Raasaleela Malayalam Movie

'Rasaleela' is a cinematic clone that has been born at a horribly wrong time and place. Sep 10, 2012 By Veeyen

Almost three decades have passed ever since 'Rasaleela' released way back in 1975, and Majeed Maranchery's remake of the film in 2012 comes across as an utterly unnecessary one. Back then, 'Rasaleela' probably seemed socially relevant and progressive. Today however, it appears plain dull.

Unnimaya (Prathishtha) finds her husband (Krishna) dead on their nuptial bed, the morning after their wedding. The young widow spends her life alone in a corner of the palatial household, until an astrologer and his help Devan (Darshan) arrive to set a few things straight. Unnimaya and Darshan develop a fondness for each other with disastrous consequences.

Let's face it, 'Rasaleela' has no theme that transcends time, and the story of a young widow forced to live a life of isolation is a thing of the past. What makes the film even more disappointing is that it doesn't hold ground even if you start analyzing it as a period piece.

The film appears as a confused production that doesn't quite justify the intentions behind the remake. Here is a reincarnation that serves little purpose hence and which starts off with typos in the title cards. Moving further on, we realize that the execution of the script is inept, and the script itself is nothing much to be discussed.

There is no way in which you could ignore the blandness of the movie and move on. It draws you right into its midst with its mediocrity and the clumsy and ineffective plot does contribute to its ultimate undoing as well.

I was appalled at the background score of the film that sounded like musical bits and pieces joined together with no sense of wholeness whatsoever. Jarring and sometimes strident musical bits drop on you every now and then making you wonder what has actually gone wrong.

The songs of the film, composed by Sanjay Chowdhary are quite noteworthy though they are not a patch on the delightfully melodious numbers that his father Salil Chowdhary had gifted us with in the original film.

The acting is pretty much run of the mill, and it seems that at times that it gets a bit too much for Prathishtha to deliver what she is expected to. Darshan is infinitely better and makes a pleasant debut.

'Rasaleela' underscores the fact yet again that not every film is fit to be remade. It's an incoherent debacle of a film; a cinematic clone that has been born at a horribly wrong time and place.