R Rajkumar Review

R.. Rajkumar, has been in the news for a long time now. The title was changed from Rambo Rajkumar to R.. Rajkumar and the songs have been topping the charts. The film’s lead star Shahid Kapoor, who is currently going through the worst phase of his career, is trying to get back into some moneymaking goodwill by indulging in theatrics which have so far been reserved for only Akshay Kumar and of course Salman Khan. Prabhu Deva has a 2-1 record in Bollywood so far, with Wanted and Rowdy Rathore raking in the moolah at the box office. Does R.. Rajkumar make it 2-2 or 3-1? Let’s dissect.

Story: R.. Rajkumar is set in a village called Dhartipur. Two warring parties, namely Parmar (Ashish Vidyarthi) and Shivraj (Sonu Sood) have been at loggerheads since time immemorial regarding the opium distribution in the area. Enter Romeo Rajkumar (Shahid Kapoor), who works for Shivraj and is quite a nifty henchman and a go-getter. The problem arises when he falls in love with the niece of his boss’ arch rival Chanda (Sonakshi Sinha). But then as luck would have it, Shivraj and Parmar make up their differences and now Romeo has to fight off both of them and one even larger Mafioso to get the girl of his dreams. The film is then basically about how he goes about doing all this.

R Rajkumar Movie Review

Screenplay and Direction: The masala genre has been going through very tough times recently, mainly because writers and directors are following the same old template for every film and are failing to innovate even within the realms of the genre. And as expected, same is the case with Prabhu Deva’s R.. Rajkumar. Deva incorporates the film with every regressive trapping that he could have used and imbibes it with unnecessary frills and diversions throughout the entire length of the film. Sometimes you wish he was as good a director as he is a dancer/choreographer. R.. Rajkumar has one of the most dragged out climaxes of recent times. The only thing Prabhu Deva gets right are the song sequences which bring the film alive.

It is futile to talk about the technical aspects of a Prabhu Deva masala action drama film because he isn’t eyeing an Oscar in Production design or the costume design department. Having kept that in consideration, the sets are pretty good and work as they are probably meant to work. The costumes are colorful and lovely. The editing is not up to the mark. The music, however, by the ever dependable Pritam is good and two songs from the film – Gandi Baat and Saree Ke Fall Sa, are already huge chartbusters.

Acting: Shahid Kapoor is clearly hanging on to straws here hoping to catch a lucky break with R.. Rajkumar. He gives it his all and then some more. He acts, jokes, fights, charms, romances and not to forget, dances. But sadly even that is not enough to save this trainwreck of a film. Sonakshi Sinha reminds me of a TV actor now, playing the same character in all episodes (films in her case). Sonu Sood is menacing but even he seems repetitive. Same is the case with Ashish Vidyarthi. (Note to directors: Please don’t waste Sonakshi’s talent by typecasting her in the same roles in all films)

To sum things up, R..Rajkumar makes Bollywood masala films reach new crevices. It is boring, repetitive, and regressive. The primary job of a film is to entertain and when you exit the theatre having not been entertained, you feel cheated. Except for some really good song sequences, R.. Rajkumar has nothing that you haven’t seen before. Unlike Shahid Kapoor, you can give yourself a lucky break by choosing not to watch the film.

Box Office: R.. Rajkumar has opened to a good response because of the high voltage promotions and its fantastic music. The film will have a good first weekend, but it will all go downhill from there.

Positives:

• Song and Dance Sequences
• Pritam’s music
• Shahid Kapoor’s all out dedication to the film and to his character

Negatives:

• Direction and Screenplay
• The actress and the villains seem repetitive
• Regressive storyline and unfunny comedy scenes
• The feeling of having seen it all before in many dubbed South films

Rating: