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QUEEN

QUEEN
       On Friday I had the choice to go for one of the three movies that had released, and was tempted to see Gulab Gang coz of Juhi’s negative role but I opted for this one as I have a yen for the histrionics of Kangana Ranaut and boy did I hit the jack-pot! Such a brilliant movie this one is!
Travelogues in Indian cinema are so far and few in between that I view any one which does appear on the horizon with great distrust. The last one that I enjoyed was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, however to simply call this one a travelogue would be doing it so much injustice. This movie flies in the face of all that is trite and clichéd and comes up trumps.  And the best part is that the intention of the movie is not to surprise you at all or even create any kind of suspense it is simply telling a tale and that’s about it.
The movie starts very innocuously with a Punjabi wedding sequence where Rani( Kangana Ranaut) does a voiceover telling you what is happening .And then it starts………
She gets jilted by Vijay and then instead of crying and cursing her fate she is the picture of stoic calm. Here starts the brilliance of Kangana Ranaut. And also the brilliance of the director and the script writer!   (I had quite liked Vikas Bahl’s earlier one – Chillar Party)
Rani then decides to go on her honeymoon trip by herself. And she makes it to Paris and meets another Vijay, who is actually Vijayalakhsmi aka Lisa Haydon…. What a Vijay she is! Guys be prepared to go bonkers, for she is hot and sets the screen on fire with her mere presence. Here in Paris though all doesn’t go well for our Rani…And “Our” Rani is indeed how you have begun to think of her by this time. She hates the city and the people and the food and decides to curtail her trip and not go further to Amsterdam. But that is only till she is adopted by “Vijay” And mind you this isn’t unlikely or contrived, it does happen, Ex-pats do get adopted by locals. For Rani a trip to a bar becomes unbearable till the DJ starts playing a Bollywood number and like it is wont to do to all of us, the number gets Rani going and marks the turning point of her trip. This little gem – her drunk act is too fabulous. By this time, Rani has been semi-mugged and been scared by the Eiffel tower. There is also a little gem of a scene where she starts dancing atop the bar and instead of throwing away her sweater like the others she stuffs it in her bag…..hilarious! Also I have by now heard the most non-veg Santa Banta joke ever.:-)
She then departs to Amsterdam following instructions given to her by Vijay and what we then see is Vijay wearing a Lajpat nagar kurti which Rani has been sporting up until then. A point I would like to make here is that Rani’s transformation is subtle and more inner then outer… her loud clothes start losing color and become more subtly hued…. Just as her mehendi starts fading from maroon to orange. That bit of continuity by the director blew my mind. The fading mehendi is an indicator of Rani gaining confidence as each day passes…..
In Amsterdam she has to share digs with three other guys and ladies it is now time for some eye candy for us gals! The French-algerian, the Russian and the cute little Japanese Taka are just too good. Also perfect casting is the Italian guy. There is also a little cameo by a very pretty lady who too befriends Rani, unfortunately I couldn’t find her name. But all in all just perfect casting. Now the shameless selfish male Vijay resurfaces only to be confronted by a new Rani and he can’t make head or tale of her. The fact that the waiter at a local bistro not only knows Rani by her name but also her favourite beverage shocks his pants off!  It is such little delightful touches that make this movie an absolute pleasure to watch! Like the sequence in which an entire melange of relatives are trying to figure out what “Hing “ is called in English- adorable!
Rani doesn’t have any recriminations for the loser Vijay and loves her new life as is seen in the closing credits which assume the form of her timeline. So do stay till the end for this one. I am hoping that there is a part two which has Rani’s friends visiting her in India. This is a movie which is deserving of a sequel. Way to go team Queen!

P.S Flashbacks of Rani and Vijay’s love story intersperse the movie and Rajkkumar Rao shows his mettle!


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