Rajjo

So Vishwas Patil is a debutante director.  Yet another one.  Sigh.  But 2 things make it worse.  The photograph of Shri Vishwas Patil doesn’t indicated in any manner that he is a day younger than 40.  And so the question pops up – has he directed, say Marathi cinema and this is a first in Bollywood? Which brings us to the 2^nd thing that makes it worse – here is yet another director who believes he can dish out anything and get away with it.

Shri Patil – the bad news is that the public has become a tad more intelligent than what they were some 50 years back.  While there are a significant chunk of escapists who believe in senseless cinema, there are few who would be happy when they leave the screen after seeing Rajjo and were so much as remotely satisfied with the movie.  If you find such people, Shri Patil – don’t worry, they are being polite or are just liars.

Rajjo fails to grab you at any point during the 137 minutes – even when Kangana Ranaut his trying to display her minimal assets (apologies to those who are offended by this but there is just nothing else worth remotely speaking about) to the best of her abilities. Thankfully for Kangana and the rest of the cast the blame solely rests on insipid direction and a script that was as muddled as a kitten with a ball of wool.

The reason I will give some points to Rajjo is the topic / social intent.  Rajjo Rani (Kangana) has been “sold” to Begum (Mahesh Manjrekar) by none other than her sister (yes it happens) because the sister wants to make money to buy a new apartment.  The story unveils itself when, a barely legal Chandu (Paras Arora), successful student @ Viva college, Virar joins his friends on a “achieving manhood” trip to Kamatipura.

After a few lines in Urdu (that the script writer himself probably never understood) that the audience gapes at, the audience drops off for a quick nap.  Only some bad music will wake them up.  But when they do, they will find that Chandu has gotten himself married to Rajjo thanks to some random promise made by a random politician (Avtar Gill).  Not only that, Chandu is surprised when his parents refuse to take him in.

The story then traces the struggle that Chandu and Rajjo go through in getting themselves settled down and the ups and downs that they face.  The narration is abrupt and tacky.  The story seems to be out of a 1970s movie all due to its execution.  There is so much more that could have been shown but of course that would have taken tremendous effort and commitment to the cause.

The cast cannot be blamed for the debacle because they don’t seem to be bad.  Kangana has limited resources at her disposal but she does what she can.  Paras Arora could not have asked for a worse start.  He could have potential but no one will notice that going forward.  Only the seasoned professionals like Mahesh Manjrekar hold their own.

In all, Rajjo is a colossal waste of time.  I wonder how the cast and crew made it through.  They must have been in dire straits to accept the assignment in the first place.  Kangana’s reasons are understandable because it was a female in the lead and she has been vastly jobless.  I pity the audience who will spend hard earned money to watch this.  2 on 10. Really bad.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWGgFwFQpbI