Director Anand L Rai’s musical romantic drama ‘Atrangi Re’ starring an atrangi star cast of Akshay Kumar, Dhanush and Sara Ali Khan released today on Disney Plus Hotstar.
It is a story about two people Rinku Sooryavanshi (Sara Ali Khan) and Vishu (Dhanush) who are forcibly married to each other. Rinku is a small town bold, rebellious and confident girl who lives her life on her own terms whereas Venkatesh Vishwanath Iyer aka Vishu (Dhanush) is a Tamil guy studying medicine in Delhi.
Rinku is madly in love with Sajjad Ali Khan (Akshay Kumar), a magician and has tried to elope with him several times but failed. On knowing this her maternal grandmother decides to get her married to some random guy outside their town and get rid of the responsibility. And this is where they find Vishu.
Vishu on the other hand was soon to get engaged with his girlfriend Mandy aka Mandakini (Dimple Hairathi) but life had some other plans for him. After getting hitched in this forced marriage the two decide to live their lives their own way and get separated once Sajjad who’s in Africa comes back. But the twist in the tale comes when Rinku develops feelings for Vishu as well. What destiny holds ahead for Rinku and Vishu and will Sajjad and Rinku unite is what the remaining story of the film rests on.
Talking about the performances, Dhanush is the sole of the film. His presence on the screen takes over the frame every time. The ease with which he emote different emotions is admirable and makes his character extremely likeable.
Sara Ali Khan who is just five films old has delivered a powerful performance as Rinku. From her convincing Bihari accent and dialogue delivery to heart piercing performance in the final scene, she will win your heart. The two of them together light up the screen with their chemistry.
Akshay Kumar brings in his experience and charm to the role and leaves an impact in the limited screen time compared to the other two leads. Ashish Verma, not only adds the humor quotient, but definitely caught our eye with his performance as Vishu’s best friend, Madhusudan. Seema Verma as Rinku’s grandmother shines as well.
Coming to the music, the soft soulful track ‘Rait Zara si’ is worth playing on loop and ‘Tumhein Mohabbat’ is a song which has a lot of pain. ‘Little Little’ had very likeable beats peppered with an epic dance off between Akshay and Dhanush.
In short, the album of ‘Atrangi Re’ is impressive and due credit must be given to music composer AR Rahman, the singers, and lyricists.
The only complaint as an audience I have is from the item number ‘Chaka-Chak’. It might have the support of AR Rahman’s music, Shreya Ghoshal’s melodious voice and Sara Khan’s eye-catching moves but the lyrics are a big disappointment. They are an embarrassment to music and problematic on another level. We definitely expect better than this from someone with the stature of Irshad Kamil.
Cinematographer Pankaj Kumar very beautifully captured the beauty and diversity of Bihar, Delhi and Chennai whereas the writer Himanshu Sharma makes us feel a range of emotions with his excellent dialogue writing. Director Anand L Rai, who’s much famous for making atrangi films, has done a brilliant job at the execution.
All said and done, ‘Atrangi Re’ is a film that absolutely lived up to its name. It is not your usual love triangle. It has its good moments with a fresh and gripping storyline which should be given a try if not for anything at least Dhanush’s performance.
Aanand L Rai’s ‘Atrangi Re’ is now streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar! Catch it over the weekend.
