Rann - Jeevi Review

Jeevi rating: 3.5/5
Punchline: Remote Terrorist
Banner: Vistaar Religare Film Fund, Big Bang Films Production & WSG Pictures
Genre: Drama
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Sudeep, Paresh Rawal, Mohnish Behl, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Rajat Kapoor, Gul Panag, Neetu Chandra etc
Cinematography: Amit Roy
Editing: Nipun Gupta
Screenply - Director : Ram Gopal Varma
Producer: Sheetal Vinod Talwar & Madhu Mantena
Release date: 29 January 2010
Theater watched: Prasads (screen 1), Hyderabad

Story Vijay Malik (Amitabh Bachchan) heads the TV channel India24X7 which is known for its trustworthiness. Vijay Malik is a man of great ideals and he strictly follows them. His son Jay Malik (Sudeep) is a hot-blooded youngster who thinks that media is like any other business. Purab (Ritesh Deshmukh) is a disciple of Vijay Malik and he emulates the ethics and principles of Vijay Malik in his work. Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal) is the opposition leader who wants to become the PM at any cost. Pandey uses Jai to mudsling against the PM through Inda24X7 TV Channel. The rest of the story is all about what happens when Vijay Malik comes to know about the truth. Actors: Amitabh Bachchan comes up with his finest work as an idealistic media man. He adds value to the character he played. He is superb in the climax episode. Sundeep is excellent as the corrupted son. Ritesh Deshmukh is very good as disciple of Amitabh. Paresh Rawal is perfect as the bad politician. Mohnish Behl is apt. Gul Panag is adequate. Rajpal Yadav adds entertaining in this otherwise serious movie. Rajat Kapoor and Neetu Chandra are fine. Suchitra Krishna Murthy is extremely natural. Technical departments: Story - screenplay – direction: Story idea of the movie is good. It shows how media manipulates the minds of viewers and programs the viewers to do what media is intended to achieve. It is a challenge to attempt such a niche subject. One such movie of this genre I saw in the recent past was ‘Corporate’ (Mathur Bandarkar). Ram Gopal Varma comes up with nice screenplay and directs the movie well. He has taken some liberty and simplified the story in order to get his point across. Ram Gopal Varma also used the age-old formula of noble father (Amitabh) – corrupt son (Sudeep) – idealistic protégé (Ritesh) to create some familiar yet effective drama. I also like the way Ram Gopal Varma focuses on actors expressions instead of showing the content of tapes when they get hold of evidence tapes. Other technical departments: Background music is nice. Cinematography is good and watch out for camera angles and camera movements in vital scenes of the movie. Editing is perfect. Dialogues are of top notch (especially the dialogue that says that the target of TV channels should be news and the medium is money – but TV channels target has become the money and the medium is news). Analysis: Rann is a niche movie made on the nexus of media and politicians. It shows us how media which supposed to guard truth is becoming a medium for politicians to doctor the minds of viewers/voters. The movie belongs to Amitab Bachchan in the first half and in the last 20 minutes. Most of the second half belongs to Ritesh. Only flaw in the movie is about how Amitabh blindly trusts his son. Rann might not be a film for everybody, but it is RGV’s best movie since Company. Watch Rann for the performances and the intensity.