Rann movie review

Rann (2010) was one of the better films created by Ram Gopal Varma. It came at a time when the filmmaker was being written off, especially after the debacle of Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007), the remake of Ramesh Sippy’s classic Sholay (1975).

Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Paresh Rawal, Sudeep, Mohnish Bahl, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and Gul Panaag, Rann gave more than a glimpse of the RGV of his prime.

Unfortunately, the film just didn’t work at the box office and couldn’t reach a large number of the audience.

But since the last few years, Rann has been appearing more relevant than it did more than a decade ago when it had released. In fact, it continues to get more relevant with each passing year and that isn’t a good sign.

Rann was basically about Vijay Harshwardhan Malik (Bachchan), the righteous and honest owner of a news channel called India 24/7. His channel is struggling with TV ratings since he is not willing to carry out any unethical and dishonest means to up the ratings, like other rival channels, including the one headed by the corrupt Amrish Kakkar (Bahl).

Vijay’s son Jai (Sudeep) has the opposite ideology but is unable to do anything since it is his father who controls the channel, much to his frustration. Meanwhile, Purab Shastri (Deshmukh), a die-hard fan of Vijay and a budding journalist, is delighted to have got the opportunity to work for India 24/7.

Apart from being a film on the media, Rann was also a political drama. Mohan Pandey (Rawal) from the opposition is desperate to become the Prime Minister. He forms a deal with Jai to frame the existing PM Digvijay Hooda (KK Raina) in a terror plot. Jai convinces Vijay about Hooda’s involvement in the scandal and the latter airs the ‘news’ on his channel.

This results in an uproar in the nation and Hooda is forced to step down as the PM. The general elections are held mid-term in which Pandey triumphs and is all set to become the next PM. However, Purab gets to know about Jai’s evil plan to frame the innocent Hooda. But is it too late?

Although the term ‘fake news’ isn’t spelt out in Rann, that is the crux of the film’s basic plot. However, fake news as a concept was hardly there in 2010, so, obviously, it wasn’t known by the masses. Hence, the seriousness of the subject wasn’t felt by the audience back then.

But today, we are living in an era where fake news is not just a reality but a regularity. Political parties use it on a daily basis to score brownie points over their rivals. Their leaders are painted as saints while the opposing party leaders are made to look like evil through posts and memes that appear like real news.

Rann had a long and powerful tagline that can be seen above

And our gullible citizens believe them without bothering to do any kind of verification. The controversy of the death of Sushant Singh Rajput received more fuel because of fake news. It went to such an extent that ‘news’ like how some top Hindi film stars saw the live telecast of Rajput’s ‘murder’ were spread and they were believed even by well-educated individuals.

Rann also went way ahead of its time and showed a news channel airing fake news. This might have appeared difficult to believe 10 years back but today this is also a reality. There have been instances where channels have aired ‘news’ that can be sourced only to What’s App forwards.

Rann ends in a powerful way when Vijay addresses the nation and begs forgiveness for airing fake news about Hooda. The dialogues and Bachchan’s performance provides goose bumps as we are told the responsibility of the media from scratch.

Big B’s climax monologue in Rann

A line spoken by Vijay’s character sums up the relevance of the film today – Jab sarkar aur media satta ki duad mein aapsi sauda kar leti hain, toh khabarein banti nahin, banai jaati hain [When the government and the media make a deal in the race to power, news doesn’t happen; it is created]

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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.

Rann keeps getting more relevant and that’s not a good sign