QUEEN - "Rani" Ranaut Rocks!

NAME – Queen – “Rani” Ranaut Rocks!

Cast:- Kangana Ranaut – Rani, Rajkummar Rao – Vijay, Lisa Haydon-Vijayalaksmi, Mish Boyko – Oleksander, jeffrey Chee Eng Ho – Taka, Sabeeka Imam – Roxette, Marco Canadea – Marcello, Guithob Joseph – Tim, Adri Doppenberg – Tim among others.

& the Crew: - Direction – Vikas Bahl , Story/Screenplay/ – Vikas Bahl/Chatally Parmar/Parveez Sheikh, Dialouge- Anvita Dutt/Kangana Ranaut

Points to ponder: - Director - "We were just 25 people from India for the shoot. We would book a place for a couple of hours & then rush to another location. We would eat at the nearest hotel where we were shooting, and at times Kangana would change her clothes in public toilets! We shot in about 145 locations in 40 days. 2) “Kareena Kapoor was offered the role of Rani, but she refused!

3) Kangna Ranaut is seen wearing an "Alice in Wonderland" sweatshirt on her last day in Amsterdam. This is a tribute to the book on which the movie is loosely based.

Premise:- Queen is a movie about growing up. Rani (Kangana Ranaut) is a Delhi girl from a conservative family who is ditched by her fiancé just before her marriage. Shocked by this, she decides to set out on the planned honeymoon alone. As she travels the world and meets new people, she gains new experiences and discovers her own identity.

The story, backdrop and setting (Screen play): - Director Vikas Bahl and his team should firstly be complimented for making this film! This film is a romantic comedy minus the heroism, melodrama, item number, mush, fights, and car chases, scenic out of place song sequences normally associated with our so called commercial films. Above all it is “female centric” but at the same time succeeds in entertaining the discerning viewer who is starved of quality content these days. So I decided to change my review in an attempt to generate a sense of curiosity and anticipation in a bid to encourage the reader to watch this film on the big screen. Read on:-

1)The first intro song  gives us the celebrative feel & Rani in a passive but excited and joyous mood during the Mehindi ceremony at her wedding preparations, 2) Mehindi Crumbs brushed aside at the coffee shop after Vijay's says No!, 3) Locking herself in her room 4) Dadima's motivational speech,  5)Chintu's protective nature, 6) Wedding board callously tossed into tempo, 7) Dad's love for Rani -Sending her on a honeymoon, 8) Her nervousness on her first flight, 9) Flashback of incidents and her initial romantic involvement with Vijay, 10) her present situation, 11) Her first Taxi ride in Paris, Her first tryst with the forbidden  word "SEX" and her first intro to Vijay Lakshmi (the similarity in the name initially disturbs Rani),  12) Vijaylakshmi draws the conservative and shy Rani out of her shell, 13) Rani's discovering herself and Paris with Vijaylaksmi 14) Rani’s plucky attitude in thwarting the mugger 15) Rani gets drunk for the first time 16) Rani’s bids an emotional goodbye to Vijayalkshmi  as she leaves Paris 17) Vijay’s desperate attempts to contact Rani again 18)  Her initial fear in sharing a room with three strange men of different ethnicity in the Netherlands 19) Her first meeting with the Italian side walk café owner 20) Her bonding with the Japanese/Russian & French roommates,21) Italian café owner poses a challenge to Rani 22) Rani’s crush with for the Italian  & her first kiss 23) The “Hing” & the English equivalent 24) Rani’s succeeds in her first  “Golgappa” business venture, 25) A new recipe – “Golgappa” filled with beer 25) Vijay confronts Rani in the Netherland 26) Rani’s parting with her soul mates 27)  Rani attends a rock concert in the Netherlands  with her ethnic friends 28) Finally the director has effectively and cleverly interspaced the songs all over the script without slowing down the screenplay.

& the Climax 29) Rani returns to India & confronts Vijay……. .

Acting: - Kangana Ranaut as Rani (Queen) has essayed which she herself would probably consider one of her best performances. It takes guts to do a female centric role in Indian cinema without make up, fancy and revealing costumes. In the first half as a simple girl from a middle class Delhi family Kangana has literally lived her role. Her bonding with her parents, Chintu and Dadima is commendable. From the day she falls in love with Vijay to the time she decides to go on her own single honeymoon trip she is convincing and by the time she board the flight for Paris you are right there sitting next to her in an effort to console her. Her journey of discovery to Paris and Netherland brings out her childishness and at the same time all her bottled up energy and aspirations. She maintains her innocence and her native accent throughout the film. Her costumes seldom take away the seriousness of her role.  A restrained and an admirable performance. This film is a milestone in her career.

Lisa Haydon as Vijaylakshmi is a revelation! I have never had an opportunity to watch any of her previous films (if any) though in this film she has played an ideal foil to Rani. She has lived her character. She has effectively played the role of a half Indian and brought out the traits of a first generation Indian decent settled in Paris. Her French and casual happy go lucky attitude is very infectious and it is really not a wonder when the dad and Chintu simply fall for her mischievous and flirtatious charms. Honestly! Who wouldn’t! Her big expressive eyes, dusky complexion and bold features add up to her charm and poise.

Rajkummar Rao as Vijay has played the role of an ass very well. A narrow minded twit who is very superficial and money minded and believes that a woman’s place is in the kitchen and making babies.

Rani’s doting Dad as a sweet meat shop owner is perfect for the role. His subdued show of emotions and facial expressions is a plus for the story.

Rani’s mom as the conservative and caring mom is another example of good casting.

Chintu as the protective brother plays his part well too.

Dadi Ma is a down to earth person and her words of casual wisdom acts as a catalyst to a troubled Rani.

Mish boyko as Oleksander (christened Sikhander by Rani), Jefferey Chee Eng Ho as Taka, and Guithob Joseph as Tim play their rolls to the tee. They compliment the rest of the cast. No overacting or melodrama even in a skirmish with Vijay helps to keep the premise stable.

Marco Canadea as Marcello the café owner is a natural to the character he plays especially his exaggerated English accent. His lip lock scene with Rani simply hilarious.

Sabeeka Imam as the pole dancer is adequate.

The rest were all well placed and adequate and no major goof ups worth mentioning.

Camera: - On the whole went well with the premise. Passerby’s staring at the camera was an irritant and could have been avoided

Music: - B.G Score complimented the film and so did the arrangement of the tracks.

Art: - Nothing to complain or majorly out of place.

Choreo: - Typically North Indian stuff full of colour and gaiety. Reminded one of “Band Baaja Baarath”.

Edit: - No major irritant here.

The one’s that bombed: - 1) Kangana on her trip from Delhi to Paris is seated inside an Airbus A420 or an Airbus A 330 or an Airbus A 380? 3 shots 3 planes! 2) When K leaves Paris after bidding good bye to Vijaylakshmi the train in the B.G is a “Sprinters” a Dutch train but the high speed shot of the moving train not a Sprinter?? 3) Rani calls her mom from the Netherlands in the afternoon to get the equivalent of “Hing” in English it is night time in Delhi. The time diff between the two cities is a max 4hours (D.S.T)???

Finally to sum it all up, a quote: "Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you." Roger Ebert

Bottom Line: - This film is definitely worth a watch. Go for it!  Catch it with subtitles if you cannot follow Hindi, you will enjoy it even better! My Rating 3/5.

Until next time,    

Director Haricharan

Chennai

11/04/2014