Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Vir Das, Piyush Mishra, Zakir Hussain
Director: Sai Kabeer
Rating: ***
This would have been a great party if only it wasn’t so long. But one has to applaud Kangana Ranaut, who could give all the dacoits in B-Town a run for their loot, for another great performace. She plays the Venice-loving, gun-trotting politician in Chambal with much aplomb. From a vulnerable Rani in Queen to the mighty Alka Singh in Revolver Rani, the actress sure knows how to make and then, equally easily, break the mould.
Alka Singh, who has lost the election to Udayban (Zakir Hussain), is trying all that she can (including gate-crashing his rally, while spraying bullets sitting on the bonnet of her car) to win control over her land.
Her mama Balli (Piyush Mishra) is at his scheming best. Alka (whose dusky skin colour seems to be the result of a fake tan) has one weakness though – her boy-toy Rohan Mehra (Vir Das). Romance and revenge is what the movie focuses on. It has some great scenes, like the one where Rohan lovingly calls Alka - Coco – because you are like a coconut, hard from outside but a softie at heart, he explains.
She calls him Chamcham, and says it’s because she likes the name and there’s no logic behind it. But the problem is that sometimes there’s just too much time between two good scenes. Tighter editing is what the movie lacks. At some points the scenes actually drag, and one kind of wishes that the cast would just get on with the final act. The movie seems to be an attempt to set up Tarantino’s world in Bollywood, which may lead to it finding limited takers.
Director Sai Kabeer, thankfully, holds the reins well. This movie could have easily gone the Aiyya way if it wasn’t handled the way Kabeer has. Cutting the length of the movie by 10-15 minutes would have made this a great ride.
The movie in a satirical way tries to highlight many serious issues, like corrupt politicians using funds to build their palatial homes and ferrying clothes from foreign shores, using humour.
And succeeds in doing so to a certain extent. The casting director should be applauded for getting the cast absolutely bang on. Piyush Pandey as the cunning uncle doing his best to maneuver his niece’s political career is simply brilliant.
Zeishan Qadri as Micheal Jackson fan Pilot is great, and so are Zakir Hussain, Pankaj Saraswat and Kumud Mishra, who want to bring down Alka.
Vir Das is just about alright. Kangana delivers her acting chops, but this Rani may not be able to score over the Rani of Queen.
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