Rangoon

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala, Vishal Bhardwaj

Plot: 

Rating: 2/5 Stars (Two stars)

Star Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

What’s Good: Rangoon scores high on the visual quotient. Also, Kangana Ranaut’s Julia powers through the film like a true hero.

What’s Bad: Vishal Bharadwaj’s crowd pleasing antics clubbed with his ambitions to make the film a la Shakespearean tragedy, make it a complete mess.

Loo Break: Definitely, two to three! This is a long film.

Watch or Not?: Rangoon is no masterpiece. It fails to rise above Vishal’s imagination of cinema. Lengthy and forced, it is a confused war-love-freedom struggle drama.

User Rating:

Set in 1940, the film revolves around Russi Billimoria (Saif Ali Khan) a former action star, producer who is the man behind Julia’s ( Kangana Ranaut) stardom. After by her for 1000 bucks from an orphanage, Russi makes her an action star and now is her lover too.

Julia on the other hand is exuberant, slightly insecure and hell bent on becoming Mrs. Billimoria at the earliest.

After Russi promises General Hardings ( Richard McCabe) that Julia will perform for his army men in Burma, the lady sets out on her journey.

Thanks to an attack during their travel, Julia gets stuck with Jamadar Nawab Mallik (Shahid Kapoor), a soldier hardened by struggle after being a prisoner of war, now assigned as a bodyguard for her in the exotic jungles of Arunachal Pradesh. Love blossoms between the two and now Julia is stuck between her passionate love and her dream to become Mrs Billimoria.

In the meantime, Nawab Mallik has a huge secret to hide. Will it change things? Whom does Julia choose in the end is what is left to see.

Rangoon Review: Script Analysis

Vishal Bharadwaj’s Rangoon, has been one of the most talked about projects. We are well familiar with Bharadwaj’s tastes for making an impact with cinema but here, he misses the bulls eye.

There is a love triangle, world war 2, Indian freedom struggle and above all a poetic symbolism dealing with all the above that makes it chaotic. He tries hard to present a Shakespearean tragedy like Maqbool and Haider but none of it fits here with the oddly written characters.

At start General Hardings’ cracking Urdu Shayri in his British accent may have seemed funny but when it repeats for the entire film, it is highly irritating.

Julia’s character is strangely similar in her real as well as reel life. She’s a fighter on screen and nothing less when it comes saving her love off-screen too. Russi on the other hand is a confused businessman who is in love with his keep, gets easily manipulated by his family and is a servant of the Brits. His character comes across as the weakest.

The romantic angle between Julia and Nawab seems extremely hurried, forced under their trying circumstances and comes across more like a lustful encounter than love.

The dialogues have a typical Vishal Bharadwaj feel, with its depth.

Rangoon Review: Star Performance

Kangana Ranaut does a great job as Julia. She pulls of the character’s braveheart nature, insecurities and fearless loving with much ease. Love the portion where Julia is having a conversation with a Japanese soldier without understanding his language, it almost reminds us of Queen.

Saif Ali Khan fails to rise above the expected. As Russi, he has nothing but a stern face and an accented “Kiddo” (what he calls Julia as his lover) to offer.

Shahid Kapoor does a good job as Nawab Mallik. His flexed muscles, hardened soldier look, work its charm for most of the time.

Richard McCabe as General Hardings, gives us a hard time with his Urdu shayri, although, as a villain, who laughs with his enemy first and then kills him, he’s good.