How Raanjhanaa ghettoised a NA winning Dhanush - Page 3

I feel the writer is angry coz dhanush went back to lover boy role even after winning national award.
Its like why did he go back to square one ... he sees raanjhana as step backward and not forward...and also that this movies has not fully explored his talent...which may be true..but i guess every one needs a starting point ..this was dhanush's debut in bollywood..

and i would say...am glad he has not kept National Award tag in mind while signing the movies.it might look similar to roles he did before but the story is beyond all that and it is not merely a love story...am wondering if this person has seen the movie or not?

and to say that dhanush chose a short cut for bollywood is really rude remark...the movie chose him and not the other way round...

Originally posted by: chocolover89

Sorry to butt in, but interesting.

I have not watched the film yet, nor did I read beyond the first 2-3 lines of this article (I was reminded of a another very negative, very ablist article about Barfi actually) so I didn't see the point.

Stalking has a very negative connotation, as it should. But I always thought that stalking is signified a lot by the girl's reaction to that "attention." ..generally in stalking cases, the girl is very disturbed, unhappy with the attention..she feels scared, helpless, terrorized, etc. That is the unhealthy one.

But if the girl herself loves the attention, craves it...does not feel scared ..then he is not harming her right? ...in which case it can be called wooing...? Or then what is your definition of wooing?

Exactly his entire "stalking" in the entire movie consists of him following her around and just gazing at her like a lovesick puppy for YEARS...after like 10 years he manages to get the guts to hold her hand one day and Zoya is unfazed...it was their own weird brand of flirtation b/w them.

We all like to say that Hindi movies glorify stalking...but just take a pause for a second and try to understand how it works in the heartland...these are not people born and brought up in metros with a free pass to date, decide etc...If this was STALKING, then what exactly is the Zoya-Kundan scene at the fort when he tries to narrate poetry to her? Why is this entire thing being painted so UGLY when it's NOT?

Stalking a girl means terrorizing someone when they are REPELLED by you, DON'T want your attention...Zoya ALWAYS enjoyed Kundan's attention and that is why she leads him along in the whole slapping game b/w them...I don't see that as romanticizing it...I see that as CONTEXT...the world is not so black and white so as to cast easy labels.

Eve-teasing is a serious problem in India, no doubt and many girls have to face it...but let's not equate everything shown in the same light as eve-teasing...a woman's reaction matters a GREAT deal in this matter...and Zoya's reaction as well as the fact that Kundan doesn't harass her in that sense makes the difference in this case.

Originally posted by: nneeiill

I feel the writer is angry coz dhanush went back to lover boy role even after winning national award.
Its like why did he go back to square one ... he sees raanjhana as step backward and not forward...and also that this movies has not fully explored his talent...which may be true..but i guess every one needs a starting point ..this was dhanush's debut in bollywood..

and i would say...am glad he has not kept National Award tag in mind while signing the movies.it might look similar to roles he did before but the story is beyond all that and it is not merely a love story...am wondering if this person has seen the movie or not?

and to say that dhanush chose a short cut for bollywood is really rude remark...the movie chose him and not the other way round...

LOL I haven't even seen Dhanush's other work but I find it SAD how narrow-minded this write-up is when Dhanush personifies the ultimate meeting of cultures in this movie...His South Indian heritage juxtaposed with the way he adopts the culture of Benaras...there are lessons in unity to be seen in this but instead people are taking such petty views over this...He's "ghettosized" if he plays a dark skinned man chasing a white skinned North Indian girl? Ummm hello, that is his skintone anyways...what does that have to do with the role of Kundan at all? The color of his skin, the accent with which he speaks has NOTHING to do with the movie...he is BEYOND all this and across the country, what has been appreciated is his PURE TALENT...no one's talking about his looks, his accent or even his Kolaveri song at this point...He has risen above ALL of this and left everyone in awe of his acting abilities...Isn't that the ULTIMATE victory for any actor? Why regionalize this? It's so petty...Look at so many of us here who don't understand a word of his native language but are compelled to be fans of his after this movie...that kind of natural talent is what connects with the audience...it is beyond all this pettiness...

What other actor in the country can boast of this ability to cut across all barriers of culture and language right now?

Originally posted by: AbbaDabbaJabba.

I am confused with the opening lines of the article. When did the critics slam the movie and only praise Dhaush?😕




Haha, this is one of my favourite scenes too, especially when Dhanush keeps on ordering samsoa and chai..😆 and the way he drinks the tea while mixing the leftover in the cup and having the last sip, so natural!

LOL yeah it was an awesome scene...the humor was amazing...Dhanush's expressions were cracking me up so much as the rest of the intellectuals were busy analyzing him and figuring out what to do with him...so subtly the movie made a pretty powerful statement while keeping the humor intact as well...lol

exactly..here is one actor who crossed all the barriers of language and culture and reinforced the fact that in the end its the film which matters..not where it is made or if the actor is south indian or north indian...dhanush himself has repeated so many times that for him it is just another movie...all this distinction of bollywood , kollywood does not exist for him

and here all this writer could see was his skin color,his awards, his previous movies...that implies he went to see dhanush and not kundan...

why cant they separate an actor from a character while reviewing a movie...

Originally posted by: AreYaar

Exactly his entire "stalking" in the entire movie consists of him following her around and just gazing at her like a lovesick puppy for YEARS...after like 10 years he manages to get the guts to hold her hand one day and Zoya is unfazed...it was their own weird brand of flirtation b/w them.

We all like to say that Hindi movies glorify stalking...but just take a pause for a second and try to understand how it works in the heartland...these are not people born and brought up in metros with a free pass to date, decide etc...If this was STALKING, then what exactly is the Zoya-Kundan scene at the fort when he tries to narrate poetry to her? Why is this entire thing being painted so UGLY when it's NOT?

Stalking a girl means terrorizing someone when they are REPELLED by you, DON'T want your attention...Zoya ALWAYS enjoyed Kundan's attention and that is why she leads him along in the whole slapping game b/w them...I don't see that as romanticizing it...I see that as CONTEXT...the world is not so black and white so as to cast easy labels.

Eve-teasing is a serious problem in India, no doubt and many girls have to face it...but let's not equate everything shown in the same light as eve-teasing...a woman's reaction matters a GREAT deal in this matter...and Zoya's reaction as well as the fact that Kundan doesn't harass her in that sense makes the difference in this case.

I saw the slapping promo..and Zoya is very clearly accepting Kundan. She is leading him on when she says "kal waapis aana, toh naam bataoongi"...then she laughs, smiles after slapping him a bunch of times. She is having fun...not a trace of discomfort or fear on her face. I don't think it can be equated to harassment or stalking then. Context makes all the difference. Stalking, wooing have clear distinctions, but there is a thin gray line there..if that makes any sense..and that line comes down to the reaction you get.

Now if Zoya straight up said no, get lost..or made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him and he still kept trying then I would say yes, that's completely wrong.

I understand people's concerns vis a vis stalking and what it means in light of recent events in India but in those cases the girls were clearly saying no and the sick guys didn't back off...

Waise..I find this debate very interesting. Our opinions all comes down to personal experiences, how we were brought up and things like that right..which I believe is a point the film also makes?

As for glorification in movies and shows..I find TV shows like Pratigya, Iss Pyaar, Geet types much worse at dealing with things like this. They end up glorifying manhandling, eve teasing, etc in the name of romance. Waise Anu you know..I've even had people tell me that SRK was stalking Kajol in DDLJ because he followed her to Punjab. 😕😆 ...now what do you say to this except you didn't get the film or what was happening at all. 😆

Ufff. Bakwaas.

Originally posted by: AreYaar

I don't feel the movie glorified or justified "stalking" or wrist-slashing in any manner.

See this is where the small town-urban intellectual divide comes into play again and we don't even REALIZE what a statement the movie made on that if we're STILL failing to get the EMOTION behind it.

Every time Kundan slits his wrist in the movie, he is BERATED for it...called a JAAHIL and a GAWAAR for it...it's not glorified...and it was an important part of the plot...it was a form of expression for people who didn't know how else to express their love or pain...these were the grey areas in the movie...they weren't APPROVED of or glorified...but that doesn't mean they don't exist in society...so I don't think it was uncalled for...it was an important plot point and PART of the characterization...you take away these actions then it's not fully Kundan or Zoya...the fact that these things happened also moved the story forward.