Revolver Rani Review

Revolver Rani Review: Vir Das falters throughout, and the film fumbles occasionally, but watch it for Ranaut, who’s fierce and fab and back with a bang (literally!)

Rating: ***

Director: Sai Kabir Shrivastav

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Vir Das, Piyush Mishra, Zakir Hussain

Bollywood movies usually refrain from supplying their heroines with guns except during desperate times when it’s a matter of protecting her dignity from ‘goondas’. There’s always a hero standing guard besides the few lucky ones using arms and ammunition more frequently, the man holding a bigger or rather a better gun than his female counterpart.

In Hollywood we have such examples as Angelina Jolie and Uma Thurman who’ve comfortably ploughed through hordes and hordes of enemies wielding rifles and custom-made swords in the films Salt and Kill Bill respectively. And these ‘femme lethal’ kick-ass ladies didn’t require a man by their side to (how should I put it?)… ‘make audiences feel relaxed’ seeing them equip firearms; they could dominate the screen (and the scene) on their own. Just last month, Indian cinema gave us Gulaab Gang, (very) loosely based on the real life incidents of activist Sampat Pal-led female brigade who fought with laathis against men committing crimes of various natures against women. I haven’t seen the film, so I’m not in the position to comment about its lead actress Madhuri Dixit or her comfort level in tackling a strong and independent woman resorting to physical violence to fight against injustice. But of course, Gulaab Gang is a more serious, issue-driven film condemning domestic violence and corruption.

This week, Kangana Ranaut returns to big screen as Alka

Singh aka Revolver Rani, only a month after her Rani, albeit from the film Queen, had critics unequivocally (almost – acclaimed film scholar and critic MK Raghavendra was largely unimpressed, but the rest were happy) proclaim this year to be Kangana’s. In Revolver Rani, it is she who wields a gun, many guns, as the camera follows her in mid-shots; she gets to command the frame in her shots, not being relegated to one side the way actresses are in most films so they don’t appear too ‘forthright’ handling weapons. Ranaut has a comfortable grip at all times, whether she’s clutching a revolver or a machine gun. Her appeal is powerfully glamorous, rather glamorously powerful, and I’ve always been in awe of women possessing this quality, whether it be film characters such as Kill Bill’s Bride or Salt’s Evelyn, or real-life personalities such as Madonna, P!nk, and even politicians like Jayalalithaa. One word befitting these ladies would be ‘fierce’. Even in perhaps one of her weakest singles ‘Looking A** N****’, I loved the part when

Nicki Minaj fires away two machine guns like a boss.

In her rough-and-tough avatar, she also beats up men with any other weapon within reach, whether a large stone, a bat or, when there’s nothing close, even her bare hands like a hulky warrior. She’s intimidating, but that isn’t her only trait. Her love interest, played by Vir Das, nicknames her ‘Coco’ because she’s ‘tough on the exterior, soft within’. Her heart melts on meeting Das’ character Rohan Mehra, whom she endearingly calls ‘Chamcham’, and we immediately perceive that her environment has made her like this and that there’s more to her than meets the eye (which is frizzy curly hair, Michael Jackson inspired jackets and Turkish pants, a loaded gun in her pocket and an aggressive look that reminds of Arjun Kapoor’s character from Aurangzeb except done far better). She talks about her troubled past, which explains a lot, when the two aren’t making love; we eventually learn she’s ‘banjh’ i.e. she cannot conceive a child and so Rohan doesn’t bother with using protection.

Of all the characters in Revolver Rani, it’s surprisingly Alka whose conduct is most justifiable. She mercilessly beats Rohan up in one scene, but only because she thinks he’s cheating on her (which he is) and ultimately nurses him. She has an entire studio constructed for him because he wishes to be an actor in Bollywood. She genuinely loves him while he’s just an opportunist who wants her money and backing to make it big.

The film also Alka taking on Udaybhan Tomar (Zakir Hussain) and his political party, currently in power in Gwalior, and sends her message across with a barrage of gunshots. But she’s fighting for villagers who’ve been forced to give up their land to private industrialists. Her sole support-system, her uncle Balli (played by Piyush Mishra, who played the narrator and a supporting part in Gangs of Wasseypur), believes he’s the sole creator of this empire currently helmed by Alka, and flips when she becomes pregnant. She’s not ‘banjh’ after all, and she wants the baby. This worsens Rohan’s situation, who has no choice but to marry Alka. Pregnancy ke side effects also cause Alka to reconsider her current lifestyle, and she makes up her mind to quit and move to Italy and get settled. Fans of Kill Bill shall know what happened to Bride when she decided to finally ‘quit and get settled’…

Most of the characters are attuned to the campy fun tone of ‘dabbang isstyle and swag’ the film retains for most part. The film is satirical and quirky in a very Thigmanshu Dhuliya way, which isn’t surprising; it’s been produced by his studio. Some of the fainter strokes evoke humor, like an extra who fans Udaybhan Tomar with the lower end of his kurta or another who’s ready with a ‘kartoos ki ladi’ hung on his shoulders or Udaybhan’s goofball brother who just talks of attacking Alka without having any concrete plan.

But the film also has totally unnecessary strokes that muddle up the final picture to an extent. Intimate moments involving Alka and Rohan get overly sentimental with Asha Bhosle’s sweet vocals or soft music playing in the background; Kangana alone is perfectly capable of drawing the appropriate emotional response from us without the need for music. Another big problem is Vir Das’ presence. He comes off as too stiff and seems to restrain himself both from adopting the film’s style of humor and from getting into his character. While watching the film, I thought of Arya Babbar’s act in Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola and thought he’d have done a better job here.

Also, his act in the film’s climax is too cold-blooded and merciless (I won’t reveal it but if there’s a sequel, he’ll perhaps be similar to what Bill was in Kill Bill) to be expected from his character.

Rarely do Indian cinemas ‘bloody up’ a heroine as much as Revolver Rani does in the climax. And its Alka’s own blood, not someone else’s, like say the pig blood splashed on Carrie in the 2013 (and 1976) film. Both Thigmanshu Dhulia’s Bullett Raja and debut director Sai Kabir Shrivastav’s Revolver Rani end up promising a sequel. I think Rani deserves it more. Alka was violent, but she deserved a chance to mend herself, not end up being taught a cruel lesson by her backstabbers who used her all along for their selfish motives.

I look forward to Kangana winning the best actress this year for Queen, and now, I also wait for her to wield that revolver once more.

ourvadodara.in Rating Guide:

* = Avoid!!

** = Rent It / TV Premiere

*** = Book The Cheapest Seats

**** = Book The Best Seats

***** = Book The Best Seats + Buy The DVD!