Rann

Ram Gopal Varma is a proficient filmmaker, films like 'Satya' 'Sarkar' & 'Jungle' have gone down as true Cult-Classics. But, for a long,long time he has been wasting his time in crappy & shitty films. 'Aag', 'Nishabad' & 'Darling' were resounding duds. I as a fan of his at a time, I gave up on him! But his latest offering 'RANN' has made me curious after a long hiatus.

'RANN' is a interesting fare, with RGV's direction deserving a clap. Rohit G. Banawilkar's writing is intelligent. 'RANN' however, despite the merits, caters to a very tiny section of audience, it's strictly not meant for those who worship escapist cinema... it's for the 'I Love Serious, Intense Cinema' chaps... unfortunately that section of audience over-here is as good as nil.

RGV exposes the media industry in 'RANN'. It has good twists and turns, and gripping second hour. But 'RANN' is not without it's share of minuses, the film actually takes off in the second hour when the scandal comes all over. The first hour is more on introducing characters & their motives. RGV could've have easily started the engine much before interval, there is a possibility you might lose patience in the first 60-minutes. But guys, the second hour makes up for it. The climax, also, is well-done.

Coming to the acting department, Bachchan delivers a restrained performance. Sudeep is the life of the show. Playing a arrogant mind with amazing understanding & ease. Paresh Rawal is outstanding, as freaking always. What an actor! Ritesh is okay. Rajat Kapoor is excellent. Mohnish Behl is exceptional. He excels in a meaty role. Rajpal provides a few laughs. Gul is wasted, ditto for Neetu Chandra. Suchitra, seen in a film after a long gap, is fantastic.

Bottom-Line: 'RANN' is amongst RGV's better films. It deserved to do better at the box office, it didn't. Now, give the due it deserves.

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!!!!

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.

This is a great movie ! I was hesitant to see this movie because of Ram Gopal Verma's recent flops due to which I thought he lost the knack on making a good movie.

This is definitely one of the best movies I saw. Those who are looking for a sensible and realistic movie to watch then this is it.

If you are looking for songs, dances and bollywood masala then you may not find it here. This movie is an eye opener and exposes the present mindset of news channels - news has become a sort of a drama (a sansanati khabar) to make money than really to provide news. No wonder all the media people have given this movie a bad review and rating. Do not go by such bad reviews and ratings.

I will give it a honest 8 !!

The news is that old RGV is back on track.

I was hoping for RGV to hit form at least in RANN after few craps like Contract, Aag and Agyaath. And guess what, He actually hit form in this movie. Trailers were promising and thats what took me to the theater. In the end I was really touched by this masterpiece which really went unnoticed. This was definitely one of the best works of RGV since Sarkar.

The movie rightly exposes internal politics of the media and how the news are created instead of reporting the actual news. No wonder why the electronic media reviewers like Rajiv Masand, Anupama bashed the movie saying "Ill researched"!!!!

Coming to the performance, Everybody from Rajpal Yadav to BigB has done justice to the character but Sorry BigB its Sudeep who steals the show with his terrific performance.

Pros.. Almost everything..

Cons Nothing really...

Verdict: Get your copy of DVD right now