Rangoon

When you see such an ensemble, you ought to expect a lot from the movie. And when it's Vishal Bhardwaj's directorial, it seems to be a cherry on the cake. But here, the cake is not so delicious. After a slow first half, the movie progresses well in the second half but fails to impress. Bhardwaj's ambitious concoct of a love story against the backdrop of second world war seems loose. The story lacks crispness and does not look intense.

Coming to performances, Kangana is the hero of the movie. she effortlessly portrays her character of Julia, who is stuck between love and obligation. Her transition from a naive and beautiful girl to a strong and bold lady scintillates through her eyes. "Bloody hell".

Shahid is one fine actor who has been constantly diversifying his roles. And Vishal Bhardwaj always brings best out of him. He is terrific in this one too and let's his eyes do the talking.

Saif, with reminiscence of Langda Tyagi, gives one fine performance. His portrayal of an obsessive lover, who thinks that Julia is his to posses, brings a lot of conviction.

The last scene is way too dramatic, cinematography is good but unrealistic at times. Had the story been more crisp, it would have been a treat to watch these actors sharing the stage; but sadly it is not.

The movie is good if you forgive the cliché ending. The performances of Kangana Ranaut and Saif Ali Khan is mind-blowing. Kangana Ranaut steals the show. Indeed, she is the 'Hero' of the movie. The cinematography is good. The film shows the INA version of anthem which is worth mentioning. Except for the climax, the movie is worth watching.

If I am going to watch a 'first day first show' of Rangoon, there is no need to say that I am a big Vishaal Bhardwaj fan. I started waiting for the release date since I came to know that 'Rangoon' was being directed by Mr. Bhardwaj. From very first scene to 5 minutes before the end, film is so good that you really have to appreciate the story, direction, music, acting and all. But if you talk about climax, it is so disappointing that you can't believe it is the same film. I mean, how would you feel if after having a perfect cup of Coffee in the evening, you are suddenly forced to taste the 'plum sauce'? Or, while watching a whole 'Bhardwaj' movie, you are forced to watch the climax of a typical 'David Dhawan' or 'Anees Bazmee' film? It doesn't mean that I don't like the movies of these two film directors, or I don't like 'plum sauce' at all. But is there any combination? I mean, seriously? Besides the disappointing ending, overall it is one of the best Vishaal Bhardwaj movies. It makes you feel as good as watching 'Omkara', 'Ishqiya' or 'Haider'. Cast is good. Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor are great in their roles. Kangana is the pure 'soul' of the film. She has acted really good and has looked really pretty in the film. Music is fine. Dance performances, war scenes are also great. But, if you don't want to feel as bad as I am, it is recommended to leave the hall 5 minutes prior to the ending.

From Omkara until Haider, I've always admired Vishal Bhardwaj's work based on his writing, direction, acting, and music. I was pretty eager for this film based on the good trailer despite the negativity it received on Youtube but the songs on the other hand made me skeptical about it. But after watching this, I felt that that something went wrong in terms of storytelling and visuals in some way.

So this movie focuses on an actress named Julia who dates a Parsi filmmaker and millionaire Rustom Billimoria who is already married but tries to hide this relationship from his wife. But due to some circumstances, Julia falls in love with an Indian soldier named Nawab Malik who is currently fighting at the Burmese Border along with the British and Japanese army. The love triangle between the actress, soldier, and the filmmaker is basically what this movie is about.

Quite frankly, this film is a bore to many extents. The way the movie started was good and unapologetic making me realize that this film is going somewhere but post interval becomes too far-fest and uneven creepiness starts to crawl in especially with a generic ending which didn't do any justice to the movie.

War genre-based films follow a certain pattern by its set design, costumes, weaponry,and VFX. The film managed to tackle some of these elements but the VFX wasn't crisp enough. Vishal's previous film Haider had all these elements. I believe he should continue making Shakespeare play based films because of the amount of success he retained from these films.

The music was below average especially taking 75% of the film for these songs. What I mean generally is that there were more than 10 songs in that movie and that is how it took so much time of the movie. The lyrics were written like some 5 year old was singing a lullaby. Even with VB composing, he also lost the touch in music.

Despite the criticism, there are some saving grace moments in this film.

The acting was amazing. Shahid Kapoor gives a flawless performance and he started really well in this film. Just stay away from R.Rajkumar and Shandaar's zone please. Even surprisingly, Saif Ali Khan was also good in his part. Kanagana Ranaut's mentality from Queen raised her performance in this movie a notch from the top. But the British Dude was so irritating in this film especially the way he spoke Hindi.

The cinematography and direction was nice especially the way the film was shot. Every frame was executed beautifully and the war scenes were also shot good but like I said, the VFX and editing needed more work.

Overall, this movie is undoubtedly one of the most disappointing films of 2017 and yeah based on the good performances, I would rate it a one-time watch but in my opinion, this VB film is worth watching on a T.V broadcast or on a Netflix.

Vishal Bhardwaj, I would bid this masterpiece for a dollar but not more than that.

2/5

A great movie by Vishal Bhardwaj again. Seem to be a bit slow in the end but boils down later on. The story is spell bounding. Acting is awesome by all actors. Kudos to Vishal Bhardwaj. Simply awesome ! This movie will entertains you to the hilt and touches you in a manner that isn't as simple to decipher and understand as it seems to be. And why it should be? After all, it's a Vishal Bharadwaj movie.