Movie Review: RANN

Watchably silly at best, 'Rann' is an unintentional comedy of errors disguised as an edgy political thriller. Those inclined to scrutinize the logic of its much-hyped screenplay are likely to come away as baffled by its farfetched twists as amused by its bombastic excesses.

Director Ram Gopal Varma has added some snap, crackle and pop to what would otherwise be a routine anti-corruption school speech on Republic Day. There's roughly 20 minutes of story here, and no matter how many times a new character pops in, shot from preposterous angles, mouthing venomous dialogue, 'Rann' still plays out like an angry rant on a blog. As 'Rann' becomes increasingly busy with personal betrayals and redemptions, the ostensible politics, reductive to begin with, fall by the wayside.

Although mounted with no little efficiency by RGV, the narrative enterprise actually hides a one-dimensional world view, with the aam junta mere background set dressing. 'Rann' is a thriller that has quite a lot on its mind. The very structure of the movie challenges the audience's patience, if not its wit. But don't get us wrong, 'Rann' is not a monument to cinematic suckiness; approach it like a cheesy Bollywood rendition of 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip', and there's enough excitement to overcome the clichés, particularly during the 8-minute long climactic scene involving Amitabh Bachchan who delivers an outstanding monologue.

While the title, trailer and promos imply that we'll be witnessing 'shocking truths' of the complex world ruled by the electronic media as seen from several perspectives, the final product turns out to be a tepid flick that promises more than it delivers. We thought a few lines from Rann's trailer sounded awful, and they don't seem much better in the film - 1)"Hamne itni tarakki kar li hai you can actually create news" ... 2) "Hamari filmon ko hum N.E.W.S kehte hai" .. 3) "Sauda wohi hota hai jisme dono ka fayda hai".. 4) "Its a fantastic game" . For a film that 'exposes' some 'hushed truths' these are pretty lame, pedestrian lines. Initially intriguing and energetic, 'Rann' ends up demonstrating that a good script needs to be more than a clever concept and fine direction must be more than moving things fast. One awful dramatic scene follows another, until we become almost awed (wait until you hear Sudeep's character screaming "everything is over!").

RGV managed to get half the world's population to star in 'Rann', including the always excellent Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Paresh Rawal, Mohnish Behl, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Rajat Kapoor, Gul Panag, Neetu Chandra, Rajpal Yadav, Sudeep, Rahul Pendkalkar, Neena Kulkarni, Simone Singh, Iklaq Khan and Alok Nath. The ensemble structure of 'Rann' becomes problematic, because some of the stories are clumsy and dull. There's nothing worse than a movie that knows it's important, and 'Rann' reminds its audience of that fact in almost every scene through character development, dialogue and plot. There are so many people involved that none of them are given a chance to be special or memorable. The characters state the obvious, then state it again and again and again. While RGV succeeds in catching some individually touching scenes, others are overwritten, phony and irrelevant.

As per the credits 'Rann' has five (yes, FIVE!) music directors. There is no point in hinting towards the statement involving cooks and broth, for the music is quite objectionably brash and gaudy. 'Rann' might sound intriguing on paper but it's all gimmick and not a lot of substance. And when you wrap a movie around a gimmick, the wrapping better be taut and engaging or the gimmick falls flat. Final verdict? 'Rann' is a patented representative of this year's early mediocrity.