6 March 2014
Movie Review: `Queen` Kangna Shines In A Near-Flawless Inspirational Tale
Starring Kangna Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Lisa Hayden
Directed by Vikas Bahl
Rating: **** 1/2
....Or 'How Rani Gets Her Groove Back'.... There are some films that you simply don't want to end. And when they do you want to spring out of your seat and give the darned thing a standing ovation. Queen, directed by that Chillar Party co-director Vikas Bahl is that rarity. Its thematic elegance and narrative wisdom surpasses anything that you might have come to expect from the frothy ebullient trailers.
Frothy and ebullient, Queen certainly is. But it's a lot more. At the end you are left so close to the characters and their life-defining milieu that the late Bobby Singh's camera lenses dissolve and merge into the very fabric of the narrative.
And to think that the film begins with another big fat Punjabi wedding! Before we know it the narrative takes wings, much like its protagonist Rani played by the born-again Kangna Ranaut. Seven years ago she had made her stunning debut in Anurag Basu's Gangster only to serve up a series of disappointing films and performances.
In Queen Kangna gets her groove back.And how! Kangna is so in-sync with her character that you wonder if the story was written according to the emotions that the actress had stored away in her heart . It all comes out now in a portrait that for years would be summoned up as an epitome of on-screen transparency.
There is stark honesty about Kangna's portrayal of the Delhi girl who is deserted by her husband-to-be days before the wedding. Familiar, no? Director Bahl turns the oft-repeated tale of betrayal and self-realization into an ode to womanhood. The naked yearning in Rani's eyes when she pleads with the selfish idiot not to destroy her life is so real it leaves you shaken.
You know immediately that this girl means business. And so, let me tell you , does the director.Vikas Bahl possesses a keen eye for physical and emotional detail.When the feisty grandmother pleads with the jilted bride-to-be from outside the locked room to not be disheartened the bride's kid brother quietly brings a chair for the old lady..... Bahl makes astounding use of a wide spectrum of topography from Delhi to Paris to Amsterdam to give specificity to the protagonist's obvious weaknesses and inner strengths. By the time the journey ends you don't care where Rani is. She will be fine wherever life takes her.
Here is that rare director who knows how to articulate his characters' feelings through the spaces that they occupy.Kangna's face and body-language do the rest. She lives through every moment of Rani's journey from a Delhi middleclass' cocooned existence to a girl making her way through the dark sinister alleys of Paris and strippers' joints of Amsterdam in a voyage of self-realization that makes Sridevi's journey in English Vinglish look like a pre-paid vacation.
There is something magical about the way Bahl uses Kangna's artless vulnerability to express the character's hurt and desire, sometimes both in the same breath. At the end we're left with a female character who is naive and yet worldly-wise,who thinks sex happens only after marriage and yet kisses an aggressive Italian stranger just because she finds him as hot as Salman Khan. Rani naively lectures a stripper in Amsterdam from ultra-conservative Pakistan(a curious anomaly, this) on how she must find a better job for herself, and yet thinks nothing of getting drunk in a Parisian bar with her bindaas half-French half-Indian girl pal(Lisa Hayden sexy and savvy) to the pounding sounds of Asha Bhosle's Hungama ho gaya.
But then Bollywood music does that to anyone. It liberates the spirit. And Kangna's Rani is on the look-out for just that. The silken-smooth plot can be roughly divided into the 'Parisian' and the 'Amsterdam' half ,though neither of two cities come across as touristic spots . Even when Bahl takes his wide-eyed heroine and her sexy girl-pal to the Eiffel Tower it is to look at that monumental edifice in a gaze that cinema has never dared before.
But then Queen is that kind of a film. I came away so much richer, spirit awash with thoughts of hope life and sunshine. Every character from Rani's parents , to her Parisian friend Vijay-Laxmi(who ironically has the same first-name as her cad of a fiance) to her three male room-mates in Amsterdam make a space in your heart forever.
The brilliantly transitional screenplay has no jagged edges. Every component somehow slips into place. As Bahl tells his story we become one with Rani's journey. The desperate optimism of her marriage-less honeymoon directs her to inner reserves of strength and will-power that she didn't know existed.By the time Rani's journey end , you are supremely attached to her soul .
Ranaut's performance holds the film together even as Rajkummar Rao as the selfish fiance and Lisa Haydon as Rani's bohemian Parisian pal lend added colour to the bewitching canvas. The smallest of the roles are performed with unconditional conviction . Once in a while in the movies we get to meet a girl as free-spirited as Rani. Infectious in their joie de vivre the film and its protagonist's zest for life are endearing and contagious.Queen is the quintessential inspirational tale with a central performance that makes most of what we see in Hindi cinema look like put-on slide shows . If you miss Queen you may never get a chance to know how Rani journeyed into self-actualization.
And that would be your loss entirely.
Juhi Chawla : Thought director was crazy to offer me negative role
Juhi Chawla says she thought director Soumik Sen had lost his mind when he offered the actress her career's first negative role in his upcoming film 'Gulaab Gang'.
"The first time I heard the role I thought he (Soumik Sen) has gone insane. Gradually, I got convinced after he explained it further. I thought it would be wonderful if I could do it," Juhi, 46, told reporters at a press conference here. The director joked that he had to show his musical side to the actress in order to convince her.
"I had to sing to convince her," Soumik joked. Produced by Anubhav Sinha, the movie also stars Madhuri Dixt, who plays a firebrand leader while Juhi essays the part of a power-hungry politician. Casting Juhi as the antagonist of the film was Soumik's effort to break the mould.
"I had cast Madhuri as the hero of the film as it was in my mind from before but while choosing a villain I thought it must be as big if not bigger," Soumik said. "I was also trying to break the mould as Charlie Chaplin, Amol Palekar have done earlier and therefore Juhi was taken as the villain for the film," he added.
When asked why he didn't give credit to Sampat Pal, who is thought to be an inspiration for the movie, Soumik said that his story is a complete work of fiction and has no connection whatsoever with reality. Dixit, who was last seen on the screen in 'Dedh Ishqiya', said the film gives an important message about women empowerment.
"Through the film we want to give out a message that women need to be empowered, they need to be educated for them to feel independent and get respect in the society. Rajjo is in every woman, there's only the need to identify her," Madhuri said.
Bruises, scratches worth it for `Ragini MMS 2`: Sunny Leone
Actress Sunny Leone enjoyed shooting action sequences for the climax of her forthcoming film "Ragini MMS 2", and says she feels getting bruised during the shoot was "worth it".
"I love action and it was definitely not easy. Towards the end I shot some action scenes. I worked the hardest for those scenes," Sunny told IANS.
"It was physically very demanding with bruises and scratches all over the body, but it was worth it," she added.
Known for her bold image, the Indo-Canadian porn star says that she is open to performing explicit scenes only if a role requires it.
"I believe in a role and whatever is required in it that's what I need to do. If the role requires it, then I will do it," she added.
Directed by Bhushan Patel, "Ragini MMS 2", will hit screens March 21. It also stars Divya Dutta, Parvin Dabas and Sandhya Mridul.
Ajay Devgn, a star with no attitude: Yaami Gautam
"Vicky Donor" actress Yaami Gautam, who is sharing screen space with senior actor Ajay Devgn in "Action Jackson", says he may be a star but he works without giving any attitude.
"The shooting for 'Action Jackson' is still going on and I had a great experience shooting with Ajay Devgn. He is a huge star, but at the same time he is also a great actor," Yaami said.
"He works very quietly, he is very professional and humble. Despite being a star, he doesn't have any attitude. He is very down to earth," she added.
"Action Jackson" features Sonakshi Sinha as the lead with Ajay.
Won't Yaami be sidelined?
She said: "I am in this film for some reason. Whenever you see the film, you will not question why I did the film."
Meanwhile, Yaami is busy promoting her next film "Total Siyappa". She says she did this film only because she liked the script.
She says "it's an entertaining film."
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