Gulaal
Encyclopedia
Gulaal is a 2009 Indian film directed by Anurag Kashyap
and starring Kay Kay Menon
, Raj Singh Chaudhary
, Abhimanyu Singh
, Deepak Dobriyal
, Ayesha Mohan, Jesse Randhawa
, Piyush Mishra
and Aditya Srivastava. The film explores themes such as pursuit of power, quest for legitimacy, perceived injustices and hypocrisy of the powerful. The film is set in present day Rajasthan
, a state in western India. The plot is provided by student politics of the university and a fictitious secessionist movement
consisting of former Rajput
leaders who have become present day elite.
), a law student who is a Rajput from Bikaner, and his faithful servant, Bhanwar (Mukesh Bhatt), secure housing in an old, run-down British-era pub. Here Dilip meets Rananjay Singh “Ransa” (Abhimanyu Singh
), a prince who despises the ideologies of his father and the aristocracy. Ransa's straightforward and fearless personality has quite an effect on the mild-mannered Dilip. Shortly, Dilip visits the university hostel where he is ragged
by a gang of university thugs, led by Jadwal (Pankaj Jha
). They strip him and lock him in a room with Anuja (Jesse Randhawa
), a young lecturer in the same university. Both Dilip and Anuja are released naked. Dilip's brother tells him to ignore the event and that things were the same in his days, effectively stating that the society as a whole hasn’t changed much since his time. But Ransa disagrees and tells Dilip that they should avenge this act. Initially, Dilip is reluctant but finally gives in and goes along with Ransa, after Ransa provokes him to give the thugs a taste of their own medicine. But the tables are turned and both Dilip and Ransa are beaten and are ragged and thrown out of the hostel. Ransa meets Dukey Bana (Kay Kay Menon
), a local figure who is trying to gather support for the Rajputana
separatist movement, who allows them to proceed with the plan to injure Jadwal. Ransa and Dilip ambush Jadwal, but the other thugs corner them in a cinema hall. Dukey Bana interferes and rescues them. Dukey Bana then convinces Ransa to in the General Secretary Elections at the university. Running against Ransa is his father's out-of-wedlock daughter, Kiran (Ayesha Mohan).
Ransa is kidnapped by his father's out-of-wedlock son Karan (Aditya Srivastava), who asks him to withdraw from the elections. Ransa mocks him and Karan kills him. Taking advantage of the situation, Dukey Bana makes Dilip to take Ransa's place in the election. The chances of Dilip winning are minimal, so Dukey Bana bribes the electoral panel to rig the count in Dilip's favour. Dilip wins the election to become the general secretary. Kiran then seduces Dilip and convinces him to allow her to become the cultural secretary. Dukey Bana then starts using the funds for the Rajputana separatist movement. When Dilip finds out about this he goes to confront Dukey Bana about the funds. Bana lets Dilip know about the movement and tells him that the funds are being used for it. Dilip is not convinced and tries to reason with Bana. A frustrated Bana takes him to his country estate where his thugs have killed Jadwal and shows him the body to intimidate him. Anuja, is thrown out of the hostel and moves in with Dilip. Kiran gets pregnant and is angry with Dilip for being careless about it. She gets an abortion and leaves Dilip. Anuja tries to make Dilip understand that Kiran has no interest in leading a married life and leaves him. A frustrated Dilip resigns from his post and Kiran steps in. She then tries to seduce Dukey Bana, but she fails when Bhati (Deepak Dobriyal
), Dukey's second-in-command, comes looking for Dukey. In a private meeting, an irate Dukey threatens Karan and Kiran by telling them that the only reason they're alive is because of their links to the local king.
Dilip, blinded by his love for Kiran, becomes violent and aggressive. Anuja also decides to leave him. Meanwhile Dilip finds out about Kiran from Bana's mistress, Madhuri (Mahi Gill
). He grabs a gun, goes to Bana's house and shoots him. While dying, Bana tells him that Kiran used Dilip to get to him. At the same time, Karan reveals to his group of thugs that once Dukey Bana is out of the way, the Rajputana movement will have no choice but to choose Karan as its new leader and therefore legitimize his royal status. They conclude that to get rid of Dukey, they must first eliminate Bhati. Dilip wants to hear the truth from Kiran, so he tells Bhati to get her on the phone. Kiran refuses to answer, so Bhati goes off to find her and is killed by Karan's thugs. Dilip comes to meet Kiran who tells him that all she wanted to was use him to become general secretary. Dilip rejects her explanation and almost shoots her but gets shot by thugs. Despite his injuries, Dilip walks back to his house and dies there. The film ends with Karan as the head of the Rajputana movement, while Kiran sheds a tear as one of the loyal faithful.
Parallel to the plot there is an interesting character of Dukey Bana's brother Prithvi Bana played by Piyush Mishra
. He wears bizarre dress and seems as psychic, though talks very satirically and often abused and slapped by Dukey banna for this. It is told in flashback that he was once a guitarist in his young days. Along with him there is a person characterized as Ardhanarishvara, who is killed by Dukey Bana mistakenly when Dukey Bana was outraged with his brother and aims to shoot him and misses.
was listening to songs from Pyaasa
and his film Paanch
was struggling with censors. Inspired by Mohammad Rafi songs from Pyaasa
("Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai") and Zeenat, ("Haye re duniya") the film is a dedication to Sahir Ludhianvi
, the lyricist of the song and all other poets who had a vision of India. The film was also partially based on a story idea by Raj Singh Chaudhary
who eventually played the role of Dilip Singh in the film. The film was delayed for three years for various reasons, but it was released in March 2009. The movie's first trailer was released with the director's other movie Dev D
.
Nikhat Kazmi gave the film three stars and said that "the film scores in having taut performances and a gritty screenplay as well." Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL.in gave the film 3.5 stars and said "Anurag scripts every character cleverly providing an identity to even the smallest characters and also a contrast in form of another character – true playwright style. He even has the jesters coming in to bring some comic relief but also more importantly they bring in a message." Tamil writer Charu Nivedita said this film is the "best political film" ever in Hindi and a document of current political history.
Although the critics' reviews were favorable, the movie opened to only 30 percent capacity during its first week in theaters across India. In addition, word of mouth has been poor for this film, which could lead to slowdown at the box office for its subsequent runs in the weeks that followed. Box Office India stated that Gulaal netted in its first week, which was below expectations.
The film was screened at the 2009 London Film Festival
.
Anurag Kashyap (director)
Anurag Singh Kashyap is an Indian film director and screenwriter. As a director, he is known for Black Friday , a controversial and award-winning Hindi film about the 1993 Bombay bombings, followed by No Smoking , Dev D and Gulaal...
and starring Kay Kay Menon
Kay Kay Menon
Kay Kay Menon is an Indian actor.-Early life:Menon was raised in Ambarnath and Pune, Maharashtra. His early life was in "H" type Rangehills, Khadki which were factory quarters for those working in the ammunition and high explosives factories. His father was popularly known as "Cashier Menon"...
, Raj Singh Chaudhary
Raj Singh Chaudhary
Raj Singh Chaudhary is an Indian actor, screenwriter and model best known for his role in the 2009 Hindi-language film, Gulaal. He has appeared in various other films such as Kuch Naa Kaho and Black Friday and as a lead in Antardwand...
, Abhimanyu Singh
Abhimanyu Singh
Abhimanyu Singh is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Bollywood.He made his debut in films with Aks , directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. He got his first break with the role of Ransa Singh in Gulaal , directed by Anurag Kashyap. The role won him the 2010 Stardust Award for breakthrough...
, Deepak Dobriyal
Deepak Dobriyal
Deepak Dobriyal is an Indian film and theatre actor.He worked in many films like Not a Love Story, Teen Thay Bhai, Gulaal, Delhi 6, Omkara, Maqbool, Daayen Ya Baayen, Shaurya, 1971, 13B, The Blue Umbrella, Tanu Weds Manu and Mumbai Cutting.-Ealy life and education:Deepak's parents belong to Kabra...
, Ayesha Mohan, Jesse Randhawa
Jesse Randhawa
Jesse Randhawa is an Indian model and actress.-Early life:Jasmeet Kaur Randhawa, a.k.a. Jesse Randhawa, was born on August 11, 1975 in jaipur to Mehar and narinder singh randhawa, and li. She belongs to a Jat Sikh family of the Randhawa Gotra...
, Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra is an Indian film and theatre actor, music director, lyricist, singer, scriptwriter.-Early life and education:He spent his early life in Gwalior, where he received his education...
and Aditya Srivastava. The film explores themes such as pursuit of power, quest for legitimacy, perceived injustices and hypocrisy of the powerful. The film is set in present day Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, a state in western India. The plot is provided by student politics of the university and a fictitious secessionist movement
Separatist movements of India
There are various sepatratist movements in India, mainly in the north-east of the country. There are 3 main secessionist movements namely Khalistan, Assam and Kashmir....
consisting of former Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
leaders who have become present day elite.
Plot
In the fictional town of Rajpur, Dilip (Raj Singh ChaudharyRaj Singh Chaudhary
Raj Singh Chaudhary is an Indian actor, screenwriter and model best known for his role in the 2009 Hindi-language film, Gulaal. He has appeared in various other films such as Kuch Naa Kaho and Black Friday and as a lead in Antardwand...
), a law student who is a Rajput from Bikaner, and his faithful servant, Bhanwar (Mukesh Bhatt), secure housing in an old, run-down British-era pub. Here Dilip meets Rananjay Singh “Ransa” (Abhimanyu Singh
Abhimanyu Singh
Abhimanyu Singh is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Bollywood.He made his debut in films with Aks , directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. He got his first break with the role of Ransa Singh in Gulaal , directed by Anurag Kashyap. The role won him the 2010 Stardust Award for breakthrough...
), a prince who despises the ideologies of his father and the aristocracy. Ransa's straightforward and fearless personality has quite an effect on the mild-mannered Dilip. Shortly, Dilip visits the university hostel where he is ragged
Ragging
Ragging is a practice in educational institutions in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka that involves existing students baiting or bullying new students. It is similar to the American phenomenon of hazing. It often takes a malignant form wherein the newcomers may be subjected to psychological or...
by a gang of university thugs, led by Jadwal (Pankaj Jha
Pankaj Jha
- Filmography :* F.O.S.L.A. * Teen Patti * Gulaal - Jadhwal* Black Friday - Anwar Theba* Anwar * Matrubhoomi - Rakesh* Company - Anees* A Very Very Silent Film...
). They strip him and lock him in a room with Anuja (Jesse Randhawa
Jesse Randhawa
Jesse Randhawa is an Indian model and actress.-Early life:Jasmeet Kaur Randhawa, a.k.a. Jesse Randhawa, was born on August 11, 1975 in jaipur to Mehar and narinder singh randhawa, and li. She belongs to a Jat Sikh family of the Randhawa Gotra...
), a young lecturer in the same university. Both Dilip and Anuja are released naked. Dilip's brother tells him to ignore the event and that things were the same in his days, effectively stating that the society as a whole hasn’t changed much since his time. But Ransa disagrees and tells Dilip that they should avenge this act. Initially, Dilip is reluctant but finally gives in and goes along with Ransa, after Ransa provokes him to give the thugs a taste of their own medicine. But the tables are turned and both Dilip and Ransa are beaten and are ragged and thrown out of the hostel. Ransa meets Dukey Bana (Kay Kay Menon
Kay Kay Menon
Kay Kay Menon is an Indian actor.-Early life:Menon was raised in Ambarnath and Pune, Maharashtra. His early life was in "H" type Rangehills, Khadki which were factory quarters for those working in the ammunition and high explosives factories. His father was popularly known as "Cashier Menon"...
), a local figure who is trying to gather support for the Rajputana
Rajputana
Rājputāna was the pre-1949 name of the present-day Indian state of Rājasthān, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. George Thomas was the first in 1800 A.D., to term this region as Rajputana...
separatist movement, who allows them to proceed with the plan to injure Jadwal. Ransa and Dilip ambush Jadwal, but the other thugs corner them in a cinema hall. Dukey Bana interferes and rescues them. Dukey Bana then convinces Ransa to in the General Secretary Elections at the university. Running against Ransa is his father's out-of-wedlock daughter, Kiran (Ayesha Mohan).
Ransa is kidnapped by his father's out-of-wedlock son Karan (Aditya Srivastava), who asks him to withdraw from the elections. Ransa mocks him and Karan kills him. Taking advantage of the situation, Dukey Bana makes Dilip to take Ransa's place in the election. The chances of Dilip winning are minimal, so Dukey Bana bribes the electoral panel to rig the count in Dilip's favour. Dilip wins the election to become the general secretary. Kiran then seduces Dilip and convinces him to allow her to become the cultural secretary. Dukey Bana then starts using the funds for the Rajputana separatist movement. When Dilip finds out about this he goes to confront Dukey Bana about the funds. Bana lets Dilip know about the movement and tells him that the funds are being used for it. Dilip is not convinced and tries to reason with Bana. A frustrated Bana takes him to his country estate where his thugs have killed Jadwal and shows him the body to intimidate him. Anuja, is thrown out of the hostel and moves in with Dilip. Kiran gets pregnant and is angry with Dilip for being careless about it. She gets an abortion and leaves Dilip. Anuja tries to make Dilip understand that Kiran has no interest in leading a married life and leaves him. A frustrated Dilip resigns from his post and Kiran steps in. She then tries to seduce Dukey Bana, but she fails when Bhati (Deepak Dobriyal
Deepak Dobriyal
Deepak Dobriyal is an Indian film and theatre actor.He worked in many films like Not a Love Story, Teen Thay Bhai, Gulaal, Delhi 6, Omkara, Maqbool, Daayen Ya Baayen, Shaurya, 1971, 13B, The Blue Umbrella, Tanu Weds Manu and Mumbai Cutting.-Ealy life and education:Deepak's parents belong to Kabra...
), Dukey's second-in-command, comes looking for Dukey. In a private meeting, an irate Dukey threatens Karan and Kiran by telling them that the only reason they're alive is because of their links to the local king.
Dilip, blinded by his love for Kiran, becomes violent and aggressive. Anuja also decides to leave him. Meanwhile Dilip finds out about Kiran from Bana's mistress, Madhuri (Mahi Gill
Mahi Gill
Mahi Gill is an Indian actress, working in the Bollywood industry. She is best known for her role of Paro in Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed Hindi film Dev.D, a modern take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali novella Devdas for which she also won the 2010 Filmfare Critics Award for Best...
). He grabs a gun, goes to Bana's house and shoots him. While dying, Bana tells him that Kiran used Dilip to get to him. At the same time, Karan reveals to his group of thugs that once Dukey Bana is out of the way, the Rajputana movement will have no choice but to choose Karan as its new leader and therefore legitimize his royal status. They conclude that to get rid of Dukey, they must first eliminate Bhati. Dilip wants to hear the truth from Kiran, so he tells Bhati to get her on the phone. Kiran refuses to answer, so Bhati goes off to find her and is killed by Karan's thugs. Dilip comes to meet Kiran who tells him that all she wanted to was use him to become general secretary. Dilip rejects her explanation and almost shoots her but gets shot by thugs. Despite his injuries, Dilip walks back to his house and dies there. The film ends with Karan as the head of the Rajputana movement, while Kiran sheds a tear as one of the loyal faithful.
Parallel to the plot there is an interesting character of Dukey Bana's brother Prithvi Bana played by Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra is an Indian film and theatre actor, music director, lyricist, singer, scriptwriter.-Early life and education:He spent his early life in Gwalior, where he received his education...
. He wears bizarre dress and seems as psychic, though talks very satirically and often abused and slapped by Dukey banna for this. It is told in flashback that he was once a guitarist in his young days. Along with him there is a person characterized as Ardhanarishvara, who is killed by Dukey Bana mistakenly when Dukey Bana was outraged with his brother and aims to shoot him and misses.
Cast
- Kay Kay MenonKay Kay MenonKay Kay Menon is an Indian actor.-Early life:Menon was raised in Ambarnath and Pune, Maharashtra. His early life was in "H" type Rangehills, Khadki which were factory quarters for those working in the ammunition and high explosives factories. His father was popularly known as "Cashier Menon"...
as Dukey Bana - Raj Singh ChaudharyRaj Singh ChaudharyRaj Singh Chaudhary is an Indian actor, screenwriter and model best known for his role in the 2009 Hindi-language film, Gulaal. He has appeared in various other films such as Kuch Naa Kaho and Black Friday and as a lead in Antardwand...
as Dilip Singh - Abhimanyu SinghAbhimanyu SinghAbhimanyu Singh is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Bollywood.He made his debut in films with Aks , directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. He got his first break with the role of Ransa Singh in Gulaal , directed by Anurag Kashyap. The role won him the 2010 Stardust Award for breakthrough...
as Rananjay Singh "Ransa" - Aditya Srivastava as Karan
- Mukesh Bhatt (Actor) as Bhanwar Singh
- Jesse RandhawaJesse RandhawaJesse Randhawa is an Indian model and actress.-Early life:Jasmeet Kaur Randhawa, a.k.a. Jesse Randhawa, was born on August 11, 1975 in jaipur to Mehar and narinder singh randhawa, and li. She belongs to a Jat Sikh family of the Randhawa Gotra...
as Anuja - Deepak DobriyalDeepak DobriyalDeepak Dobriyal is an Indian film and theatre actor.He worked in many films like Not a Love Story, Teen Thay Bhai, Gulaal, Delhi 6, Omkara, Maqbool, Daayen Ya Baayen, Shaurya, 1971, 13B, The Blue Umbrella, Tanu Weds Manu and Mumbai Cutting.-Ealy life and education:Deepak's parents belong to Kabra...
as Bhati - Ayesha Mohan as Kiran
- Mahi GillMahi GillMahi Gill is an Indian actress, working in the Bollywood industry. She is best known for her role of Paro in Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed Hindi film Dev.D, a modern take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali novella Devdas for which she also won the 2010 Filmfare Critics Award for Best...
as Madhuri - Piyush MishraPiyush MishraPiyush Mishra is an Indian film and theatre actor, music director, lyricist, singer, scriptwriter.-Early life and education:He spent his early life in Gwalior, where he received his education...
as Prithvi Bana - Jyoti Dogra as Dukey Bana's wife
- Teddy Maurya as Bahrupiya, Ardhnarishwar and Man in blue paint
Production
Production on Gulaal began in 2001, when Anurag KashyapAnurag Kashyap (director)
Anurag Singh Kashyap is an Indian film director and screenwriter. As a director, he is known for Black Friday , a controversial and award-winning Hindi film about the 1993 Bombay bombings, followed by No Smoking , Dev D and Gulaal...
was listening to songs from Pyaasa
Pyaasa
Pyaasa is a 1957 Indian film produced and directed by Guru Dutt. The film tells the story of struggling poet, Vijay , trying to make his works known in post-independence India...
and his film Paanch
Paanch
Paanch is an unreleased Indian film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap and starring Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Srivastava, Vijay Maurya, Joy Fernandes and Tejaswini Kolhapure. The film is "loosely" based on the 1976-77 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in Pune. The film never got a theatrical or...
was struggling with censors. Inspired by Mohammad Rafi songs from Pyaasa
Pyaasa
Pyaasa is a 1957 Indian film produced and directed by Guru Dutt. The film tells the story of struggling poet, Vijay , trying to make his works known in post-independence India...
("Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai") and Zeenat, ("Haye re duniya") the film is a dedication to Sahir Ludhianvi
Sahir Ludhianvi
Sahir Ludhianvi was a popular Urdu poet and Hindi lyricist and songwriter. Sahir Ludhianvi is his pseudonym...
, the lyricist of the song and all other poets who had a vision of India. The film was also partially based on a story idea by Raj Singh Chaudhary
Raj Singh Chaudhary
Raj Singh Chaudhary is an Indian actor, screenwriter and model best known for his role in the 2009 Hindi-language film, Gulaal. He has appeared in various other films such as Kuch Naa Kaho and Black Friday and as a lead in Antardwand...
who eventually played the role of Dilip Singh in the film. The film was delayed for three years for various reasons, but it was released in March 2009. The movie's first trailer was released with the director's other movie Dev D
Dev D
Dev.D is a 2009 Indian romance film released on 6 February 2009. Written and directed by Anurag Kashyap, the film is a modern day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic Bengali novel Devdas., previously adapted for the screen by P.C. Barua and Bimal Roy and more recently by Sanjay Leela...
.
Reception
Gulaal received positive reviews from critics. Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN rated the film at three out of five stars and said "Anurag Kashyap is one of the most exciting voices in Hindi cinema today." Anupama Chopra of NDTV gave three stars and referred to Anurag Kashyap as Anti-Yash Chopra. Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave it three stars and said that "fantastically watchable film that scores high on moments."Nikhat Kazmi gave the film three stars and said that "the film scores in having taut performances and a gritty screenplay as well." Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL.in gave the film 3.5 stars and said "Anurag scripts every character cleverly providing an identity to even the smallest characters and also a contrast in form of another character – true playwright style. He even has the jesters coming in to bring some comic relief but also more importantly they bring in a message." Tamil writer Charu Nivedita said this film is the "best political film" ever in Hindi and a document of current political history.
Although the critics' reviews were favorable, the movie opened to only 30 percent capacity during its first week in theaters across India. In addition, word of mouth has been poor for this film, which could lead to slowdown at the box office for its subsequent runs in the weeks that followed. Box Office India stated that Gulaal netted in its first week, which was below expectations.
The film was screened at the 2009 London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
.