Atrangi Re could have been an excellent novel. The story is great but the movie is not. I do not know what made Himanshu Sharma, the writer of the film, give it a funny twist. On top of it, they cast Sara Ali Khan as a lead and think that she can pull off comedy and tragedy together. No, not yet. The lady, if wishes to continue to be in the film industry, needs to work on herself. She needs to tone down and understand the difference between acting and over-acting.
Even though her first film made it crystal clear that she cannot act, I wonder how she made it so far in the industry. No, please don’t start the nepotism debate here because that won’t cover the losses. Repeated casting of a bad actor/s with history of failure only spell losses for the producer and a failure for the entire team. If film-making is a business, I am yet to understand their profit and loss strategy.
What surprises me further is that till date, no director asked her to act, not overact in their films. Forget about the directors, the girl comes from a family that belongs to the industry. Is there no genuine critic at home? Did no one give her the right acting lesson or tips to polish her skill? From her first film, Kedarnath to Atrangi Re, I see not even a slight improvement in her performance. May it be dance, expressions, or dialogue delivery, she is loud for no reason. In a film where she is playing a girl with a serious mental disorder, being loud should actually cancel her ticket to Bollywood.
Moving on…
As I mentioned earlier, the story is good but the treatment given to it is not. To give you a gist of the story, Rinku (Sara Ali Khan) is suffering from a mental disorder which she developed after her parents were killed. How? Her father was burnt alive and her mother died saving him – all in front of Rinku while she was still a kid. She was then brought up by her mother’s family who had mistreated Rinku all her life. And yes, Rinku’s grandmother is the one who killed her parents. This toxic environment and seeing her parents burn in front of her eyes had made Rinku delusional. I won’t reveal the story further but if you take this as a plot, it’s a strong plot.
If given the right treatment, Atrangi Re could have been a beautiful, heart-warming film, somewhere close to what Sadma was. When I say Sadma, I do not mean tragedy or heart-breaking but a film that feeds your mind and soul and stays with you for the longest time possible. All of us have seen writers and directors turn tragedies into comedy. We have enjoyed such comedies so honestly, I do not have a problem with this film trying to be light-hearted but the makers have failed to do so. That makes you question their sanity, and at times, even yours for watching the film.
Should you watch it? Let the festivities end. When you will not know what to do next in your life, sit back and watch Atrangi Re.
Streaming On: DisneyPlus Hotstar
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