Following the success of Raanjhanaa, director Anand L Rai, writer Himanshu Sharma, music director A.R Rahman and actor Dhanush collaborate on Atrangi Re. With all of the promotions and songs, it appears to be a pretty interesting film.
Dhanush’s character Vishu is kidnapped and forced to marry Rinku (played by Sara Ali Khan). Pakruah Biha is a phenomenon in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. With his original engagement ceremony approaching, Vishu is confused as to how to tell his love interest about the forced marriage. Vishu is finally relieved when he discovers that Rinku has a boyfriend and refuses to accept the marriage. Both parties agreed to split up. However, Vishu and Rinku develop feelings for each other. Things become tricky when Vishu discovers that Rinku lives in a fantasy world and that all of her stories are made up by her head. Her lover, Sajjad, does not exist in reality. It’s all a figment of her imagination.
The subject is intriguing, but the writing lacks the sensitivity that the film requires. The relationship between Dhanush and Sara is not well developed in the film. Dhanush tries to convey an unknown facet of his character, but the writing stifles his efforts. Dhanush impresses whenever he has an opportunity. However, it is not constant enough. “COVID ka chota Bhai David…,” for example, making you wonder if this is the same character.
Sara Ali Khan tries to justify her performance. She astounds us with her performance. However, as previously stated, the lack of build-up to her and Dhanush’s connection damaged the entire film. Rinku’s fictional love interest, played by Akshay Kumar, is Sajjad, a magician. He exudes all of the charisma and vigour that he has in real life. Without giving anything away, we can mention that the final twist involving Akshay Kumar is one of the few positive aspects of the film.
Rahman has created a fantastic album with a wide range of songs. The background music is quite impressive. The musical cues play a large role in the film. Rahman has clearly risen to the occasion. The entire sequence of the song Little Little, sung by Dhanush, is delightful. In the song Rait Zara Si, Arijit Singh’s voice will undoubtedly touch your heart.
To some extent, we may agree with the filmmakers that this is a tough story to tell. However, dumbing down things is never going to help. Atrangi Re has several memorable moments, beautiful music and an interesting plot. Dhanush, Sara, and Akshay perform admirably. The issue, though, was the writing. Sara Ali Khan’s backstory and climactic sequence with Akshay Kumar were the only substantial elements in the film. They structured the entire thing around it, but they were unable to tell a compelling story.They try to act as if they’re having a talk about mental health.
Recently, a slew of Hindi films have been plagued by the same issues. They all have a unique concept, a talented cast, and a fantastic technical team. Everything seems great on paper, but it doesn’t work out in practice. There appears to be some pressure to shorten the film’s runtime. Many hasty edits can easily be seen in films. As a result, they were unable to adequately set up the narrative.
Overall, Atrangi Re isn’t a complete disaster, but it is extremely inconsistent. It has its moments of brilliance. One of the film’s strongest points is that it ends on a high note. Atrangi Re available exclusively on OTT. If you have nothing better to do, you can give it a chance.
