Atrangi Re

For all its chest-thumping on inventiveness and refreshing outlook at the time-tested narrative of the vagaries of love, Atrangi Re doesn’t quite deliver on what was promised. It actually feeds into stereotypes rather than break them, or at least skirt around them. While it is smart how Dhanush is cast as a doctor in this film, the use of his, and his friends’ medical expertise is milked for easy but unsmart laughs. Another unsmart thing is definitely how Rinku’s character arc develops. Although Sara is earnest as Rinku, the role turns out to be too gimmicky for a film of this potential. However, the more underwritten part is that of Akshay Kumar, and despite a cherubic and upbeat performance, Sajjad doesn’t quite create the intentioned flutter.

Rai’s direction has boosted her confidence. She comes up trumps on all counts – whether as a feisty girl who wants to run away with her lover, as the bride having mixed feelings about her marriage or as the woman finally owning up to the realities of life. Dhanush has teamed up with Rai after eight years, who has again extracted a well-rounded performance from him. The South superstar has the ability to underplay his characters and knows how to use his silence and his body language and has done so here effectively. You want to know more about Vishu and wonder why he doesn’t have a backstory. You want to applaud Vishu’s resilience while dealing with the difficult situation he’s been in. His pain, as well as his love are achingly real.

Atrangi Re lives up to its title. Directed by Aanand L Rai, it's refreshingly different, unique love story that so beautifully breaks through the clutter. It's not remotely close to how we have visualised or seen romances on screen over the years. The film delves deep into relations we hold onto, emotions that are left behind, the denial we often live in and the acceptance that follows after a lot of pain. The story subtly touches upon the issue of mental health as well but at no points gets preachy. Starring Sara Ali Khan, Dhanush and Akshay Kumar in lead roles, Atrangi Re boasts of a casting coup which just cannot go wrong. Though with energetic stars like Sara and Akshay, you think the story might go a bit over-the-top, but the director maintains a balance so brilliantly that none of his characters overshadow each other.

The premise holds out promise. But the execution is a relentlessly downward spiral. Take, for instance, Rinku Sooryavanshi (Sara Ali Khan). When we see her first, she is running away, with some men chasing after her. Instantly, we are worried. Who is she? What is she running from? Who are these men? As soon as the answers start becoming clear, with a heavy grandmother figure (Seema Biswas) breathing down her neck, the intrigue level starts fading. And we are confronted with yet another version of the manic pixie dream girl, busy channelling her inner Geet (Imtiaz Ali’s most popular leading lady has a lot to answer for) as she finds herself on a moving train, heading from Siwan to New Delhi, with the sober, steady Vishu (Dhanush).

Atrangi Re hits so many right buttons purely on his strength. Its other hero Akshay Kumar's supporting presence as Sajjad the magician hints at a love triangle but not in the way you think. Atrangi Re wants to make a case for repercussions of trauma on a person's psyche and builds a mild mystery around it that is too obvious too early. In a bid to justify the issues plaguing Rinku, the movie gets too ahead of itself and makes some questionable decisions, the kind that would make Sigmund Freud pull his hair, especially every time Vishu's psychiatrist buddy (Ashish Verma doing his usual routine supporting gig) opens his mouth to babble fundas on mental health as per Bollywood. Atrangi Re occurs inside such a cocoon, really, where family has no role and friends unconditionally play along purely because the makers ostensibly didn't want to complicate things.