Review : Raanjhnaa

Raanjhnaa: A confused Love Story

After the successful “Tanu Weds Manu” Anand L Rai comes with his next “Raanjhnaa” a launch pad for the debutant actor Dhanush (Son-in-law of Rajanikanth).

“Raanjhnaa” tries to portray the strengths of Dhanush as an actor and in the bargain the movie loses its plot completely in the second half.

The story revolves around the main protagonist Kundan (Dhanush) and his love for a Muslim girl Zoya( Sonam Kapoor). His dedication for his lady love forms the crux of the story wherein he waits for his lady love for 8 years much to the dislike of his friends. His blind love for Zoya creates havoc in Zoya and his fiancé’s Jasjeet’s (Abhay Deol) life leading it to the climax.

The movie fails as the screenplay tries to highlight the actor than the story. The Story & Screenplay by Himanshu  Sinha starts with a fresh approach but by second half when the political angle is introduced in the story the movie goes downhill. The first half is fresh and frothy and the second half is tedious. It almost seems that the first & the second half are two separate movies. The strong point of the movie is the dialogues again written by Himanshu Sinha.

Varanasi is shot beautifully by Natarajan Subramaniam & Vishal Sinha. Editing by Hemal Kothari lacks the finesse especially in the second half.

Dhanush’s  work shows the sincerity but he lacks the charisma of a leading man. Sonam Kapoor is much better than her previous movies but falls flat in the high octane sequences. But the main highlight performances are of the supporting cast especially Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, who plays Kundan’s friend Murari and Swara Bhaskar, who plays Bindu the secret lover of Kundan. Abhay Deol in a special appearance shines.

Music by A R Rahman is melodious, a good come back after the not so impressive “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics is poetic and riveting.

Anand L Rai’s narration is confusing of whether he wanted to make a love story or a political drama. Overall “Raanjhna” could have been poetic but unfortunately it is tedious. I will go with TWO & A HALF STARS.