Rangoon: The movie that doesn't get over

Movie: Rangoon

Genre: Romance, Drama

Run Time: 2 hours 50 minutes

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Richard McCabe

Rating: 4.5/10

Rangoon is a confused mix of misdirected effort from all departments involved, with no clear goal or end-game in mind.

Plot:

The movie is a period film made in the back-drop of World War II, and is essentially a love triangle between Nawab Malik(Shahid Kapoor), Miss Julia(Kangana Ranaut) and Rusi Billimoria(Saif Ali Khan). Miss Julia is a heart-winning actress/entertainer who works for Rusi Billimoria in his movies, and also happens to be his muse. General Major Harding(Richard McCabe) is a close friend of Rusi's and convinces him to send Miss Julia to entertain and perform for the British Indian army at the Indo-Burma border. Major Harding promises maximum security for Miss Julia and consequently sends Nawab Malik along with her for her protection. An unaccounted for attack during their travels separates Malik and Julia from the rest of the travellers, and they struggle to survive after overcoming hardships and falling in love along the way, finally finding their way back to the British Indian army. The sub-plot of the movie is that Nawab Malik is a soldier of the opposing Indian National Army led by Subhash Chandra Bose, and is assigned the task of smuggling a priceless sword across the Indo-Burma bridge in order to trade it for firearms and food, and consequently win us the war over Burma. Nawab Malik fails at this task which leads to his exposure as the traitor, and is then taken prisoner to Major Harding along with the sword. Miss Julia shows her heroics and manages to save Nawab Malik even after being betrayed by him in the name of love, and both of them end up dying on the way across the Indo-Burma bridge, but Rusi Billimoria completes the task of getting the sword across, also in the name of love for Miss Julia.

What's to like:

The excellence of the cinematography shows in the grandeur of it, and gives the movie a charming and elegant look. Saif Ali Khan fits in perfectly in the age of the movie and looks extremely comfortable in his character; his elegance paired with simplicity makes him the best out of the three in the main lead. The costumes and sets of the movie look excellent, and give the movie a realistic feel, with little margin for error.

What's not to like:

First things first, the script was haphazard with no clear plot or finish. The first half of the movie is flat with no real ups and downs or even a captivating build-up, and the second half has multiple disjointed things happening all at once, with poor execution and mediocre effort. It seems as though the writers failed to mix the romance of the movie with the drama bit of it, with a really poor plot and sub-plot as a result of it. The second major flaw in the movie is the VFX, with 40 percent of the movie looking so obviously fake and overdone, which shows that the special effects were definitely not treated as a priority in the making of the film, and the makers chose to settle for below-average. Kangana Ranaut delivers an unexpectedly average performance with substantial amounts of overacting, and it seemed as though there was no real comfort between her and the character she had to play. Shahid Kapoor started out well but failed to impress in powerful scenes where a spectrum of emotions was required, failing to do justice to certain heavy dialogues or dramatic build-ups. The movie consisted of a handful of co-actors who did not fit in or deliver in terms of quality, and seemed like misfits scattered through the length of the movie. The music is not something to look forward to, with there being no rhythmic brilliance or meaningful lyrics/composition in any song. All in all, the audience fails to relate to the movie at any point as the movie doesn't consist a single shot of cinematic brilliance or sincerity, and is left feeling frustrated and impatient by the end of it.

Why you should watch it:

This description might as well be left empty as there isn't a single reason as to why you should watch the movie, with there being nothing you can take away from the movie except for a shorter day and an emptier wallet.