Guns, Rasa and Roses: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s <span class='italic'>Ram-Leela</span> (2013), a ‘Desi’ <span class='italic'>Romeo and Juliet</span>

doi:10.1017/9781009200905.010

Chapter 9 - Guns, Rasa and Roses: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ram-Leela (2013), a ‘Desi’ Romeo and Juliet

from Part II - Extending Genre

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 October 2023

Melissa Croteau

Edited by

Victoria Bladen ,

Sarah Hatchuel and

Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin

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Victoria Bladen: Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Sarah Hatchuel: Affiliation:
University Paul-Valéry Montpellier
Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin: Affiliation:
University Paul-Valéry Montpellier

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Summary

This chapter analyses the film Ram-Leela using rasa theory, examining the dramatic ways in which the film evokes emotion – for example, through the use of colour, cinematography and music – and conveys meaning through direct and indirect references to Hindu mythological figures and narratives. Rasa theory, and its religious referents, are especially efficacious for approaching Ram-Leela as its title, which literally names the two main characters Ram (Romeo) and Leela (Juliet), is also the name of one of the most significant sacred celebrations in India’s Hindu calendar, Ramlila, an annual autumn festival during which plays are performed that present the life of the god Rama from his birth. Many scholars have discussed the key importance of the story of King Rama and his wife Sita in the narratives featured in Bollywood cinema. Ram-Leela plays with these conventions, participating vividly in the impassioned expression of emotion called for in rasa theory, performing far outside the boundaries of realism, whilst also departing in significant, telling ways from both the narrative of the Ramayana and that of Romeo and Juliet.

Keywords

Romeo and Juliet film India Ram-Leela Bhansali rasa theory

Type: Chapter
Information: Shakespeare on Screen: Romeo and Juliet , pp. 140 - 154

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009200905.010 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

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