“I went, I saw and I retired hurt!” This status update should suffice for what this reviewer wants to convey. All thanks to 162 minutes of one of the most awaited films of the year – Rangoon.
A love triangle , a desh prem wala angle and that word I have come to dread... yes “epic”! So ambitious is the set-up that the only epicness I could detect was in the mess that it made.
A period drama set in pre-independent India, we are first given a tertiary tour of a beautiful stunt woman’s life . Like “Toofan ki Beti”, the film that catapults her to dizzying fame, Julia is quite the wild child. Her patron, lover and an ex-action star himself, Russi Billimoria (Saif Ali Khan) is often seen making her sit on his lap to calm her disgruntled purrs.
Focus shifts to Burma and Jamadar Malik is entrusted with her safety. Desh bhakti ka jazba and Azad Hind Fauj make their cameos. Till interval nothing happens except for our silent prayers wishing for something worthwhile.
Things do begin to look up a little after the half-way mark as the motivations of the characters take centre stage. There is a beautifully crafted scene here and a passionately shot moment there but the film never really comes together.
The actors don’t give us much to complain about. Saif is terrific as he brings his quiet Nawabi halo along. Shahid and Kangana peddle their wares and are equally brilliant. But the gaping holes in the screenplay make it a disorienting effort. Although the frames have captured luxurious beauty, the special effects and CGI are so tacky that they lend the film an unprofessional feel.
Brilliant performances can’t save Rangoon and Vishal Bhardwaj's ambition is its undoing. Looks like this is his Bombay Velvet moment. Two Quints out of 5 is what it gets.
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