25 March,2013 11:25 AM IST | | Janhavi Samant
"Love is not heart of life. Love is only part of life" - The dialogue out of context; it doesn't belong to Rangrezz, the film being currently reviewed, but to a 2002 film called 'Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai', about a college slacker wasting his time and ultimately his life following the girl he loves.
The reason it is being mentioned here is because of a similar pious andu00a0sorrowful social message about love at the end of Rangrezz too.
This film is about three friends (which film isn't?) Hrishi (Jackkyu00a0Bhagnani), Winu (Amitosh Nagpal) and Pakkya (Vijay Verma) on the thresholdu00a0of their future careers. While waiting for their appointment letters,u00a0business loans and passport to arrive respectively, they loll away theiru00a0time at a neighbourhood dhaba eating on credit, breaking matkis at Govindau00a0processions and people's heads in Irani stores.
A still from the film Rangrezz
One day, Hrishi's depressed friend Joy visits him in Mumbai; he is seeingu00a0some girl but their parents aren't allowing them to get married. Theu00a0overzealous Hrishi decides he shall kidnap the girl from her house and helpu00a0them elope (Inexplicable really. Hrishi hasn't met this friend in at leastu00a0a decade. They were in school together at some point in history and haven'tu00a0stayed in touch till then.)
So the trio rent a car (again, from some unknown benefactor rental agencyu00a0friend who tells them not to worry about the money) and zoom into theu00a0girl's town and with minimal planning and strategy, kidnap the girl inu00a0front of her father and four jeeps-full of goons. Joy, the man who actuallyu00a0is in love with this girl, watches from the sidelines as Winu loses hisu00a0leg, Pakkya loses his hearing and Hrishi gets an ugly scratch on his faceu00a0during this fracas.
Well anyway, the couple is married off (again with the help of some localu00a0benefactor whom the director doesn't bother introducing us to) and sent tou00a0Goa for an indeterminate amount of time at the expense of yet anotheru00a0benefactor who runs a hotel.
Because of the police case that ensues from this kidnapping, Hrishi losesu00a0his job offer in the State Police and therefore his long-time sweetheartu00a0whose father's only condition for marriage is a government job. The triou00a0struggles to get back on their feet, try their hand at a cateringu00a0restaurant business and make a success of it. Only to realise that theu00a0couple they sacrificed so much to unite has decided to divorce! What au00a0pity.
By now we are all familiar with Priyadarshan's template of films. Althoughu00a0based in Mumbai, the middle class characters of his films inhabit someu00a0strange world full of shiny brass vessels, Kerala style armchairs and four-posteru00a0beds. Not to mention, Rajpal Yadav in coloured hair and waiter garb hamming
to glory. But while most of his films could be called funny - if you areu00a0into that sort of loud, over-the-top silly humour - Rangrezz isn't one ofu00a0them.
The template continues: although earnest, Rangrezz is loud but not enoughu00a0to be cheesy; it is funny but not enough to be a comedy, it is serious butu00a0not enough to be taken seriously and has an interesting premise but with sou00a0many gaps that it can barely make sense. And worst of all, it has a socialu00a0message! That's the kind of film one should safely be wary of.
Performances: Jackky Bhagnani is competent. Amitosh and Vijay also make a good debut.
Lushin Dubey's loud Bihari (or is it Bhojpuri?) accent and beautifulu00a0sarees.
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