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Saturday, April 20, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD RANN
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ****
Rann is that rare cinema about the collective conscience which we
often like to think has gone out of style. Like Mehboob Khan`s Mother
India and Hrishikesh Mukherjee`s Satyakam, Rann
shows how tough it is to hold your head high up in dignified righteousness in a
world where ethics crumble faster than cookies in wide-open jar left out too
long in the sun.
Ironically, there isn`t much sunshine in Rann. The film has been
shot in an anaemic light, symbolizing a world that`s largely losing light.
Cleverly, Ram Gopal Varma situates his morality tale in the cut-throat world of
the electronic media where the TRP is god and deadlines the devil. And may the
voice of the conscience rest in peace.
Without wasting time Varma introduces us to the plethora of characters who
colonise the bowel of a declining channel run by the idealistic Vijay
Harshvardhan Malik (Amitabh Bachchan). Malik believes there`s room still for the
straight and narrow path in a business where grabbing attention is the murder of
all invention.
The glistening sweat on ratings, challenged eyebrows are captured through tight
close-ups of worried faces that the camera - Amit Roy`s sharply cruising lenses
moving from face-to-face with obstinate restlessness - that give nothing and yet
everything away.
As in Varma`s Sarkar, the moral battle lines in the media-run tale
of Rann are drawn between the idealistic patriarch and his
US-returned hyper-ventilating son Jai (Kannada star Sudeep) who is so anxious
and ambitious, you know he will eventually cause trouble for his ideologue dad`s
news-worthiness.
Trouble arrives in the flabby form of a seedy politician Pandey - played by
Paresh Rawal and he re-embraces villainy with lip-smacking relish - who plunges
into the TRP war on television with no sense of propriety, legalese or the law.
Pandey pompously tells Jai before they both conspire with the help of a rival
television tycoon (Mohnish Behl) to trash the idealistic Harshvardhan`s
reputation.
The plot accommodates more characters that a miniature touristic island in the
holiday season. Not one of the characters need any explanation or occupy a
superfluous place in the plot.
Varma`s concern for the characters is genuine but non-judgemental. Each
characters even the relatively-shadowy women, emerges as casualty of an
over-competitive society where morality goes out of the nearest window.
The narrative is taut, restless and biting in its depiction of corruption in
supposedly responsible places.
While much of film`s inner fire burns outwards from the pithy and peppery
writing (Rohit Banawlikar), the essential core of idealism is preserved in the
understated relationship between the idealistic young rookie Purab Shastri and
his mentor Harshvardhan. Wish this bonding was built on.
As restless as his camera, Varma gives no space to the complicated labyrinth of
relationships to grow. We are left to gauge the depths and dimensions that
underline the furious flow of empathy and antipathy between various characters
by reading between the lines.
The first two-thirds of the narrative creates a gripping patchwork of
television, drama and politics and how the three worlds often come together to
destroy the basic fibre of human morality.
It`s the last quarter of the narrative where Harshvardhan, after realising he
has been taken for a ride by his own son`s over-ambitiousness, that packs in the
maximum punch.
Cleverly borrowing the premise for its climax from Mehboob Khan`s Mother
India, Rann moves aggressively but confidently into its
passionate finale where the patriarchal television tycoon must expose some harsh
home-truths to cleanse his own conscience.
Rann takes us into a world where right and wrong are more financial
than moral issues, where the people who make news conveniently forget that the
source is often the nadir of the conscience.
Rann is a razor-sharp bitter and biting look at the real world of
rapidly-moving moral issues.
Varma extracts superlative performances from the entire cast. From Ritesh`s
heartbreaking idealism to Neetu Chandra`s part as Jai Malik`s secret love
interest.
As expected Bachchan as the conscience of the plot, presides over the speeedened
proceedings with a thoughtful and gentle performance. His climactic speech makes
all of us sit up and think about the quality of work we do in order to keep up
with the competition.
Luckily, Bachchan`s consistently excellent output is never dependant on the
`competition` around him. Ironically, his character is forced to stoop in order
to conquer the TRPs.
Varma, who has been lately guilty of making fairly compromised films, rises
above the morass of mediocrity with a meteoric force, letting other filmmakers
know what he is capable of achieving if he sets his heart to it.
Rann defines the role of the electronic media in today`s context
with remarkable virility and dramatic force. This is Varma`s best work since
Company.
Two years after Ram Gopal Varma's remake of the Bollywood classic "Sholay" suffered censors' scissors in Nepal, the film director's new release "Rann" has met with an entirely different response here, with top Maoist leaders calling it "inspiring". Read More
Sonal Mehta, 'Rann' producers to make out-of-court settlement?"Rann" co-producer Madhu Mantena says they will make an out-of-court settlement with freelance journalist and author Sonal Read More
`Rann` of business and conscience in media (IANS Preview)
After scanning the underworld, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma now shifts the focus on the modus operandi of the Indian media in Rann, which is releasing Friday.
Made at a budget of Rs.30 crore, Rann (war) is
primarily about the conflict between business and conscience in the electronic
media these days. It features megastar Amitabh Bachchan along with Riteish
Deshmukh, Gul Panag and Paresh Rawal.
Amitabh clarifies that Rann a not a media bashing film as perceived
by many.
The film shows that in the media there is often a conflict between
business sensibilities and a person`s conscience. Now does a person compromise
on his conscience for the survival of his business or vice-versa is what has
been highlighted in the movie, Amitabh had said.
Added Varma: It is not about media bashing at all. I`ve always said that
the media exposes, and now I am exposing media. Now it is not necessarily about
the bad things - I may be talking about the media`s vulnerabilities, their
compulsions and their greed - after all every human being is susceptible to
situations and pressures and his own emotions.
The story revolves around making news which is not easy. So the next best thing
media people obviously do is make anything and everything appear as news.
Rann shows that news has become so entertaining that people are
addicted to it now.
Varma`s film shows that the media had been invented as a truth telling machinery
serving the purpose of the common people so that they know they are in good
hands, but it has lost its purpose.
It shows what people do to be ahead of competition and how higher circulation
and higher TRPS influence their conscience.
The movie not only hogged the limelight for its theme, but also for the tampered
version of the national anthem titled Jana gana mana rann hai, which
was banned by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Though Varma had to change the song to Vande mataram, he maintains
that the original did not portray the national anthem in a bad light.
I was not okay with taking it (the song) out. But it was better to take it
out instead of fighting with the censors and delaying the process, so we
replaced it with `Vande mataram`. I did not change my mind (about the song), I
was made to change my mind. Otherwise, the censors wouldn`t have given the
certificate, he said.
The movie is Amitabh`s first release this year and is coming out on the same day
as two others - Ishqiya and Road To Sangam.
Varma is expecting mixed reviews and reactions to his movie from media barons
and journalists.
Everyone is only speculating at the moment. Since they are unsure about
what I have done in the film, they are speculating about it. I think whatever
criticism has to come, it will be after the release. I think it will depend from
person to person. One could agree with my ideas or disagree. I am actually
expecting varied reactions, he said.
Rann Premiere