Rangrezz

Despite the fact that I am unaware as to what Rangrezz actually means although for all I am concerned it could have been named "a modern Bollywood classroom on moral values with particular emphasis on friendship, trust, recognition, and limits to family loyalty". Having said that, I must concur that Rangrezz is a much more nice sounding title.

The story begins with the arrival of an old friend at the scene who proclaims his infinite love for a girl he totally loves that reciprocates his feelings but cannot have him as their parents are high profile people who dislike one another and so have arranged for them to marry other people. Being in the company of friends, this becomes a non- issue as they instantly plan a kidnapping of the girl, followed by a hiding plan so that the young lovers could elope as they please.

The plot goes to plan in terms of bringing the couple together but the friends of the groom become seriously wounded due to the standoff with the girl's security team. The prolonged fighting sequence was not random; it was a fight of love versus arranges marriage, friendship over submission to family will, untamed spirit of youth versus the set ways of the older generation. Such struggles can be hurtful and so was the drawn out altercation served to our sense of vision.

Again, those injured boys did not mind the pain they endured nor the loss of reputation they and their families suffered; for all they knew it was a worthwhile sacrifice in the name of both friendship and love, something they consider sacred. What did hurt them deeply was the lack of appreciation by those they tried to help.

Watching this, it got me thinking on a rather personal level, in terms of a westerner experiencing an eastern culture, how harmful the extremes are. By this, a reference is made to family. In the west most relax, even sever, their links with the previous generation(s) upon reaching adulthood which has not done our societies a lot of favour; lack or role models combined with fear of commitment has caused a widespread desolation. In India, the family links are so close that they cause asphyxiation since the parents take for granted that they are always in charge of their children's lives with absolutely no regard for their needs or aspirations. Again, no form of slavery is advantageous for all concerned as people think they are meant to be victims until they become parents so that they can freely victimize others.

Although this will not be remembered as one of the great films (there were noticeable flaws), still the simplicity and charm in which it conveyed both a message and emotions will, in my mind, make it stand out from many other recent Bollywood films.

Not very often we get to see a film which has something immensely important to convey through its thoughtful story idea but doesn't get the ample support from its executors to bring forward the exact message of its plot in the desired manner. And whenever such a film is there, it in fact becomes the duty of the reviewers to take an initiative and make that precious message reach its right audience through their individual articles on the film ignoring its other visible glitches.

So writing with the same motive, RANGREZZ is surely one of the above mentioned films which can easily be included in the better (if not best) works of the veteran director Priyadarshan, coming back after a string of many forgettable ventures in the recent years. It may not be a perfect film, if looked upon with a cinematic angle. But still it has a bold, relevant theme with some brilliantly conceived scenes by the director & his team, which force you to contemplate upon Friendship, Love & Sex, the three important aspects of every youth's happening life unarguably.

Admittedly, the film starts off without making any kind of impact in its initial 20 minutes with the same typical scenes introducing its various characters along with 2 forced-in songs, as usual. But once the abduction angle comes into the script, the narration picks up fast giving you one of the finest & shocking chase sequences (in a crowded temple and market) before the interval, supported by an energetic song running in the background, wherein Sukhwinder is chanting, "Shambhu Shiv Shambhu" in a fast tempo and full spirits.

The energy generated by this well shot 15 minutes of the film, somehow gets merged into the various subplots coming in post intermission. But it all gets back on the track soon once its major unexpected & thought provoking twist is revealed in the final 40 minutes of the film forcing you to forget its lackluster start and avoidable songs right away. And this is what moved me the most in RANGREZZ depicting a very important issue of Love Marriage and its sustaining power among the youth, living quite dangerously in the present net-age majorly lead by all monetary interests.

The film strongly throws in the missing emotional connect in these stunning concluding moments and you just keep watching the proceeding on the screen with some mixed emotions of disgust and anger with your head down. The fiery tragedy in this so called love saga puts you on a thinking mode and its main theme certainly needs to be discussed by the youngsters quite boldly & urgently in their individual groups. Without revealing the surprise element of the film, I would like to add that RANGREZZ redefines friendship in an applaudable manner with Jackky Bhagnani, Amitosh Nagpal, Vijay Verma, Rajpal Yadav & few others in the supporting cast, playing their well written characters very impressively. Though I wished to see more of Priya Anand after her lovable act in English VINGLISH, yet she does full justice to her small role as required. Pankaj Tripathi and Lushin Dubtey add a lot through their impactful portrayal of two cunning politicians and so does Santosh Sivan conveying silently with his camera behind the screen.

To be precise, RANGREZZ is not a film revolving around a routine blessed hero & his heroine, but its a collective effort putting forward a shocking, sensible plot which deserves to be seen by the youngsters in particular. Both Vashu Bhagnani and Priyadarshan deserve all the praises to bring in this thoughtful project for the Hindi viewers who normally are not served with such realistic or introspective kind of stuff more often. Musically it has 2 upbeat tracks "Shambhu Shiv Shambhu" & "Govinda Aala Re" along with the world famous "Gangnam Style" being played in the end credits. Yet I felt a few songs in the beginning were not required actually and its background score could have been more concerning, to give you the touch of all that agony felt by its innocent characters on the screen.

However being a remake of the Tamil Hit NAADODIGAL (2009), the film clearly reveals another valuable fact that the Regional Cinema in India is much ahead in terms of story ideas and experimentation than the more famous & loved Bollywood. In other words, Hindi film industry still has to go a long way to come up with such original films of its own, moving ahead of its huge dependency on "The Remakes".

So where many reviewers might have given a very low rating to the film discarding it completely, there I would like to recommend RANGREZZ to every true friend and couples in deep love, thinking or already experienced Love Marriage in their real life just recently. Because for me, films which tend to make us think and raise several relevant questions on our problematic life patterns are in fact very important to see & discuss for our own betterment of life.

Honestly, I really wished to include it in my list of 'Movies To See Before You Die'because of its considerate, realistic depiction of Friendship, Sex and Love Marriage as often seen in our own local surroundings. But unfortunately the cinematic limitations of the film restrict me to do so and therefore I would be sharing all my burning thoughts on its effective theme in a different individual article instead.

Nevertheless, till then allow me to leave you with the following gutsy dialogue of RANGREZZ which might make you see the mirror right in the front more truthfully and I will soon post the write-up taking it forward from here only. "Bhai, Shadi To Hum Karwa Denge, Par Pehle Apne Lover Couple Se Ek Baar Puch Lo, Ke MANDAP Hi Chahiye Ya Ek KAMRA Bhi Chalega. A meaningfully written line with a punch to get it hard!

Score 7/10 Director Mr. Priydarshan is able to dig out the comedy very easily even without dialogues and he proves himself again. Story line is good and new. Screenplay is so so, sometimes it becomes illogical. Dialogues are OK. One major problem in script is that they badly fail to convey U.P with dialogues or scenes while U.P is the integral part of script. Even they choose the name of characters, which are very urban, i.e Joy, Jasmeen. Even, I am unable to understand the connection between Title of film and content. Art director also fails to establish the Uttar Pradesh badly on screen. Coconut stall, Bhajiya, cutting Tea, don't belong to U.P at all. Even the locations very apparently reflect South. Performance wise Rajpal Yadav (as Man sigh)is fantastic. He makes you laugh, with even his body language. Vijay Verma (as Pakya ) is also a very fine actor. He has done very good work in comedy as well as in emotional scenes. One other friend of Rishi is also fine. Jacky Bhagnani (as Rishi)is OK but he has improved from his last movie. Pankaj Tripathi (as Jasmeen father) is OK. The dialogues of the mother of Joy are very well good but delivered very badly. Music by Sajid-Wajid is good.

Adapted from the Tamil film Naadodigal, 'Rangrezz' is a fairly interesting film, that has glimpses of power, but they aren't many either. An erratic Screenplay plays a spoilsport.

'Rangrezz' Synopsis: A lower-middle-class boy from Mumbai, drives to Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh to help a friend unite with his girlfriend. Things take a unexpected turn when violence erupts in the middle of friendship & love.

'Rangrezz' begins superbly & the first-hour, does engage. The sequences work & you don't get bored for a minute. However, the second-hour disappoints. Even the twist in the tale towards the finale, doesn't arrest. The Screenplay has some merit, but its erratic. Priyadarshan's Direction is average. He's done better work before. Santosh Sivan's Cinematography is top-class.

Performance-Wise: Jackky Bhagnani delivers an earnest performance in the central role. Amitosh Nagpal & Vijay Verma lend good support. Priya Anand looks cute in a bit role. Pankaj Tripathi is electrifying as the powerful politician.

On the whole, 'Rangrezz' is a mixed bag.

Priyadarshan's Rangrezz is yet another tale of bromance sprinkled with moderate doses of friendship,traditional family values and sacrifice.You get a strong sense of déjà vu with every single shot as the narratives progresses through the narrow lanes , the chawl, the dhabba and also the muddy roads of Mumbai during the rains.

Remake of the Tamil superhit film ' Naadodigal', it tells the story of Rishi Deshpande(Jackky Vagnani), a young and courageous boy whose life is incomplete without his pals and childhood sweetheart,Megha(Priya Anand).The story follows hows Rishi helpful nature lands him in life- threatening situation when he and his pals help a friend elope despite parental oppositions.

Rangrezz is visually delightful , thanks to Santosh Sivan's vivid cinematography which captures Mumbai in full swing and while his obsession with monsoon continues,the sea waves and the dark clouds become synonymous with his technical acumen.It is fast paced laced with some energetic soundtracks and riveting action choreo by Alan-Aamin but the message that the movie sends out seems illogical and unconvincing.Sometimes it lacks the required intensity and the post interval portions seem to head no where.The much talked about 'Gangnam style' also is placed at the juncture when the ending credits roll. There are earnest performances by the band of boys and Jackky keeps his act quite subdued while Priya Anand doesn't get much of scope.Rajpal Yadav tickles your funny bone and the supporting cast which includes Pankaj Tripathi and Lushin Dubey is just OK.

On the whole, Rangrezz turns out be a fairly engrossing Priyadarshan flick.Keep your expectations low and you won't feel apologetic.