In the hinterlands of the country, Love is still unabashed, heartfelt and mostly tends to begin as one-sided. As the boy devotes himself to the girl at first sight, his life centers around the charming crush that wouldn't last much longer because either the family or politics would intervene. Yet, in the colorful and vivacious town of Benaras unfolds one such childhood crush that grows into a painstaking pursuit of love. National award winner, Dhanush, plays the innocent and impulsive Kundan while Sonam Kapoor, in one of her most impressive performances is Zoya. Director Aanand Raj ('Tanu weds Manu') infuses a small town love story with several twists and a political angle to raise the stakes of lovers and haters alike.
Kundan's persistent, at times wacky approach to woo Zoya leads to multiple slaps but eventually, the fondness grows while they are barely in high school. But ofcourse, this wasn't acceptable by Zoya's parents and she is thus sent out of the city to study, leaving Kundan and his promises of timeless love.
Upon her return to Benaras years later, she takes a while to recognize Kundan, who is now a handyman at her family home. Kundan's love for her is still only his to keep and not to share as Zoya found her soulmate in Akram/Jasjeet (Abhay Deol). As an idealist leader in the J.N. University, Abhay Deol's convincing portrayal is briefly interrupted by Kundan's foolhardy decision. Dejected and rejected, Kundan finds no solace for himself until he indirectly gets involved in Jasjeet's political movement which is now spearheaded by Zoya. Kundan's pure intentions, upfront attitude and outspoken confidence garner faith from his comrades but not from the one he yet loves. Through a series of twists in the story, writer Himanshu Sharma challenges Kundan's dedicated love and Raanjhanaa is a tale of its triumph.
With his pure intentions, unabashed dialogues and simpleton charm, Kundan makes us take his side in the story even though the writer and director frequently challenge his impulsive and immature decisions. The credit has to go to the National award winner Dhanush, who is a departure from the heroes of Bollywood. Yet there is some innocence and sincerity in him that is undeniable. Take his dancing as an example. No hindi film actor would dance vigorously but that is precisely Dhanush's unique charm that works in this film. Even though his dialogues might come out unabashed, he is effective in standing his ground with his delivery. Dhanush joins the ranks of Mahadevan and Siddharth among a few others who leave a great impression for their hindi film debut.
Sonam Kapoor has a stronger character compared to her previous roles. She does well in holding her own especially in the second half. While she looks beautiful as a small town girl in the song and dance of the first half, her versatility shows in the parts when she leads a group of rebellious young thinkers.
Abhay Deol has a brief yet prominent role that changes the course of the one-sided love story. At times, we wish for his commanding character to have shades of his oldest brother but that might be too much to ask for. The rest of the supporting cast is fresh and their natural acting does lend to the film's realistic feeling.
A.R.Rahman's music isn't the finest he has produced. Tum tak sounds like it wasn't composed for a hindi film while tu man shudi is an excellent merging of two very talented artists, Rahman himself and Rabbi Shergill. Raanjhanaa might remain the most memorable track through with its melody and image of Dhanush's vivacious dancing. The rest of the music is almost forgettable and adds to the film's precious length.
Aanand Raj enriches this simple love story using plot twists as its main attraction. While exacting fine performances from the lead actors, he creates tragedy, sorrow, anger, joy and tenderness around love to revive the genre of soulful romantic movies. Raanjhanaa tends to be more real than a fairy tale, occasionally wavering to the extremes.
Watch it for its twists, for Dhanush's sincere performance, laudable dialogues and for Sonam Kapoor's impressive portrayal of Zoya, for whom Kundan became a Raanjhanaa.
- 7.773 on a scale of 1-10.