grey shaded characters, as it’s all subjective to varying degrees anyways. Will have to agree to disagree I suppose. 🙂
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brangan
July 27, 2013
indianmalefeminist: Oh, I too am interested in what the director has to say — but it’s just, that an “interest,” and I don’t treat it like the last word. Cinema, unlike other arts, is a very collaborative medium, and there’s only so much control a director has when it comes to what he wanted to make versus what he ended up making. Sometimes a lot of the stuff a director says is in his head — the way he sees it (or saw it, in the writing stage) — and not necessarily on screen when you or I see it. So in a way, a director’s analysis of his film is like your analysis or mine. It’s definitely an interesting POV but not necessarily one you/I have to agree with.
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Shankar
July 27, 2013
Baddy, Would Vazhve Maayam qualify as an example?
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Amit Joki
March 10, 2016
The review is just fine. BTW can someone co relate the JNU issue now and the JNU issue in the film?
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tonks
April 26, 2016
Caught Raanjhana only now. I agree with the commenters here who felt that there was a disturbing glorification of Kundan’s stalkerish, obsessive, selfish love. What I found most problematic in the plot however was that even though it’s understandable that Sonam’s character would lie to her parents about the religion of her lover, I could not understand the need for her to lie to Kundan about it, when she had been quite candid to him about the rest of her story and there was absolutely no need for her to lie about this alone. It seemed an artificial contrivance to put twists in the plot.
And like one commenter mentioned, I did find a similarity to Rajanikant’s acting style in some of Dhanush’s scenes. He was also, I thought, incredibly believable as a 15 year old ( like Nivin Pauly in Premam )
Also, yes, Amit, I found many of the events in the movie to have an eerie parallel to the recent JNU events.
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tonks
April 26, 2016
Amit, the parallels that struck me were:
Young, aggressive, confidant, intellectual, politically aware students who
1) have a strong, vocal leader
2) are anti-establishment : holding protests against government policies
3) have strong socialist ideology, standing up for the weak and the poor
4) get media attention and grow into a political power outside the college
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