Rann

Before the actual release of this movie, I was eagerly waiting for it. Especially because it seemed to have all the desirable things one can expect out of a Ram Gopal Verma made crime/political film.

When I read reviews of so-called critics, I was very disappointed. Most of them gave it mere below-average to average ratings. I almost gave it up thinking that it's another failure of an RGV experiment. But, I am glad I didn't.

I don't know why the critics gave it bad ratings. According to me, it was a very good film. It was well presented, not a bit exaggerated, to-the-point film.

Things I liked about it - couple of good sarcastic background songs, very well-defined/well-judged characters and the opening as well as climax of the movie.

Things that could have been better - background score and some minor touch-ups in screenplay/plot.

Bottom line - It's a very good film, overall. The plot was pretty good with some minor holes. Despite being predictable, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

With "Rann" Ram Gopal Verma strongly strikes back with his own kind of cinema, wherein he only believes in telling his stories as they are, irrespective of their expected prospects at the box office. The movie is based on the news channel networks in the media and talks about the unhealthy competition prevailing within the industry to get higher TRPs than the rival channels. RGV in his own unique style blatantly reveals the hidden truth behind the so called Sting Operations shown on the news channels, which are capable of generating a massive reaction among the general public.

As it should be, RGV straight away comes to the point in the first 15 minutes itself and does not waste time in establishing his artists in their respective roles. But as expected, "Rann" is not a media bashing movie. Instead it's a movie more interested in showcasing the underground nexus existing between the clever politicians and media networks who are helplessly dependent upon the mercy of these policy makers. It tries to awaken the general public with the fact that today, news is not being reported truthfully, but it's being created tactfully in order to survive in this tiring competition. So, everything seen on the news channel may not be true and hence the public has to take the right decision with its own intelligence and instinct.

However, "Rann" does not entirely focus on the negative side of the topic. Very insightfully, the director shows Three kinds of mindsets prevailing in a society. Amitabh & Ritesh are the two protagonists fighting for their true spirits of a sincere journalist. Paresh Rawal, Rajat Kapoor, Sudeep, Mohnish Behl and Suchitra Krishnamurthy are the ones only interested in the wrong side of the game. But the third section is full of people like Gul Panang, Neetu Chandra and Simone Singh who are neither interested nor willing to participate in any such activity on the social front. Sadly these are the kind of people who constitute a major part of our huge population and let the bad people continue with their ugly tricks of the trade.

"Rann" makes an impact right from the start and leaves you thinking with an interesting intermission. The climax comes up with a well written and superbly rendered speech by the one & only Amitabh Bachchan who is ashamed of himself being a part of the game played on his own channel unknowingly. Amitabh is once again superlative in his brilliant act of a sincere owner of a news channel who wants to run his channel on his own moral principles. But surprisingly, he hasn't got many scenes in the movie apart from the main climax. In fact the movie majorly revolves around Sudeep, who plays Amitabh's son and performs brilliantly in the role assigned. RGV once again gives the Industry a rather unknown actor who has got the talent and capabilities to handle tougher roles as proved in "Rann".

Paresh Rawal, returns on the screen as the main villain and is superb. Ritesh Deshmukh surprises you with his superb portrayal of a calm and sincere journalist, who refuses to accept the unhealthy norms of the trade and is willing to quit. Mohnish Behl is great as the owner of a rival channel. Rajat Kapoor fits to his role as a T. Suchitra looks ravishing and acts well as the in-house spy. Gul Panang looks delightful on the screen. Both Neetu Chandra and Simone Singh are just fine and Rajpal Yadav does bring some relief moments in the tense script.

Interestingly, Censor banned the use of "Jan Gan Man" composition in the movie, but quite amazingly missed out on the lyrics of all the other tracks used in it. Cinematography is of top rate especially in the climax speech of Amitabh. Dialogues are sharp and hard hitting as expected from an RGV film made on social issues and background score is well arranged and apt for the subject.

The movie has a basic plot resembling with Madhur Bhandarkar's "Corporate", but still unarguably it's more thought provoking and relevant in the current scenario. RGV is right there visible in the entire film and impresses you the most in the scenes where Paresh Rawal is interacting with his silent mother, Amitabh is explaining the irrelevant difference between a Hindu and a Muslim, Sudeep trying to cope up with the extreme pressure of being successful, his suicide scene and the well written climax where the truth prevails in the end.

Here, it must be noted that many viewers may find it hard to digest and unentertaining as they may argue that they don't buy a ticket for getting preached. But for all of them I would like to say that Cinema not always should be a means of entertainment alone. At times it's the duty of the intelligent film makers to come up with films which are capable of starting a debate especially among the younger generation, who have the power and enthusiasm to bring the desired changes in the society.

In the past, "Ankush", "Yuva", "Rang De Basanti", "Swades" and many more such films were made by on the similar grounds of starting a debate. With "Rann" RGV contributes to the same new age wave & I hope it is able to burn a new candle in the dark lives of our directionless youngsters.

In the end, I would like to add that in an Industry, where everyone is more concerned about the financial prospects of a venture, only RGV and no other film maker in the whole Bollywood could have dared to attempt a movie like "Rann". It's a must watch for all who have a thinking soul and know the value of that one single vote you have in your hands which can make all the difference.

For once, I thought the content was good, the message noble, the performances credible and noteworthy but the packaging was gimmicky, the camera angles too wanna-be and almost nausea / headache inducing and the soundtrack loud and irritating. Both the camera work and music actually detracting from the film.

Amitabh Bachchan plays one of the most respected news presenters, a man of integrity, who lives by his principles and runs his now declining news channel by the same. His son, Sudeep, just back from USA is hungry for success, is nervous, twitchy, short-tempered and also game for some shortcuts. Rajat Kapoor, his brother in law, is an industrialist who dreams big and has aligned himself with a politician, Paresh Rawal, who also dreams big, is tired of being in the opposition. Suchitra Krishnamoorthy works for Amitabh's channel, Mohnish Bahl used to but now has his own channel, which is the number one channel in TRP terms. Enter Riteish Deshmukh, who idolises & is inspired by Amitabh, to join the world of news….

All the dilemma's presented are real, tangible and identifiable. We all face them in our own ways. To go for the inconvenient truth or the happier compromise…where no one but the faceless public gets shortchanged ? Every time we break a queue, bribe an official, shut our eyes at an injustice around us, we're falling into the same trap…the trap of a thousand cuts. And, God help us, but what if there is this fundamental value misalignment amongst members of a family ? What if the son-in-law, the son and the father seem to believe in different things, have different objectives ? We can then easily understand how someone like Amitabh feels as the edifice he's built around him begins to show cracks. And what someone like Riteish feels as he see's truth being sacrificed at the altar of the highest bidder.

All performances were credible, Riteish (very believable), Paresh, Rajat, Sudeep (slightly over-strung) but Amitabh Bachchan for me continues to mesmerize…there is a dignity, a believability that shines through in his every expression.

Now for the disappointing bits. Its almost as if the film makers felt the subject alone wasn't good enough and so decided to go for cutting edge camera angles and really loud background soundtrack to mask the film, heighten the tension. It actually was not needed, the subject matter and performances were good enough, they didn't need gimmicks like this or the abandoned national anthem. There were some obvious flaws. You would probably keep your helmet visor down if you were trying to follow someone incognito nor follow so closely. And maybe you would put your phone on silent when in the vicinity of someone you're trying to 'sting' ? Also, I felt the women characters were sadly shown as mere puppets throughout the film…inconsequential pawns in the hands of the men who controlled their destiny. Surely more could've been made of the combined acting talents of Simone, Neetu Chandra, Gul Panag and Suchitra ? Its definitely worth a watch, Amitabh's performance alone worth the price of a ticket. And there is food for thought…now if only the damned music wasn't cluttering up the mind…. More reviews at ApurvBollywood...

Rann is that rare cinema about the collective conscience which we often like to think has gone out of style.Rann shows how tough it is to hold your head high up in dignified righteousness in a world where ethics crumble faster than cookies in wide-open jar left out too long in the sun.

Cleverly, Ram Gopal Varma situates his morality tale in the cut-throat world of the electronic media where the TRP is God, and deadlines the devil. And may the voice of the conscience rest in peace.

Varma plunges us into the world of the characters that he knows only too well. The glistening sweat on ratings-challenged eyebrows are captured through tight close-ups of worried faces that give nothing and yet everything away.

The narrative is taut restless and biting in its depiction of corruption in supposedly responsible places. Ram Gopal Varma gives no space to the complicated labyrinth of relationships to grow. We are left to gauge the depths and dimensions that underline the furious flow of empathy and antipathy between various characters by reading between the lines.

Rann is a razor-sharp bitter and biting look at the real world of rapidly-moving moral issues. Varma extracts superlative performances from the entire cast.

From Ritesh Deshmukh's heartbreaking idealism to Amitabh bachchan's superb acting........everything in the movie is pitch perfect.....and the movie on whole is really gonna be applauded for its awesome screenplay......

RGV's best work after company!!

a must-watch!!!!

"Rann" is one of the best Indian films I've ever seen. And, while I have seen far fewer films than most Indians, I still have seen many films from this film making power house.

The story is set in India but it could just as soon be set anywhere else. It's a film about the news media and how they've slowly become either banal (with news stories which are crap) or outright lies. The film is set at a CNN or Fox News type of media empire run by Vijay Malik (Amitabh Bachchan). While his India 24/7 Network prides itself in presenting real news, it's also suffering because of this. A newer, glitzier media giant has emerged...Headlines 24. Headlines 24 isn't afraid to wallow in the mud and deliver crap to its viewers...and the people are eating it up. In desperation, Vijay brings his brilliant son Jay back from America to help him run India 24/7...not realizing his son is as completely amoral as the boss at Headlines 24. Jay sees his network slowly collapsing and makes a fateful choice--to throw his lot in with the sleaziest and most evil politician and create news. To solve the mystery of a recent terror bombing, Jay concocts news--implicating the evil politician's rival and setting himself up to become the next Prime Minister. Into this horrible and corrupt mess comes an incredibly idealistic reporter, Purab (Riteish Deshmukh). What is one small man against two media empires and a politician who makes Darth Vader seem like a pussy cat?!

This movie has everything going for it. The script is taut and exciting and after the film was over, I felt drained. Many times I felt myself gasping or on the verge of tears near the end...it was THAT powerful. It also helped to have some amazing acting. Everyone was great but Bachchan really outdid himself during the monologue near the end of the film. The direction was amazing. And, the music was very tense and exciting--and among the best I've heard. Unlike a typical sort of Bollywood film, there are no song and dance numbers (this would have severely hampered the movie) but a couple well chosen nice musical interludes really worked well. Overall, a terrific film with nothing to complain about...nothing. And, unlike most films, it has a universality that makes it a great bet for anyone no matter where they live. A must-see.