Ram Leela Review

Sanjay Leela Bhansali delves into Shakespeare after delivering two disappointing films in the form of Saawariya and Guzaarish. One of the many reasons his recent films failed was because they lacked soul and feel. It was evident to one and all that he was putting in too much and caring much more about his films’ atmospherics than about the film’s story and script itself. So has he learned his lessons this time around with Ram Leela? Does the film have a good story to go along with the paintingesque setting? Let’s find right out.

Ram Leela
Ram Leela Movie Review

Story: Countless adaptations of Romeo Juliet have adorned our screens over the years in numerous languages and settings. This time Romeo is Ram and Juliet is Leela. They live in a picturesque rural village which is divided into two warring factions. As is the case with Romeo Juliet, here too Ram (Ranveer Singh) falls in love with Leela (Deepika Padukone) from the other gang. Most of us are familiar with the basic story of Romeo Juliet, but here Sanjay Leela Bhansali gives the whole story his own little touch and adds nifty little twists and plot turns which eventually work in the film’s favour.

Screenplay and Direction: SLB strikes gold with his Ram Leela. He crafts every single frame with the utmost care but never loses grip of the emotional tension in the film’s narrative unlike his previous two directorial outings. His Ram and Leela are soul sisters and his vision of a Gujarati Romeo Juliet comes true because of his sheer dedication to his craft. Ram Leela may seem boring to many because of the highly dramatic moments strewn across the film, but it is far from boring if you are paying even 1% attention to the storyline. Mr. Bhansali has made a highly engrossing film which doesn’t stop entertaining even for a few minutes.

Miscellaneous and Music: Bhansali is ably supported by his crew who help him in making his exquisite vision come true. Ravi Verma’s cinematography is nothing short of poetry in motion. The camerawork is stupendous. The sets the art designer put up makes this beautiful village come alive. The lighting, the artwork, the sets all come together and make Ram Leela extremely beautiful to look at. Sometimes you might forget the proceedings on screens and just pause yourself and admire at the framing. Bhansali composes the music of Ram Leela himself and gives the film a Gujarati folkish feel with the folk-inspired songs. Tatad Tatad and Ishkiyaon Dishkiyaon were particularly enjoyable.

Acting: Ranveer Singh delivers the best performance of his life as Ram. He has obviously worked tremendously on his physique and body, but he has also worked worked on his acting prowess. His Ram is macho, egoistic and strong-headed. Matching Ranveer step by step and actually leaving him behind in the acting department is the actress of the moment, Deepika Padukone. She is flawless as Leela. Deepika brings a sense of security and strength in her portrayal of Leela and leaves a lasting impression. The chemistry that Deepika shares with Ranveer is one for the ages. Supriya Pathak is as always, fantastic. She delivers the boldest performance in the film. Other supporting actors also do well. Sharad Kelkar, Barkha Bisht, Richa Chaddha and Gulshan Devaiyah are all fine in their roles.

Conclusion and Box Office: Ram Leela is back to form stuff from the showman of the post-Subhas Ghai era. He knocks it out of the park with his Gujarati Romeo Juliet adaptation. Ram Leela is entertaining all the way through and never forgets what it is meant to be – a highly tense, dramatic romance! It is a must watch for lovers of epic romances. Box office wise, Ram Leela will take an above average opening and I expected Ram Leela to do well and cross the 60cr mark given the quality and content of the film.

Positives:

  • Ranveer and Deepika Padukone
  • The cinematography
  • The music
  • The production design is exquisite
  • Supriya Pathak Shah’s brilliant acting

Negatives:

  • The genre of the film may seem boring to a few
  • The length of the film may also deter a few

Rating: ★★★★☆

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31 Comments

  • Best actresses award will be between
    Deepika(CE)
    Deepika(YJHD)
    Deepika(Ramleela)
    Sonakshi(Lootera)
    Parineeti(Shuddh Desi Romance)

  • movie will be superhit….definately going to watch it..specially kissing scenes between ranbeer and deepika lol

  • i will certainly watch ram leela for priyamka item mujra song ram chahe leela n the other songs as well as for the chemistry between ranveer deepika

  • Ram Leela is much better than Karrtoonish 3 starring Hrithik.
    Ranveer Kapoor is a fantastic actor. Hope Hrithik learns acting from Ranveer.

  • Ranbir would have been the perfect choice for Ramleela. His chemistry with DP in YJHD was spectacular.
    SLB was crazy for not signing Ranbir.
    If Ranbir was in Ramleela then a 200 crore grosser was sure. And Hrithik should retire from acting
    Hrithik fans will hate me but Hrithik is nothing without his dad.
    Hrithik is good, but Ranbir is GREAT

  • frankly speaking, people dont waste ur money to watch this film.. i dont understand y critics r overrating this film, this film has shown only strong urges of real time couple(ranveer-deepika), both constantly lip-locking every meet in this movie.. no proper story nor language… worst than jab tak hai jaan.. people r regretting after watching this movie… dont go on critics for this movie…

  • Same as ishqzade nothing new in it only 1st part is good nw i came to know tht every critics is paid by production

  • I saw it yesterday at cinema.. a good film ( deserves to win in the category of best art direction), interesting cinematography, but I didn’t like just one unnecessary song, where the 2 sings at a store or somewhere, didn’t like the way they danced, didn’t like the song too).. that’s with SLB direction.. he makes good films but one scene or one song would spoil the whole! The first half was better than the second half.. last 30 minutes was a bit boring.

    The film will do well for sure.

  • complete adult nothing for family…only for youth…those who made grand masti hit thn make this film a hit…ranveer singh still no improvemnt same wooden expressions and maha bakwas acting..

  • @greek god follower ram leela is best movie of dp in 2013. . Nd’ do u wanna say jthj was bad movie. . Let me tell u jthj was the most intense love story of yash ji !!! Mindblowing acting by srk nd’ anu bt’ only drawback was the katrina’s act. . Give srk a actress who could act nd’ make love lively with a jthj story . . Result 150+cr movie. . Nd’ yash ji’s direction was perfect. . He made a intense love story without losing plot which is visible in bomb diffusing scenes specially climax scene where he uses a voice over rather than action music. .

  • Sanjay Leela Bhansali delves into Shakespeare after delivering two disappointing films in the form of Saawariya and Guzaarish. One of the many reasons his recent films failed was because they lacked soul and feel. It was evident to one and all that he was putting in too much and caring much more about his films’ atmospherics than about the film’s story and script itself.

    Guzaarish lacking in soul and feelings?

    Who wrote this crap?

    indicine – You seriously think so? You might be crazy!

  • Watche ramleela yesterday.after the amazing posters and trailers,my expectations were high.my view,
    storyline:good,inspired by romeo juliet love story.but SLB has given his own flavour to this.those people who like ishaqzaade kindas movies will surely like this one too.
    Direction and screenplay:again nice.this movie looks colourful.SLB did an amazing work.still there were some unnecessary boring scenes i felt.
    Acting:what should i say?i think it’s the best acting of deepika as well as ranveer.deepika gonna take best actress award for sure.her expressions,emotions,beauty,enery,acting were fab.now comes to ranveer,i couldn’t believe that he was so great in it.his role requires anger,furiousness,anger,comedy,emotions,romance everything.he is the third best candidate of the year after hrithik and farhan for best actor.ranveer is better than ranbir kapoor,i think.supriya pathak was nice too.
    Music:it’s music includes tradition and folks flavour.nagada sang dhol,ram chahe leela,ang laga de,tattad,lahu muh were nice.but all others were unnecessary.
    Negatives:
    1.over lip kisses ,which could have been reduced.
    2.unnecessary 9 to 10 songs.
    3.so much use of gun,fighting etc.i.e dramatical scenes.i mean thats a little boring.
    Positives:everything except above 3 points.
    Rating:3.75/5.
    Lootera’s script was better than ramleela.so reduced 0.25 from 4.

  • Indicine, this is a serious constructive criticism.

    You don’t write a movie review by dividing the movie’s technical aspects (acting, directing, screenplay, cinematography, score, et al) and then trying to objectify each one of them. And also, Indicine focuses too much of the box office aspect of a film. The box office should have NO effect or factor in any kind of bias into your review of a film. Taran Adarsh, probably the worst Indian movie “reviewer” thinks as if a movie is automatically good if it makes a ton of movie. Indicine kind of does the same thing.

    The reviews Indicine writes seems like it is written by a bunch of high schoolers with no real depth and knowledge of the facts. SO please improve your reviews! For reference read Variety’s or The Hollywood Reporter’s or Rajeev Masand’s or Raja Sen’s.

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