By Mokshika Sharma

Atrangi Re has finally released on Christmas Eve. Fans were looking forward to the Film which stars Dhanush, Akshay Kumar and Sara Ali Khan in the lead. At the outset, Atrangi Re doesn’t disappoint, with Dhanush’s acting skills, Sara’s character and Akshay’s magical touch. This is because too many cooks usually tend to muck up the soup! The turns in the plot are like bits of onion floating mindlessly in the fast-cooling chicken soup. There’s no pepper but all salt and in excessive quantities.

With Anand L Rai’s direction, Himanshu Sharma’s script and A.R. Rahman’s music, Atrangi Re is an immersive film with quirky one-liners, dazzling dances, to wrenching monologues and an emotional ending, this film has got its formula pat.

National Award winning actor Dhanush is the soul of the film. If one has to choose the best element, they can’t help but fall in love with his character. Akshay Kumar too keeps the fan curious about his part throughout. Sara Ali Khan’s Rinku is by far her best performance, fingers crossed. Barring a few instances of hamming, she has held her own.

The film opens with Rinku (Sara Ali Khan) fleeing from men sent by her grandmother to stop her from eloping with her lover. She reaches the railway station, where we see Vishnu (Dhanush). She tosses glass bottles at her pursuers. Vishnu can’t help but feel terrible for this fearless, outspoken young woman.

The scene turns to Rinku being beaten up by her Amma for attempting to flee with her lover for the 21st time, resolute girl we must add. As Amma’s men fail to nab Rinku’s lover, Amma instructs them to grab any one who isn’t from Bihar. They abduct Vishnu and make him marry Rinku against his will.

Vishnu and Rinku, on the other hand, have other interests in their life. Rinku has a childhood sweetheart, Sajjad Ali Khan, who is a magician. Vishu is set to wed Maddy, the daughter of his college dean, who is far from his true love. As a result, they both decide to ditch their forced marriage.

Vishnu conceals the news of his forced marriage to his family and fiancé on the advice of his psychiatrist friend Madhu. Vishnu’s engagement is broken, and he returns to Delhi with Rinku in a much expected change of events. Vishnu is won over by Rinku throughout this and as he professes his love to her, Sajjad (Akshay Kumar) lands.  

Akshay Kumar’s plays the over-the-top magician, a la desi Houdini. The plot twists just before Rinku and Sajjad are set to leave. And the whole thing comes apart in this miasma of what, we can’t exactly put our finger on. A flashback, the destruction of Rinku’s parents and what not. Then a phantom made up by the young mind of an orphaned child. Please, please, someone save me!!!

The film is far from reality and is too much khayalon mein. Be it Vishnu falling in love with Rinku without enough interactions, or the blase manner in which the film portrays serious mental disorders, nothing went unnoticeable. With the makers focusing to flesh out Akshay Kumar’s character, Vishnu loses out. Poor Sara Ali Khan can also be seen struggling to keep Rinku’s mosaic intact. Her over-the-top and unnecessary excitement does not go unnoticed.

Coming to the music, Rahman has yet again managed to convert fans into his melody bhakts. From the classical beats of Tera Rang to Little-Little, the mood refresher, one cannot help but immerse themselves into a loop of the compositions and symphonies. However, one feels you’ve heard it somewhere, oh musta been from other Rahman-scored films.

The sore point is the portrayal of mental health disorders; their treatment could have been shown with more reserve rather than ending up as mere wisecracks. The makers sure didn’t want to court controversy and very clearly wanted to stay away from debates and criticism that sensitive topics can stir up. Apart from that and a Madrasi slur, the film really brings to you an unexpected taste of love candies and curiosity filled flavours. And the sore realisation that you saw it on OTT and not in a theatre, where you could have thrown an old shoe or something else. Poor Dhanush!

Atrangi Re is on Disney+Hotstar. You’ve been warned!

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