Rangoon: At Best Watchable

Having watched ‘Rangoon’ the much awaited film starring Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor one comes out with very mixed feelings.

Being a Vishal Bhardwaj film expectations are usually very high which is not really fair. A producer director is also an individual and his choices may not always become automatically your choice.

But keeping his calibre and standard in mind one tends to give him a longer rope and thankfully it pays off at least cinematically.

Based in the period of the Second World War, for the ordinary cine goer the story line and historical back ground could be heavy baggage.

But there is another way to watch a film. Don’t bother about the niceties and the politics just plunge headlong and savour the delicious fare being served.

There are several statements and counter statements that the film which has the good old love triangle as its main attraction does not refer to any individual.

It does actually belong to one individual and that is Kangana Ranaut. When a natural actor like her starts acting in a theatrical production and attracts the attention of Rusi Billimoria (Saif) who seems to have the entire city under his hold, one knows this is not for real. As his wife tells her she is only a keep waiting to become Mrs.Billomoria one day.

The acting and the dancing and the movements look like over-acting but that is precisely one of here her roles in the drama created by Vishal Bhardwaj.

Her more endearing and the nubile self comes into the open when she has an encounter with Nawab Jamadar Malik (Shahid) and is forced to spend time with him on a marooned island along with a Japanese soldier who has been held captive by him.

Love blossoms in the most unexpected of places and so it does in this gem created by Vishal. They have their first kiss while soaked in slimy mud due to heavy rains. So sensual is the scene that the audience forgets the situation, the clothes the slime and even the characters performing the scene. That is where the director scores over his actors.

When she returns back to Rusi he knows from every action, every gesture and her talk that she is a changed person and he also knows who is responsible for it.

After the interval the film becomes a taut drama with Kangana, as Julia, waiting for the stolen moments of togetherness with Shahid and her real beau Saif fades in contrast as artificial even though one must say he justifies the class he is supposed to portray.

But it is the parallel story that he tries to push through which takes away the interest of the young viewers who is not interested in knowing why the Indian National Army led by Subhash Chandra Bose played such a crucial role in throwing out the Britishers.

And yes. No one in the audience was clapping their hands or standing up in their seats when the INA represented by Shahid Kapoor was singing the National Anthem. It would need stronger motivation and prompting for this.

Yes there are lots of thrills and stunts by Kangana Ranaut atop a running train to retain the attention of young viewers. There is also a brutal scene where Saif cuts off the head of a British military leader to prove that he is also converted to INA philosophy but his conversion comes a bit too late because by that time he has nothing else to lose.

The music of film does not have much to be written about . The film could have done without those songs and it would have also made it shorter.

But no film is perfect. And good cinema is always handicapped by lacking such trappings. But for those wanting to watch a real unadulterated love story Vishal presents a treat. Don’t miss it.