Run from “Rann”?

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Not really! Barring a few glitches here and there, “Rann” is watchable enough.

Just when the disastrous RGV Ki Aag is almost ready to firmly establish itself as the sole example of his movie-making abilities in most moviegoers’ minds, Ram Gopal Varma comes up with Rann. With this one, however, Ramu has managed to salvage his reputation to a large extent. Although writer Rohit Banawlikar’s story by itself seems quite run-of-the-mill, it is the treatment meted out to it that is worth a mention.

Vijay Malik (Amitabh Bachchan) is India's most respected news presenter who fights to run his now declining news channel by the same principles he’s lived by. Nalini Kashyap (Suchitra Krishnamoorthy) works at Malik's channel but in reality, for Amrish Kakkar (Mohnish Bahl), an ex-employee whose TV channel is the current number 1.
Malik's USA-returned son Jai (Sudeep), his industrialist son-in-law Naveen Shankalya (Rajat Kapoor) and opposition leader Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal) are hungry for success & so together, they pull off a coup against the country's PM Digvijay Hooda (Alok Nath). But Malik's protégè Purab Shastri (Riteish Deshmukh) senses a wrongdoing and investigates. What follows is a tale of truths, lies & deceits that prompt the question - to choose the inconvenient truth or the happier compromise?

Pros

1. The movie is content-rich, with a very noble underlying message. The dilemmas that the characters undergo are all very real and easy to identify with.
2. Most of the performances were credible and noteworthy. Most importantly, Amitabh Bachchan continues to cast his magic spell on the hapless audience. He’s dignified & believable throughout the film, and his every expression shines through.
3. The music, thankfully, is limited to being a background score. It's slick and edgy, and the lyrics very in-your-face. Overall, it goes well with the film's underlying theme. 

Cons

1. The cinematography! The constantly-shifting camera angles look to heighten the suspense but end up being extremely headache-inducing and distracting!
2. Kannada actor Sudeep is possibly the only one who looks quite out-of-place. The accent, the body language, the dialogue delivery - all of these take away from his otherwise decent performance.
3. As seen earlier in Sarkar, the female characters in the movie are shown as mere pawns in the hands of their men - be it Lata Malik (Neena Kulkarni), Jai's girlfriend Yasmin (Neetu Chandra), Purab's partner Nandita (Gul Panag) or Priya Shankalya (Simone Singh). In a world like ours, such a portrayal is regressive.

Verdict

Rann doesn’t have the brilliance of Satya, Company or Sarkar, but then it isn’t Darling, Naach or RGV Ki Aag either! Bachchan's performance by itself, especially the monologue during the climax, is worth the ticket & popcorn. Barring the distracting cinematography, Rann is definitely worth a watch.

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Rating --- 2.75/5

 

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this review are my personal views and do not reflect those of my employer or its clients in any way)

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