Mixed Bag

This week the audience talks about Vishal Bhardwaj’s much-awaited Rangoon, the war drama The Ghazi Attack and the Oscar nominated Lion...

1st Price RANGOON TERRIFIC ACTING; SHODDY WRITING

Vishal Bhardwaj’s latest venture Rangoon takes us back to the 1940s India where an action star Miss Julia rules Bombay cinema. The only redeeming thing about Rangoon are the performances by the lead actors Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut. Kangana is brilliant as the naïve firebrand Julia, as she effortlessly switches between rebelliousness and compliance. From riding a horse near the India–Burma border, blindfolding herself to throw knives at targets, bashing up bad guys, mud wrestling with a soldier and running swiftly across a moving train - Kangana does it all. Shahid keeps getting better with every screen outing. Playing a character way more restrained than in Haider or Udta Punjab, his performance is intense. Saif scores big in his handicapped body language and measured speech, making Russi hard to like yet impossible to hate. But Rangoon sadly topples over because of shoddy writing.

Abhijit Ghosh, Shyamnagar

RANGOON IS A VISUAL SYMPHONY