Leela-the muse. Review on Leela

Leela is a break from the usual hindi flick, a trend which started from ‘Hyderabad Blues’, a so called experimental film. Fortunately the tradition of making experimental,low budget movies is kept alive by directors like Meera Nair-Monsoon wedding,the director of Mitr-my friend and so on. One can say that ‘Leela’ is a film which is made to woo our NRI audiences abroad, highlighting their woes about getting back to their roots, introducing Indian traditions to their children, difficulties encountered in the process and so on.

‘Leela’ starts with Dimple Kapadia, a visiting professor bound for the US to teach Asian culture to a class of students. The trouble begins when Kris(Krishna Gyan- played by newcomer Amol Mhatre ) lays a bet with his friends to sleep with Leela.. Leela is bewildered when Kris confesses this to her. Leela goes ahead and forgives him and their relationship seems to evolve from a student-teacher to a much more intimate friendship and the Krishna-Leela continues . Deepti Naval plays the role of a Kris’s confused , confused between playing an independent woman and an Indian mom, a mother who is separated from her husband(played by Gulshan Grover). Kris’s mother in the meantime is deeply concerned about Kris’s growing fondness about Leela. She confides in her husband who thinks that its just a process of growing up.

Meanwhile Vinod Khanna(who plays Leela’s husband) in their open marriage visits America to visit Leela. He is a woman charmer, a poet, a philanderer who seems can make women eat out of his hands. Vinod Khanna plays the role of Nashaad Dehelvi who seems to control the life of Leela who advises Kris to stay out their relationship. The film concludes with a performance of Nashaad for a select Indian audience. Kris accompanies Nashaad on the Sarod, who doesn’t seem to follow the intricacies that Nashaad seems to sing.

On the positive side, Leela reinforces the idea of a relationship between an older woman and a youngster(introduced in Dil Chahta Hai), an idea which is relatively new for the Indian audience. Leela has a good central theme but lacks in the storyline, which could have been more effectively developed. In short, the movie lacks depth. Dimple in the lead role is stunning, it shows off in her screen presence. For Gulshan Grover and Vinod Khanna, the roles look as if they were made for them. The soundtrack for the movie is good, worth listening to again. Jagjit Singh makes his presence felt through the music throughout the movie.

To end, I would say that ‘Leela’ is worth a look if you are looking out for something light and different.