Truth or TRP?

Ratings: * * * ½

In a time when news channels are busy with celebrity gossips, astrology, saas bahu news, promoting blind faith, creating sensationalism over petty issues and cooking news about mythological evidences, one tends to wonder what the real role of a news channel is. Ram Gopal Varma’s Rann tries answering the question and not only that; it also shows how the whole political scenario of a nation can change due to the abuse of media.

Vijay Malik’s (Amitabh Bachchan) TV channel India 24 X 7 is low in TRPs as it has not surrendered to sensationalism like other channels. But this won’t bend Malik’s traditional and ethical ways of journalism. Of course, Malik’s ideology is not appreciated by people from his own company including his son Jai (Sudeep). However, Purab (Riteish Deshmukh), an upcoming journalist, considers Malik as a Godly figure because of his honest ideology. One day, India 24 X 7, knowingly and unknowingly, becomes the reason for a major chaos in the country, which benefits a corrupt politician Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal).

Ram Gopal Varma does achieve his goal and, surprisingly, without much media bashing. His intelligently crafted scenes create intenseness throughout with the focus not shifting from the topic for once ever.  Plus, Amit Roy’s unusual yet out-of-the-box cinematography and Amar Mohile’s powerful background score generate further interest. However, one does hope there were some more powerful punches considering the hard hitting subject. Because of their absence, the film may not go down well with the entertainment hungry creatures.

The songs, which are used only in the background, suit the mood of the film perfectly, especially the Vande Mataram track and a song on TRPs.

The ways of describing Bachchan’s up-to-the-mark performance have exhausted over the decades. So I’ll only say that this performance should be added in Big B’s long list of qualitative performances. Over here, he skillfully manages to convey his message thorough his expressions when his inside is full of lava. Despite Bachchan’s presence, Sudeep manages to surprise amazingly. He is flawless throughout with his expressions, actions and dialogues. He surely deserves lots of opportunities.

With this performance, Ritiesh Deshmukh proves his worth even as a serious and intense performer. His pre-climax scene with Bachchan is memorable. Paresh Rawal, in the role of a baddie politician is too good. You love to hate him. Rajpal Yadav, Mohinish Behl, Suchitra Krishnamurthy and other supporting cast play their part well. However, Neetu Chandra is wasted. All she does is expose her body and cool down Sudeep in almost her every scene.

Rann should surely be watched by all those who take every word from these TRP-hungry news channels. The film will surely appeal to those who prefer meaningful, insightful and hard-hitting cinema. Its chances, however, look bleak because of an unimpressive opening.