My Review:Rann

I admit it,I am not a fan of RGV.The only movies of his which I liked were Satya,Bhoot and Sarkar.After the colossal debacle called "RGV ki Aag" and other lesser mishaps like Agyaat,there was some amount of trepidation as I sat down to watch Rann.Of course,the movie had everything going for it.No songs,a storyline,credible actors and fully clothed females.Now all that remained was the watching of the movie.
It started.Painfully honest and conscience worshipper media baron's TV station is slipping in the TRP rankings.Wilful,over ambitious and restless son wants to take over the reins and herald a new era.Pure souled journalist and the media baron's ardent fan joins the station to follow his footsteps.Media baron's soulless son in-law joins hands with a politician(corrupt,of course) to gain his own ends.Debonair and practical rival TV channel's head honcho gloats about his channel's popularity.Bomb blasts occur,a fellow politico is blamed and the footage is shown by media baron's channel.This incident throws everyone's life out of gear.How the real culprit is found out and how power equations change form the crux of the story from this point onwards.
Rann tells us who the characters are,what they believe in and who did what at the very outset of the movie.What is sets to reveal till the end is the see saw of emotions,the role of facades and character masks.Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay Harshvardhan Malik is surprisingly tepid and lukewarm.The only time he scores is when he is shown sitting besides the dead body of his son.Reitish Deshmukh's Purab Shastri comes across as mechanical and disinteresting.No doubt,some sequences do leave you sympathizing with him,like when he realizes the double nature of people around him.His despair and shattering of trust does not show through.He gives a sincere,albeit just-so performance.Rajat Kapoor as Vijay Malik's son in-law is as usual,cynical and cunningly played.I do believe that he is getting typecast.Paresh Rawal is excellent as Mohan Pandey,the politician who wants to become the chief minister.Suchitra Krishnamurthy as CFO Nalini Kashyap is okay;there is not much scope for her to go on.One feels the need to mention Rajpal Yadav.What first seems as a loud and disturbing character eventually begins making sense towards the end,especially the sequence where he interviews Rawal's character.Mohnish Belh as Amrish Kakkar,the rival channel head is very good.He is one underrated actor.Gul Panag,Neetu Chandra and Simone Singh are totally wasted.Finally,the guy who plays Jai Malik,Vijay's son is good in parts and indifferent at times.His death sequence surely is different;without any melodrama.
The screenplay is good,but it does drags in parts.If the first hour goes by slowly,the second hour is riveting and gripping.The missed call sequence and Purab's interview with Pandey are good writing bits.In the whole movie,Jai's character is the actual victim.He represents high ideals and young anger which is completely misdirected and harnessed by other people to gain their own ends.The movie also raises a pertinent question-what is the actual role of the media today?The TRP wars nonwithstanding,how far are we willing to go to ensure that our views are heard,our channel is the best?Are we willing to manipulate the truth to such an extent that in the end,everything becomes a distorted reality?What is real and unreal anymore?Can we depend on the news telecasts or the famous "breaking news" segments?
Rann works because it neatly delivers a message by utilizing some of the best acting talents of our country in a very matter of fact manner.Rann means a warzone,and that is precisely what our media has become today.I am not a critic by profession but as a viewer and a connoisseur of good cinema,I have to say that none of the characters touched me or stayed with me after the movie was over.The writing was taut but not entirely spellbinding.And there was no closure,so to speak.Rann may not be a high grosser at the BO or be singled out for mention for praise,but it certainly is good,strong cinema with a significant and relatable message and a deeply thought provoking question.