Revolver Rani Review

After delivering a superhit film in the form of Queen, people have started expecting the world from Kangana Ranaut. And rightly so. She seems to be doing women-centric films without any conventional leading men. So does Revolver Rani continue the success of Queen for Miss Ranaut? Let’s dissect.

Story: Revolver Rani has a rather simplistic story of politics and love. It is about a famous dacoit turned politician in the inner regions of Madhya Pradesh called Alka Singh (Ranaut). She has to counter the violent activities against her schemed up by her opposition Udaybhan Tomar (Zakir Hussain). She also craves sex all the time and entraps a Bollywood wannabe called Rohan Kapoor (Vir Das) as her sex toy. Things get murkier when all these elements in Alka’s life confront each other. Is she able to withstand all this and come out on top? Watch the film to find out!

Debutante director Sai Kabir has clearly been influenced by movies of Quentin Tarantino while writing his film as he orchestrates his action sequences very stylishly and infuses Revolver Rani with unique elements like animated portions, a newsreader who loves reading the news like a shayari, and much more. The level of thinking Sai has infused is quite commendable but it feels the movie tries too hard to look and feel stylish and yet grungy. As a director he gets the tone of the film right but a lot of the scenes overrun their course and the film starts feeling a tad bit tedious.

Revolver Rani has good credentials in the technical department. Aarti Bajaj, the highly acclaimed editor, edits the film with élan and tries her best to give the film a hurried feel. The cinematography manages to capture the ruggedness of the central Indian topography quite well. But what makes the film outlandish are the clothes that the lead actress is made to wear throughout the film. The music of Revolver Rani is decent.

Kangana Ranaut is almost as good in Revolver Rani as she was in Queen. That’s quite an achievement considering how different these two roles are from each other! She embodies the roughness of Alka and shows the tenderness of a woman coping with her infertility. Vir Das feels miscast in the film but that was probably the intention of the director. Zakir Hussain and Piyush Mishra both put in commendable supporting performances.

Conclusion: Revolver Rani is far from perfect and takes time to get to the point but when it hits the high notes they normally stay hit. Unfortunately, the film has too many flaws and inspirations to end up as a masterful portrayal of politics in Madhya Pradesh. However, it can be a good one time watch if you are in the mood to visit the theatres.

Box Office: Revolver Rani will open below average and will find it difficult to grow beyond the small towns. The chances of the film emerging a success are small.

Positives:

• Kangana Ranaut
• Inventive tropes used by the director
• The editing shines
• The cinematography captures the mood well

Negatives:

• It gets tedious at times
• Vir Das feels miscast and is irritating when he appears on screen
• The inspirations lower the novelty factor

Rating: