VIEWER'S CUT :RANJHANAA

Thank you Dhanush for playing Kundan this well.

Street smart. Jugaadu guy. Zabardast maal in an ordinary packet (Another close character  I have seen on screen is Bittoo of ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’). The dialogues where you laugh at yourself. Makes Kundan so endearing. You summed up your character yourself, somewhere near the middle of the movie,"Tumse pyaar karna mera talent hai. Ismein tumhara koi haath nahin." (It was my talent to fall in love with you. You have no hand in it). The relentless pursuit of ‘the unachievable dream’. The waiting. The guilt that consumed you.  A small town guy becoming a poster boy of new age political activism.  Sacrificing a thriving political career, a friend , a dedicated woman,familiar lanes of Banaras – all of this for a childhood obsession. 

Sonam Kapoor, your character had so many shades. Innocence in adolescence, conniving as an adult, impressed by a perfect guy, jealous in politics, confused in love. It was one of your better performances till date.

Thank you Anand L Rai for giving us a reasonably good movie. The setting. Varanasi. The colours. The religious divide. Murari and his Guruji. The scooter. Asi Ghat. The plethora of ideas you had while writing the story. The cruel twist of fate. The dig at ‘left-leaning student activists’.  Most of all the characters. Murari. His Guruji. Jasjit. His sister.  

Had the story been a fairytale, I would not have liked it. Despite its shortcomings (which I have not dealt with here), ‘Ranjhanaa’ did not disappoint.