If you thought that the most intense movie on student politics was Yuva, Gulaal is going to shock you. Apart from Yuva, I also co-related it a bit with Omkara. I am not saying that the story or any scene is common among these. It is just that the overall political backdrop which is used in the plot is similar.
Gulaal is a great movie performance-wise. KK is simply great. His portrayal of Bana is simply fluent. It is his character that creates a pressure in the entire movie. Performance of all the other actors was also splendid. The credit for this goes to all the actors as well as Anurag Kashyap for extracting such amazing performances. I will not give out the story of the movie, but will just say that it deals with issues like ragging, student politics, provinces of Rajasthan, fight for power and a lot of violence.
The lyrics of most of the songs were good and quite thought provoking. The only song I found a bit irritating was the second song picturized on Mahie Gill. Speaking about Mahie Gill, the role given to her was very short, but she performed it very effectively.
I read some reviews, which say that the use of expletives was unwanted. But I think the language used in the movie and the violence depicted kind-of teleports the viewer inside the screen, and audience goes through the same stress as the characters.
This movie is not recommended to be watched with your parents. Nor it is recommended to be watched on a date. Go and watch RNBDJ instead (if it is still showing somewhere, that is). My wife was desperately waiting for the interval (I guess, that’s because she hates politics and violence, which are the core components of the movie).
I suggest critics should shortlist KK for an award for best performance (in supporting role, if not the lead role).
Final rating: ****
