Raanjhanaa is an intense and penetrating tale

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      Starring Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor. In Hindi with English subtitles. Rated PG. Now playing

      Raanjhanaa appears to be a classic Bollywood love story of two young people separated by social divisions. Instead, this is a compelling and somewhat disturbing tale of one man’s obsession with love to the detriment of himself and his beloved.

      Kundan (Dhanush) is a young child running around the streets of Varanasi, where his father is a Hindu pandit. He catches a glimpse of a Muslim girl in prayer and instantly falls in love. She is Zoya (Sonam Kapoor), the daughter of a professor. Kundan spends his childhood chasing after her; finally, as a young teen, he convinces her that she loves him after he slits his wrists in her presence. Her parents are not amused and send her away to finish school and then attend university at the politically tumultuous campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

      When Zoya returns, she is a new woman, having forgotten her childhood romance. Kundan, however, is stuck in that moment. He is a man who does not understand the difference between charmingly keen and creepy stalker. After she rejects his second suicide attempt, he agrees to help her marry the man she really loves—a political activist from JNU.

      The second half of the movie is unexpected and complex, but the film feels long because there is so much narrative packed into it. Both leads deliver remarkable performances, though. For Kapoor, this is the movie where she transitions finally from “pretty young thing” to a woman of substance and nuance. This is Dhanush’s Bollywood debut, having already established himself in Tamil films and as a YouTube sensation for the viral earworm “Why This Kolaveri Di”.

      The music is the final element that completes this film. A. R. Rahman’s songs reflect the emotions and the shifting tableau of this intense and penetrating film.

      Watch the trailer for Raanjhanaa.

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