Rann Movie Review

Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Sudeep, Ritesh Deshmukh, Paresh Rawal, Mohnish Behl, Rajat Kapoor, Gul Panag, Neetu Chandra, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Rajpal Yadav

Director : Ram Gopal Varma

Rann is a film that promises to expose the Indian media, which today is influencing the lives of millions. Ram Gopal Varma through the film deals with a very relevant issue in today’s time of the corruption plagued news channels – the TRP battles, unethical journalism, masala entertainment in the name of news et al.

A compelling, hard-hitting experience is what you expect from a film like Rann, but does it deliver? 

Vijay Harshvardhan Malik (Amitabh Bachchan), the head of India 24×7, is one of the most reputed journalists in the country. Following strict ethics, Malik believes news should always be the mirror of truth. But such principles and ethics, against cut throat competition, leads to falling TRP’s.

His son Jai (Sudeep) concerned about the slide in business and TRP’s takes it upon himself to revive the channel. But his plans are squashed when his business model is leaked to one of the channels biggest rivals – Headlines 24×7 headed by Amrish Kakkar (Mohnish Behl). To his rescue comes Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal), a Prime Ministerial candidate who would go to any extent to achieve his goal.

Will Jai succumb to the evil plan hatched by the Mohan Pandey? Will he involve his father Vijay Malik? Watch the movie to find out.

Positives

  • The first hour is a bit of a drag, but the director more than makes up for it with a gripping second half. Plenty of twists and turns, which while predictable, is well-written.
  • Ram Gopal Varma narrates the story well and like always relies heavily on the treatment and well-etched characters to carry the film.
  • The casting in perfect, almost every actor seamlessly get into the skin of their respective characters and stay there throughout.
  • The dialogues work, those given to Bachchan and Paresh Rawal are powerful.

Negatives

  • The film lacks freshness and suffers from this seen-so-many-times-before kinda feel. Similar background score, intense characters, dark surroundings.. you name it. Nothing new fom RGV here, the treatment is much similar to Company, Sarkar.
  • Bachchan’s character is flawed. One of the very first lessons in journalism is – confirm and re-confirm the source. How could a reputed and experienced journalist like Vijay Harshvardhan Malik, fall into the trap set by his son so easily? Without once verifying the facts and airing the anonymously sent video tape? This very scene takes an immense amount of impact away from the film.
  • The much hyped expose on the media is a dud and completely lacks shock-value. There is nothing in it about the media that we don’t already know.
  • The climax unnecessarily drags on and gets too filmy after a point. When Bachchan informally says “Purab….. ” with no introduction, no full name, it was more like addressing a family gathering than the nation.
  • Also, Rann is extremely predictable. No twist is too hard to predict, including the ending. You know exactly how the characters are going to behave and you know it much before you see it.
  • The camera work is trademark RGV, as the close-ups get irritating after a point.

Performance (in order)

  1. Amitabh Bachchan – No prizes for guessing. Bachchan is top notch and delivers a towering performance. The way he delivers the speech in the end, in itself is worth a trip to theaters. Not for nothing is he called the BIG B!
  2. Sudeep – Not easy holding your own against Bachchan, but the south Indian actor does very well. Watch out for his last scene.
  3. Ritesh Deshmukh – A restrained performance, Deshmukh is in great form. His casting is a masterstroke.
  4. Paresh Rawal – Over the year Rawal has used his eyes very effectively, here, with eyes covered by sun-glasses, he relies entirely on his facial expressions and dialogue delivery to deliver a very powerful performance. Great actor, very under-rated in negative roles.
  5. Suchitra Krishnamurthy – Again, perfectly cast, this leading lady from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na does very well.
  6. Mohnish Behl make an impression.
  7. Rajpal Yadav is irritating.
  8. The other ladies – Gul Panag and Neetu Chandra – are wasted. Shame that an actress of Panag caliber is cast in such a irrelevant role.

Overall, Rann had immense potential to be a powerful drama. It works to a certain extent, but falls short of expectations. If you must, watch it for Bachchan’s brilliance or if your a fan of RGV films.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 2 stars for the film, 1 for the performances.

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    29 Comments

    • @ indicine.

      The tone of your review clearly shows the honesty with which its written…totally trust it.

      though i agree with Deepak that u r a bit late on this and i am anxiously waitin for your review of Ishqiya, as that is the one film that i have really been lookin forward to.

    • Both Rann and Isqiya are not releasing in cinemas of Pakistan, so will grab a DVD and will watch ’em within next 2 days. First Ishqiya and then Rann.

    • Rann is a massive FLOP already. The opening today is shockingly poor at 15 %!!! Take it from us, it will not improve. Ishqiya is slightly better at 50 %. This despite Taran Adarsh’s glowing reviews!!!!

    • Great review indicine , I really dont like RGV close camera angle sucks. May be many people like his cinema but to me he SUCKS.

    • I watched movie ishqiya but i surprised what happened to critics you like those movies in which abuse language use so much.Plz indicine then u should also allow abusive language here in this platform if u like such stuff.

      Shame on critics extremly cheap nd third class choice movie

    • after watching rgv’s agyaath and aag,i was in a dilemma to step into the theatre,but the promos were looking promising and i thought this would be a comeback film of rgv..it indeed is a good movie but as mentioned in ur review falls short of expectations..i’ve always loved amitabh,to me he is the best actor of bollywood miles ahead of sr,salman or whoever,he was going through the bad phase until he gave a mesemerising performance in paa and steals the show here also especially in the climax which deserves a standing ovation..but there are some flaws in the movie ,as u said i was also expecting it to be gripping but the storyline is predictable and ramu’s closeup angles are not working any more,i liked the background scr at some places some other places i felt it too loud..overall my rating 3stars..im new to this site but i couldnt able to stop laughing after watching so many sallu fanz here..i was amazed he still has got fan following sfter delivering umpteen no of flops ,i watched veer and found it too lame and i have decided this is the last salman movie that im going to watch..the fact is he just doesnt know how to act,flaunting his abs doesnt work everytime,he is doing for past 10-15 yrs the same thing .just learn acting from someone like bachchan or aamir and do the meaningful movies..

    • wow1 amitabh has again proven that why he one of the best actors in the workld. as for ishqiya. i am a huge fan of N. shah. when it comes to talent and acting. i dont think a. bacchan is like n. shah. he is awesome and atruloy great actor.

    • guys these critics are praising movies of amitabh & co. because he is having business houses and political connections.. no wonders they might declare it a superhit in their reviews and present an award to amitabh for another best performance..

      A star is not supposed to be having any influence on critics or media.. and yesterday Abhisek was saying “we (indians) dont deserve a talent like amitabh” .. just see how arrogant this family has become.
      infact bachchan family is still sleepwalking in their dreams of being the superpowers of bollywood.

      the fate of this movie was known before its release as critics had already given it a 5/5..
      The ground relaily is that it is a wash out in single screens and multiplexes hold only 15 -20% occupancy..

      still interested in bachchans ??

    • Amitabh has done movies like Boom, Ram gopal verma ki aag and the worst “Nishabd” ..
      I still dont know censorboard passed that film, as the leading character (played by amitabh) was having paedophile elements.. (a 60+ man eying on 18 year old girl) … its a disgrace to indian cinema..

    • Rann is not only a flop, it is a massive box office disaster!! Teen Patti will also flop. It is only the media which hypes up the flop Bachchans – God knows why?!!! Bachchan should know that the public does’nt want to see him any more ( this will be proved once again when Teen Patti too flops, like all his films earlier) and he should gracefully go rather than hanging on through false illusions created by his partners in the media that he is still a superstar or the bogus title of Shahenshah. We were shocked to see the Screen award function on Star Plus focussing only on him, his retired wife ( and soon to retire Rajya Sabha MP now that Amar Singh has been kicked out of SP), his flop son Abhishek and his pushing 40 wife Aishwarya. Credibility of Screen awards has hit an all time low this year with the bogus, manipulated awards being given to Amitabh and his son ( as a jodi!!! For what – for their flops?). Screen should know that you can’t fool all the people all the time.

    • Rann did’nt do well at the box office but the film is good and lot better than Ishqiya. The movie has no commercial value but it has good good story line for serious and good cinema lovers. The direction of the movie is annoying cause RGV close camera angles which is irritating just like Rajpal Yadav character, The performances of Amitabh and Ritesh Deshmukh is excellent. If you like movies close to relaity, go for it My rating is 3.

    • SOME IGNORANT PEOPLE LIKE MAHESH AND AMRESH DONT EVEN KNOW THEMSELVES WHO ARE THEY ACTUALLY TALKIN ABOUT .THEY SHUD THINK WHO THEY ARE 100 TIMES .WHAT THEY ARE THEMSELVES IN REAL BEFORE SPEAKING ABOUT SUCH A LIVING LEGEND.LOSERS

    • Calcuttatube.Com

      VEER by Salman Khan is the first Superhit of 2010

      Salman’s VEER is Super Hit of 2010.

      Salman khans VEER is now heading for a 55 crore net plus total with Wednesday,Thursday,Friday and Saturday collections of 14 Crores. VEER is going strong at all India release in spite of new releases in Rann and Ishqiya.Veer has grossed Rs41 crore worldwide at the box office in its opening weekend, Eros International, the distributor of the film, has said.

      Veer took Rs32 crore in its first weekend in India with Rs9 crore overseas, an Eros spokesman said. The film released 1,300 prints and in digital cinemas all over India and a further 236 prints overseas. It has emerged a big grosser in circuits such as Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Nizam and Gujarat with single screens doing excellent business and over the weekend.

      Nandu Ahuja, senior vice-president for India distribution at Eros International Media Ltd, said, “Audience reactions to Veer have been extremely heartening. With Salmans huge fan base in India and overseas, Veer is a huge in all over India. With the opening weekend followed by the Republic Day holiday teamed with Salmans star power, Veer collected already 41 Crores in the extended Weekend.

      VEER had terrific response to single screen, it managed to acquire good space in second week inspite of new releases of Rann and Ishqiya. Veer is already a Super Hit of 2010.

      VEER by Salman Khan is the first Superhit of 2010

    • rann is a very good movie with top class action…surprisingly a star is born from this movie none other than sudeep….a kannadiga……superb acting his expressions body language…amazing….

    • dont come with reviews of VEER over here…it flopped like hell and some idiots dontcalculat it with it!!!its made of 80crores and collecrted only 23 crores worldwide…o//ok then about rann THAT A LSO FLOPPED INSPITE OF BIG B’S PERORMANCE…kya kare..its rgv’s movie anybody with commonsense wont go for that.

    • it is a very well made movie . i loved it . Background music and score has been used optimally to capture the essence of situation

    • THE movie so far not released in Pakistan, hence at the moment I cannot express my views, but I am quite disturbed over the views stated by Mr Mahesh DT: FEB 01, 2010 wherein he in a way degraded Amitabh Bacchen. One should know stars like Amitabh are born in decades. I do agree there is always a peak time in life of every star and then there is a downfall, but legendary star like AB falls into exceptional category who got better with the passage of time.

      Kindly do not post such material which could hurt feelings of others.

    • Such a terrible, terrible movie ! I spent Rs 360 and three hours watching this utter drivel. A pretty decent cast has been wasted; by a pretentious and phony script! And the guy who plays Jai – Sudeep I think his name is – is the biggest ham to hit the screen in a long time. He makes you want to weep. Neetu Chandra – who is easy on the eye and a decent actress (remember Traffic Signal) has been completely wasted, and used like a prop. Gul Panag fairs slightly better – but only just.

      The tragedy is – it could have worked – had they worked on the script – on dialogue that sounded credible and human; and a plot-line that had more detail. ADVICE to RGV – get Anurag Kashyap to doctor your scripts.

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