3.5/5
Rinku Sooryavanshi (Sara Ali Khan) has a penchant for running away from her home in Siwan, Bihar. Vishu (Dhanush), is a Tamilian who is pursuing his doctorate in medicine in Delhi. He gets kidnapped by her relatives when he comes to Bihar on a medical camp and both are drugged and married thereafter. The snag is that Vishu is all set to be married to Mandy (Dimple Hayathi) soon. And Rinku is in love with a magician called Sajjad Ali Khan (Akshay Kumar). They come to an understanding that she’ll accompany Vishu to his engagement in Tamil Nadu, and they’ll part ways when Sajjad comes back from Africa. But due to circumstances, things don’t go well as planned. Mandy breaks off the engagement after learning of the truth, Vishu develops feelings for Rinku, who in turn finds herself to be in love with both Vishu and Sajjad. How the dilemma gets sorted forms the crux of the story…
While the casting of Akshay Kumar, Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush was celebrated as a coup by some, others questioned it saying there’s too much age difference between Sara and Akshay. After watching the film his casting looks spot on. Because it’s the glue of chemistry between Dhanush and Sara, between Akshay and Sara and between all three actors that holds the film firmly together. Aanand L Rai has a yen for telling complex love stories. His Tanu Weds Manu: Returns for instance, tackled the delicate issue of a man falling for a lookalike of his wife while still married, Raanjhanaa dealt with a man’s obsession with a girl he’s been in love with since his childhood and here, he weaves out a story around a girl dealing with emotional trauma and how love helps her deal with it.
There are no quick fixes in the film. The couple doesn’t immediately get attracted to each other after getting forcefully married. The emotional tug they feel about each other develops over time. The film weaves together a set of episodes, which combine to bring them closer. How Rinku and Vishu deal with the elephant in the room, or the man on top of the elephant – Sajjad Ali, is handled creatively as well. There’s much drama but everything is brushed with a comic touch. You laugh at the tragi-comic sequences and wait eagerly for the next twist in the plot. The film is rather Chaplinesque in its proceedings, which take place at their own pace. But you don’t feel bored even once despite that. It helps that composer AR Rahman is in fine fettle here. Romantic films need good music and tracks like Chaka chak and Little little are earworms indeed. And the poetic Rait zara si provides the icing on the cake. Kudos to Irshad Kamil as well for writing evocative lyrics. Rai knows how to picturise a song well and all are imaginatively put together.
The implausible storyline would have fallen flat in the hands of lesser actors. But like we said earlier, Rai knew what he was doing when he chose this particular cast. Akshay Kumar has never done this sort of a role before. He gets to explore his sensitive side while still playing his strong suit – that of an over-the-top heroic character. The role suits him to a T and one can see that he has enjoyed playing this unusual character. Sara Ali Khan’s stars had dwindled after the debacle of Love Aaj Kal but here, she has once again shown why she's much admired for her natural ease in front of the camera. Rai’s direction has boosted her confidence. She comes up trumps on all counts – whether as a feisty girl who wants to run away with her lover, as the bride having mixed feelings about her marriage or as the woman finally owning up to the realities of life. Dhanush has teamed up with Rai after eight years, who has again extracted a well-rounded performance from him. The South superstar has the ability to underplay his characters and knows how to use his silence and his body language and has done so here effectively. You want to know more about Vishu and wonder why he doesn’t have a backstory. You want to applaud Vishu’s resilience while dealing with the difficult situation he’s been in. His pain, as well as his love are achingly real.
All-in-all, Atrangi Re is an unusual love story buoyed by some fine performances by Akshay Kumar, Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush and hummable music by AR Rahman. Aanand L Rai has found his rhythm again with this entertaining film which also packs a message. The director should have taken a gamble on this feel-good film and given it a theatrical release, rather than just going for an OTT release.
Trailer : Atrangi Re
Hiren Kotwani, December 23, 2021, 10:03 PM IST
3.5/5
Story: Rinku Sooryavanshi (Sara Ali Khan) is married off to V Venkatesh Vishwanath Iyer aka Vishu (Dhanush), a senior medical student from Tamil Nadu, at the behest of her Naani (Seema Biswas). However, she’s in madly in love, rather obsessed, with Sajjad Ali Khan (Akshay Kumar), a magician. How this story between this odd triangle unfolds gradually, taking unexpected turns along the way.
Review: The film takes off on a quick start with Rinku on the run, being chased by a few men. But she’s far from a damsel, this distress, she’s feisty, bold and strong-headed girl is someone who doesn’t give up too easily.
While Rinku's dictatorial grandmother and uncles demand to know the name of the guy she’s been planning to elope with for years, she’s not willing to reveal his name just yet. Enraged by her insolence, the naani instructs her uncles to pick up (read ‘abduct’) any unknown guy from outside their town and get Rinku married off to him right away, so that she ceases to be a burden to the family.
Vishu is soon to be engaged to his girlfriend Mandy aka Mandakini (Dimple Hayathi), also the daughter of his college dean. But as it turns out, he finds himself forcefully married to Rinku instead. Sara and Dhanush share an interesting chemistry that despite not being all out there, yet livens up the screen.
Director Aanand L Rai and his writer Himanshu Sharma (story, screenplay and dialogues) have yet again come up with a novel story revolving around protagonists who are poles apart and unlikely to meet in real-life or normal circumstances. Rai strays off the beaten path and creates a new, hitherto unattempted and unexplored conflict in a love story. At the same time, he also beautifully brings alive the flavours of the locations the story moves to, while also giving each one a distinct appeal. The first half is a breeze, and even though there’s an inkling of what might unfold in the first half, through Vishnu’s friend Madhsudhan, (Ashish Verma), a lot is lost in translation in the second half. As a result, the narrative gets repetitive and a tad tedious in the latter half, making you wonder where it is all headed.
The concept at hand is unique and complex, and one that is not easy to translate cinematically without challenges, and that’s where the storytelling falters. But the good part is, that in most situations, the effort has been to keep the thread of humour intact. The film also addresses the mental health issue without deep diving into it too much.
Himanshu’s writing could definitely have been stronger, crisper and more effective. Thankfully, the songs aren’t jarring or interrupting in the narrative and take the story ahead. And of course, Rai makes up for it with an interesting twist in the end that touches you, like most of his stories.
Dhanush delivers a versatile performance and effectively conveys the many emotions his character Vishu goes through at different points in the film. Whether he’s expressing shock and anger at being abducted or admitting his love for Rinku, or the helplessness he shows when he feels he’ll lose her to another man, the actor is in brilliant form all throughout.
Sara Ali Khan puts her heart into his role as Rinku, and delivers her performance with spunk and tremendous conviction. At some points in the film, specifically some emotional scenes, a certain degree of restraint would have enhanced her performance.
As the magician Sajjad, Akshay Kumar gets a limited scope, though his character is integral to the story. He features in one of the highlight scenes of the film, where he delivers a daredevil act as a ‘man on fire’, literally.
Ashish Verma as Vishnu’s friend Madhusudhan, lends great support and steadily brings in a good dose of comedy.
Nitin Zihani Choudhary’s production design gives a rich and vibrant look to the film, which starts in Sivan, Bihar and moves to Delhi and Chennai during the course of the story. Cinematographer Pankaj Kumar has done a fine job of capturing the character of the various cities distinctly, adding to the look of the movie.
AR Rahman once again reaffirms his status quo as a composer unparalleled in the entertainment industry today. While his background score adds to the drama, his folk-classical-based soundtrack strikes a chord and even has you tapping your feet to the music. Credit also goes to Irshad Kamil for his versatile lyrics, be it fun numbers like Chaka Chak, Tera Rang and Little Little, the soulful Tumhe Mohabbat Hai and Rait Zara Si, or the upbeat Garda, making it a fantastic album one can listen to all day.
While there are parts of the movie that will leave you baffled and curious for more details, it’s not to say that the film doesn’t entirely entertain. Here’s a unique story at hand, an interesting team of actors, a refreshing soundtrack and some fine performances. If you’re keen to watch a hatke musical love story, this could be your pick of the week.
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