Rangoon Movie Review

Rangoon, given its pedigree (Vishal Bharadwaj) and promise ( Kangana, Saif, Shahid) is a predictable average film. I have loved Vishal 's Shakespeare themed films in the past : Omkara and Haider , (I haven't watched maqbool), as also 'Kaminey'. Vishal's strengths usually lie in creating complex, nuanced , grey characters, who lend the stories both credibility and a touch of 'je ne sais quoi'. The other strength in his films was usually the unforgettable music. On both these counts , Rangoon fails to impress. Rangoon is a decidedly simpler, straight forward film : a traditional triangular love story set against the back drop of the 2nd world war. If you removed the Vishal Bharadwaj tag from the film, then by itself, the movie isn't bad, though like almost all hindi films, about 30 minutes too long. Both Saif and Shahid, have cardboard cut out characters. Saif's character was one that could have had an edgy part : as a movie producer on the side of the British, whom Julia initially loves, and who loves her back, one keeps expecting Saif to surprise us, with a twist in the tale, but that doesn't happen. Shahid, who plays a (Spoiler alert) passionate revolutionary is the moral anchor of the film- the reason for Kangana's evolution from a vacuous, superficial actress to somebody willing to risk her life for a cause.The movie however, is Kangana's story. She plays a world war 2 era actress whose life transforms during the course of the film. Her performance is pretty good, but given that she is in almost every frame of the film, fails to get us to care enough about her character or her love for Shahid. The chemistry between them is kind of 'thsnda' in spite of the intensely written screens. The screenplay itself is pretty well thought out and the intermingling of the romantic story with the background war story is done perfectly. The movie is also a very good looking film, overall. However, in the end, the place where the film failed for me was its inability to get me to invest in the characters, and in their emotions for each other. Overall. I'd rate the film 2.5/5. Watch it if you have nothing else to do.