Anurag Kashyap is indeed a special story teller. Even before the high praise from everywhere for Dev D could end he is back and how? Even this time the size of the canvas is same but how Anurag paints this one is very different from Dev D. The movie is a political drama based in the University where students take elections so seriously as if they were already in the Lok Sabha.
It is the story of Dilip Singh played by new comer Raj Singh Chaudhary who is a complete ‘fattu’. He meets Rananjay Singh aka Ransa (Abhimanyu Singh) and then his life changes. He gets entangled in University Politics and loses his way. There is also a parallel love story of sorts in between but it’s not very well executed. Even Jessey Randhawa’s character and track had a lot of scope but somehow Anurag did not get this one right. A scene towards the end shows Dilip’s servant trying to make him realize the importance of Jessey’s character in his life but the script does not let you see those things clearly.
Besides these minor flaws Gulaal is hard hitting cinema at its best. There are so many scenes which take you by surprise, specially the face to face talk of Rananjay with his step brother and how the scene ends or Jessy’s entry into the classroom as the teacher. One more thing that stands out in this venture is the soundtrack. Piyush Mishra creates a haunting score filled with realistic eye opening lyrics. The score won’t leave you for a long time after you are done watching the film. The same can also be said about the dialogues. There are a lot of abuses but all of it fits really beautifully with the script and make the experience more realistic.
Of the performances the one who stands out, without any surprise is KK Menon. His speech could actually infuse confidence in you even if he wants to do away with democracy. He is such a fine actor that he didn’t let you miss Jack Nicholson in Shaurya which is a very big deal. Also Abhimanyu Singh as ‘Ransa’ is a treat and he impresses in every scene. Bhatti played by Deepank Dobhrayal is done brilliantly. Just by watching the pan shop scene where Deepak is totally mute proves what great potential this man has. And the icing on the cake was undoubtedly Piyush Mishra who plays a ‘cuckoo’ Rajput and is completely inspired by John Lennon’s teachings. He never approves of KK’s ideologies and so he rightly says “Yeh Duniya agar mil bhi jaye toh kya hai” .