Unfolding the secret behindRaanjhanaa's success

Raanjhanaa, among recent films has been the proverbial dark horse. I watched it belatedly with a degree of apprehension and finally, came away nodding in agreement with critics who had given it a thumbs up. First, the good news— director Anand L. Rai's hatke love story set in the holy city of Varanasi with its teeming ghats, mandirs where gods live cheek by jowl with multitudes, does a fine job of weaving the schizophrenic complexities that mark small towns.

For starters, the discomfort of Hindus and Muslims, who otherwise co-exist in perfect harmony at the idea of their young ones, getting married to one from the other side. Religion of course, as a roadblock is interchangeable with class, caste or any other. And then again, being well educated does not sit at odds with trying to get daughters married against their wishes! The small town mentality, you see, is nothing if not as complex as the maze-like gulli-kuchas that abound in these cities.

No wonder that some of our most celebrated tragic heroes and heroines, both literary and filmic, spring out of these unexpected quarters — Devdas and Choti bahu of Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam being a few examples.

Besotted lovers, who think little of stalking their love interest or slitting wrists to prove the intensity of their feelings, are a dime a dozen in mofussil towns, stemming from the conservative code of conduct that prevails. In cities where any display of affection outside the familial is frowned upon, with interaction between girls and boys really few and far between romantic love and the expression of it finds surreptitious outlets. Often with dreary outcome. Not all romances end in death and destruction, some are just nipped in the bud when one of the pair is forcibly married off — but most of them do end up in heartbreak.