Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: http://www.filmcompanion.in/article/ramaleela-movie-review
Arun Gopy’s Ramaleela (Rama’s Play) was conceived and completed before its leading man, Dileep, was arrested for plotting the kidnap and assault of an actress — so what we see on screen is not intentionally meta. But meta it certainly is. How can you not think about real life when the first sighting of Ramanunni (Dileep) occurs as he is escorted by cops? And who’s waiting at the other end? The media, breathless for sound bites. Even the lines (“Are the allegations true?”) flit easily between Ramanunni and Dileep. And consider the zoom-in to Ramanunni standing behind a window: slowly, the wall vanishes, the frame disappears, and we just see a face behind vertical bars. If a grisly, can’t-look-away road accident were made into a movie, it’d resemble Ramaleela.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
MANK
October 3, 2017
brangans review coincides with Dileep’s release from prison on bail. You can’t find another film that’s so true to life
LikeLike
Mohanlal
October 3, 2017
I liked the movie. I found a very entertaining callback to the Shaji Kailas/Joshy era of political thrillers. In spite of it’s long running time, I wasn’t bored.
LikeLike
Anu Warrier
October 3, 2017
I’m appalled that the man is out on bail. I’m not surprised, however. His clout is such that I was surprised he even stayed in jail this long. With his release, I assume that no other actress will dare mention sexual harassment, let alone accuse anyone of it. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
brangan
October 3, 2017
“Trade experts believe that Ramaleela has the potential to emerge as one of the top three highest grossers of Malayalam cinema.”
http://onlookersmedia.in/collection-report/kerala-box-office-ramaleela-5-days-collection-report/
LikeLike
Mohanlal
October 3, 2017
@Anu
He is still only an accused, and unlike MSG, one without a prior criminal history or accusations. To prematurely declare him as a criminal is, I think, just as dangerous as something like #avanodoppam and the like. We all want justice for the victim, regardless of how big of a celebrity the accused is, but a “guilty until proven innocent” mentality is precarious.
LikeLike
Jayram
October 3, 2017
I wonder what the WCC (Women’s Collective in Cinema) has to say about Dileep’s release.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Anu Warrier
October 4, 2017
Mohanlal, fair point, but so far, the evidence points squarely at his participation in the deed. Enough for the police to actually incarcerate him. (I doubt they would have if the evidence against him wasn’t too much to ignore – as I said, the man has a lot of clout.) The courts have refused bail multiple times before too.
LikeLike
Ratish Ravindran
October 4, 2017
@BR – Nobody analyses the meta reference in movies the way you do – be it Kamal Hassan, SRK, Salman Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Sridevi or this one. To borrow a term from your review it is practically a dare, Most film reviewers avoid analyzing them because of its controversial nature especially the ones on Salman , Kangana & Dileep.
The only time you have missed this analysis is in films that Karan Johar has directed, produced or acted in like Kal Ho na Ho, Bombay Talkies, Dostana, Bombay Velvet etc which had meta references to his sexual orientation. Wonder why you missed the elephant in the room?
LikeLiked by 1 person
brangan
October 4, 2017
Ratish Ravindran: But Bombay Talkies, Dostana, Bombay Velvet are not meta, no? The Bombay Velvet character was gay. The Bombay Talkies character is repressed and gay. Dostana is pretend-gay. These characters are on the surface. The most you could say that it’s the case of a gay filmmaker dealing with gay characters, but where’s the “abstraction” — i.e. the allusiveness — here that can lead to a meta reading? Yes, I guess I could have noted the connection between the characters and his orientation, but it wasn’t something that popped up very strongly, like in these films, where the twinning is so strong.
Let me explain. Dostana featuring gay characters is like Uttama Villain being about an actor. That alone is not a great example of meta. The real meat of the latter film is that it twines so much with the real actor, and unless Karan had revealed that side of him (so we could make precise, plot-by-plot comparisons), it’s very hard to say.
But I did ask him — in this interview — a couple of questions along the lines you say:
When you are so open about your personal life, do you wonder if some day an interviewer is going to ask you the names of the two people who broke your heart?
and
Have you thought about the fact that your films can be read through a lens of sexuality? In Kuch Kuch…, the “tomboy” is rejected and she has to transform into the hetero-normative idea of female beauty in order to be loved back. In Kabhi Khushi…, the “sensitive” son is cast out by the father, while the macho, cricket-playing stud of a son is cherished…
and
If you could date an international film star, who would it be?
LikeLiked by 4 people
Rohit Sathish Nair
October 4, 2017
‘Prayaga Martin plays Helena, a woman who advertises her “modernity” by being anti-marriage and downing vodka. (Thankfully, there’s no romantic track.)’
This might be its own statement, in this film.
LikeLike
sanjana
October 4, 2017
People are so forgiving and forgetting. When they do so, they start defending. Thus truth dies a silent death.
LikeLike
Ratish Ravindran
October 4, 2017
BR – You are right. Perhaps I was just nitpicking. But at least in Bombay Velvet where he played a gay character he showed that effeminate quality which he shows in real life too. He made fun of union leaders English diction in the movie which is what he did in real life too with Kangana’s English. Yeah but the twinning is not strong like you said.
LikeLike
Ratish Ravindran
October 4, 2017
BR – Yeah…before i forget KJo played the quintessential snooty South Bombay businessman in Bombay Velvet, which he is in real life. I still remember an old interview of his where he mentions that he was ashamed to tell his South Bombay friends that his father made Bollywood movies because it was considered very downmarket then. He disliked south Indian movies of the 1980’s which were remade into Hindi, because he felt they were was very kitschy 🙂
LikeLike
Sree
October 4, 2017
I dont understand which evidence is pointing dileeps participation in the crime. I was a not a fan of him and hated most of his recent films.My boss was the last one i watched in theatre and chandrettan Evideya is the only one i liked in his recent fims. But i m almost sure he is framed in this case. Either poliCe committed a mistake by blindly trusting pulsar sunis words and is not willing to rectify it or they too are paRt of some conspiracy.
Police submitted some of the ‘evidences’ in sealed cover in court. They havent disclosed it to anyone other than court. But Some of the ‘evidences’ were leaked to news media after arrest which are laughworthy. First one is a selfy of dileep with his fans during the shooting of georgettans pooram.and Pulsar suni is visible somewhere in the background . This was celebrated as the biggest breakthrough in case by medias.Establishing the connection between dileep and pulsar suni. But later it was found pulsar suni was a regular member of All film crews and his photos with many other prominent stars Like dharmajan, balachandran chullikadu, mukesh etc were leaked .Its still available in youtube but no media reported about it.
Second revelation was that police got evidence for pulsar sunis presence in Locations of 2 dileep films In the last 4 years. Again he was the driver in most film crews and it was found he was even present in sets of karinkunnam sixers ,manju warrior film.
Another big evidence was that both dileep n pulsar suni were present in same tower locations in multiple instances!!! No comment on that.
another evidence A letter which the pulsar suni wrote from jail to dileep . MLA pc george raised some valid questians regarding it , ‘ jail seal is present in the letter.It is mandatory that jailor should read and varify any letter from jail inmates before sending it out. So why did not the jailor informed the police since the letter is revealing the truths behind a crime which they are investigsting and is sensation in medias. If it was a mistake by jailor why no action was taken against him?’ And no body from police or government have answered this questian till now and no action is taken against jailor.
And the most important argument by police against dileep during the arrest was that he hid the fact that pulsar suni called him from jail. He filed the case against pulsar suni for threatening only after several weeks. But later in court dileep revealed he reported it to dgp that day itself through whatsapp and he can produce evidence for it. DGP didnt deny it but had some weird arguments that whatsapp message cannot be considered as complaints. Its clear police lied and hid the fact that dileep reported about the call to police on the same day itself. So why should anyone blindly trust police in this issue?
These were the evidences leaked from police. I am not saying dileep is innocent . It has to be proven in court. I dont know whats in the sealed covers submitted to court. But how can anyone With commonsense already confirm he is guilty with these ‘evidences’ ? Let the court do its job .
Its not good to form an opinion about this Issue by just following the news media especially national medias. Since they just repost the masala portions of news from from state medias. And state media is heavily biased against against dileep(although there is some changes now). Most of the news reported earlier turned out to be false. And they never cared to correct it. Even kavya, dileeps wife was accused to b part of crime by medias. They said pulsar suni handed over the memory card to her and she gave him money. Later police themselves confirmed in court kavya is not part of anything and they have no plans to file any case against her. No newsmedias or journalists apologised for all the false allegations against her. And no feminsts or women in cinema collective members came to support her and contempt medias.
About the film its a good entertainer. A decent political thriller with a good climax. Its more enjoyable if u have some background knowledge about kerala politics. The core theme itself is inspired from the ‘T P chandrasekaran’ murder happened few years before in kerala. But the crowd for the film is extra ordinary. More than what actually deserved by this film. Special 3 am shows due to heavy crowd on second day. Women waiting in ques for the 12 am shows. Infact it was a rare sight in kerala , women audience flocking to theatres in first day itself for a big star film. I dont believe all these is because the film is soo good. Common people here have better commonsense than our so called intellectuals and feminists.
LikeLike
Anu Warrier
October 5, 2017
>>> But the crowd for the film is extra ordinary. More than what actually deserved by this film.
And:
Common people here have better commonsense than our so called intellectuals and feminists.
If the film is not ‘sooo good’ and if the crowds were ‘more than what is actually deserved by this film’, then where’s the ‘better commonsense’ that the crowd is displaying by queuing up for this movie?
Why the gratuitous slap against ‘so-called intellectuals and feminists’? Just as you do, others also are intepreting the evidence; you interpret it to mean that Dileep has been framed and/or that the police are part of a conspiracy to indict him; others interpret it to mean that he’s involved. What, in the absence of solid proof, makes you right and the ‘so-called intellectuals and feminists’ wrong?
LikeLiked by 5 people
Rohit Sathish Nair
October 5, 2017
Will you be reviewing ‘Udaharanom Sujatha’, Sir, or will you be skipping it like you gave the Hindi ‘Drishyam’ a miss? (The film is a remake of ‘Nil Battey Sannata). A male director is at the helm this time, and we get the small tweak of the Collector being a woman here. I haven’t watched the film, and so I don’t know if these changes affect the movie. I hope people who have watched the film can pitch in (in a different comments section if needed)
LikeLike
phaneendra201
October 5, 2017
I completely agree with Anu Warrier. Whoever has done this, is neither a man nor a woman or not even a transgender. I don’t want to degrade transgenders by comparing these creepy people with them. At the same time I appreciate courage of Bhavana to file a FIR
LikeLike
Aman
October 5, 2017
If he is guilty, he should be punished. If he isn’t, then too bad for malayalam cinema. But making bad films is no crime, so we will have to live with it. As we discuss he is reinstated as the resident of exhibitors association, I hope this doesn’t spell doom for people who spoke against him when it comes to their movie releases. ( namely Prithvi, Asif, Manju etc).
Incidentally ‘her’ film played at Dileep’s theater even as he was arrested. Worst case scenario obviously would be he is guilty and not punished, which can happen considering how hard it is to prove conspiracy. Film folks can only hope this won’t happen. Whatever is the scenario, first and foremost issue is justice for her. I hope whoever is behind the crime is duly punished.
LikeLike
MANK
October 5, 2017
Dileep can thank the kerala media for the the success of Ramaleela, the man who was practically down and out and subjected to abuses and condemnation has now the sympathy of the people, all for the way in which media handled the whole issue. . For a state that is supposed to be the most literate and intellectually superior, we have the worst form of media activism , with channel presenters considering themselves to be above the supreme court in conducting media trial and pronouncing judgements
LikeLike
Naveen
October 5, 2017
@MANK, in our film crazy society, nothing succeeds like success. if he delivers two more back to back hits, public would forget this episdoe or stop taking it seriously. being Kerala, it might take longer time than such an incident would take in TN or AP.
in our witness based judiciary system, one cannot expect justice to happen. whoever conspired this would have been careful enough not to leave actionable clues.
there are thousands of criminal cases that die in the courts due to lack of witness/evidence. prominent cases involving celeb stay in people’s and media’s mind for some.
what happened in Rajiv’s killing or Sankararaman murder or Ramajayam’s murder…somebody will be made a scapegoat but the truth will never be known.
trial by specualtion and by media would be unfair if the accused is not really guilty.
we may never get to know.
LikeLike
MANK
October 5, 2017
Naveen, the issue here is that media and vested interests have completely hijacked this issue. in all this cacophony, the main point, about justice for the actress is completely lost. the media is spinning wild stories day in and out only to increase the ratings, the political and social powers are trying to see how best to use this issue for their own interests, people in film industry are using this to settle personal scores. i dont think anybody care about the actress in all this. its been more than 8 months and not even a proper chargesheet is submitted leave alone beginning a trial.If this is the case of a famous actress imagine what happens to an ordinary girl. Our criminal justice system is becoming a joke
LikeLiked by 1 person
Naveen
October 6, 2017
Mank, I was surprised/shocked/amused to read that the case of assassination of Mahatma Gandhi is not closed fully; there are theories of a untraceable fourth bullet which actually killed him and there is a disparity in the ownership of guns.
Truth is the biggest victim in these cases. buried deep safely to let real culprits go free
LikeLike
Rahul
October 8, 2017
BR, I thought the Rishi Kapoor character in SOTY was kinda meta. I do not remember the exact dialogues now, but I think there was something on the lines of – “I organize this show (SOTY) to hide my pain . and my jovial demeanor is a facade to hide my loneliness. ”
So just like Rishi Kapoor drowns himself in organizing that show, KJo has submerged himself into making movies . Behind the adage “the show must go on” they have found a purpose in their professional lives because they cant realize themselves openly in their personal lives.
LikeLike
Doba
October 16, 2017
I hope you bring this up in one of your articles –
It is so depressing. It makes me weep.
LikeLike
Raju
October 30, 2017
“Jaw-dropping twist”??? Hardly!, in my opinion. Saw the movie today. I was able to guess the twist halfway through the second half, well before the big reveal! Though it was a good movie with regard to other aspects, I think it failed as a whodunnit.
LikeLike