Review: Anurag Kashyap's 'Gulaal'

'Gulaal' is thought-provoking and has the power to engage you at various points of the narrative. Honestly, it takes time to get the hang of things. Actually, you don't take to the sundry characters and the relationships instantly, but the complex relationships, their motives, the culmination, each layer is peeled as the story progresses.

Yet, at the same time, a film like 'Gulaal' isn't the type that would cut ice with every strata of moviegoers. The expletives are aplenty, the second hour meanders at times and most importantly, the material restricts it from reaching out to a universal audience.

Dileep [Raj Singh Chaudhary] comes to Jaipur to study. Here, he comes in contact with Rananjay Singh Ransa [Abhimanyu Singh], Jadwal [Pankaj Jha], Anuja [Jesse Randhawa], Dukey Bana [Kay Kay Menon] and Kiran [Ayesha Mohan].

Dukey Bana convinces Ransa to contest the college elections on behalf of the Rajputana party; Ransa and Kiran battle it for General Secretary's post. The rivalry between the two gangs intensifies and Ransa is forced to withdraw, which he resists. Eventually, this leads to his murder by Karan [Aditya Srivastav]. Dileep is compelled to contest elections in Ransa's place and made to win.

After losing the elections, Kiran tries winning Dileep's trust, gets close to him and pretends to fall in love. As he tries to fit into the shoes of the General Secretary, an insecure Dileep gets emotionally dependent on Kiran. Dileep finds himself trapped in political manoeuvres. It dawns to him that he is being used by Dukey.

Dukey Bana is masterminding a Rajputana movement, to have a separate state ruled by Rajputs. In a gamut of red faces [gulaal is put over the faces to mask their true identity], Dileep sees the truth behind Dukey and his actions.