Movie Review - Rangoon by Suhel Johar

Rangoon Is One Of The Weakest Films Of Vishal Bhardwaj.

 

Although a lot of patriotic flavour has been added to the film but the film can be said to be an out and out romantic film set against backdrop of World War II. Unfortunately for Bhardwaj Rangoon fails not just as a patriotic drama but as a romance between three strong-willed individuals.

Nawab Ali (Shahid Kapoor) serves British Army and accidentally meets superstar Julia (Kangana Ranaut) on his way to Burma. Rusi Billimoria (Saif Ali Khan), who is the biggest film producer of that time, is madly in love with Julia.

Julia and her assistants get trapped in the attack and Nawab rescues Julia. The two lose the way and reach an isolate village. The two gradually fall in love, but on the other hand, Rusi is in search of Julia. He seeks help from British Army and finds his love Julia back home but it is too late now. Julia gives away her heart to Nawab. Is there a happy ending for Nawab and Julia's brewing love story or Rusi will take revenge of his long lost love? This is what the rest of Vishal Bharadwaj's Rangoon is all about.

A film by Vishal Bhardwaj more often than not carries a lot of expectations thanks to his earlier films. But of late Vishal is just trying to encash that reputation and has become more self indulgent with each new film and at the same time he seems to be taking the audience for granted.

Apparently, Rangoon which was originally titled Julia was supposed to go on the floor after Omkara (2006). However, Vishal Bhardwaj stalled the film for unknown reasons.

Agreed that Vishal Bhardwaj’s films have offbeat themes, interesting music and competent performances. But his films have also been marked by incomplete plots, contradictions in the script, an over-reliance on glamour and the inability to spell out the kind of cinema he wants to be known for. As a result a Vishal Bhardwaj film tends to end up like a work in progress.

As far as the love triangle is concerned Vishal Bhardwaj is very confused unless he is trying to connect with only a certain section of the audience. Too many lip locks does nothing to help the cause of the film and neither does the bare back scene/s of Kangana Ranaut. They certainly are not the kind that seems to be intrinsic to the plot of the film. The purpose for them in here is just adding some extra footage that makes the thin story line stretch and fails to engage the audience. The war scenes are clumsily handled and overall weak in their depiction of it. The worst part about the film is of course the weak triangular love story between Saif, Shahid and Kangana.  Whether it is Saif’s love for Kangana or the brewing love story between Shahid and Kangana, before you can realize that the couple is in love it jumps to another story. By the time it is time for the climax you’ve already lost the plot and not bothered about whats going on. To add to that is the clumsy VFX in the climax and all you wish by then is to see the film end.  Not only is the film misconceived but it has been handled equally bad despite a lavish mounting. Some scenes seem never ending while and induce fatigue and try their best to put you to sleep. One really wonders how tedious the film would have been had they not chopped 40 mins of footage just before the film’s release

The censor board too seems to have been very liberal with the multiple lip locks, bare body scenes and with the usage of swear words like ‘Bloody Hell’.

Rangoon, arguably is one of the weakest films of Vishal. The trailer of the film seems more interesting and engrossing than the complete film.

The saving grace of the film is the performance of its three main characters. Shahid Kapoor continues to look like an over grown kid but he performs to the best of his abilities and does a convincing job. Saif Ali Khan looks aristocratic and does a commendable job as a Richie rich married film producer in love with his protégé. Kangana is inconsistent which could mainly be due to the fact that her character is not well written and lacks a soul. But full marks to her for trying her best to do in an half baked role. Richard McCabe as Urdu speaking Major General Harding is unintentionally funny. All other supporting actors pass muster.

Pankaj Kumar’s cinematography is wonderful. Vishal Bhardwaj’s music is better than his direction. In his attempt to present a concoction of love mixed with some war and patriotism Vishal manages to confuse the viewers.   

On the whole, Rangoon has tried to present love in the time of war but the presentation is so bad that it has failed to entice or excite them and lure them into cinema halls.