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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