2023.10.03: In Class: R&J Ram Leela

Seeing that the movie was 2 hours and 30 minutes was intimidating, and admittedly, I was incredibly skeptical. Do I really need to watch another adaptation of Romeo and Juliet for this long? It was less about the movie itself and more about the story of Romeo and Juliet; the common tale seemed pretty straight-forward to me. But, naturally, I went into the movie without briefing on the background or plot so that I could be surprised - and boy, I was surprised.

Watching the movie with some friends was a great idea. We were hooked, screaming at intense and dramatic scenes, yelling at them to not kill someone, losing our minds at the end scene…it was an experience. If there’s one component that the film did right (compared to the classic, Shakespearean version), it was the character development. Even before discussing that, the characters themselves - Ram and Leela - had such a fresh transformation from the stereotypical “Romeo and Juliet” personalities. Their shared passion and wild characterization made them have a sort of undoubtable chemistry, and their insane decisions made me audibly make the comment on several occasions: “Oh, they’re both on a completely different wavelength that I did not grasp at ALL.” It was almost like they were sharing sentiments and thoughts in the film that only they understood, reinforcing some kind of unbreakable connection and bond, while all I could do as a watcher was accept it.

Thus, leading into the development of these two, as well as other supporting characters such as Leela’s mother, the arcs that occur in their stories make much more sense than the traditional Romeo and Juliet. There is love and there are obstacles that build over time, despite the “love at first sight” trope that is still used. The slow build up of the turmoil, boiling and keeping us on our toes, is what made the movie so captivating. I genuinely felt invested in the relationship between Ram and Leela, and that was a shocking revelation to make when we got to the ending. I knew what to expect - naturally, a Romeo and Juliet adaptation will end with the inevitable tragedy. But I was screaming at the TV, begging for them to just be happy alive together, and listen to the family call out Leela’s name. But no - the guns spoke for themselves, and there was no way they were going to be alive.

I’ll include a last tidbit about the foreshadowing and the musical elements to conclude. There was so much clever imagery and use of symbolism that clearly portended events, or that recurred in significant moments. I appreciated the artistry that went into filming scenes meant to indicate future decisions, in addition to the performance artistry of the musical components. As a dancer, also watching with my dancer friends, we were very captivated by the musical numbers and it brought the movie to life. We were able to enjoy the film in more ways than just the plot and drama.