Rana (2008) Telugu Movie Review

Film: RANA

Rating: 3/5

Banner: Therkathi Kalai Koodam
Cast: Arjun, Nana Patekar, Kajal Agarwal, Vivek, Manivannan, Rukmini Vijayakumar,
Music: Himesh Reshammiya
Cinematography: B Kannan

Director: Bharathiraja

Producer: Paul Pandiyan and Raj T Rajan

Release date: December 12, 2008

Story:

An interesting tale, the story begins with the backdrop of the film industry where the noted director Rana(Nana) who is bestowed with scores of awards in the national and international level is a rather moody and eccentric person. Everyone in the unit is aware of his tempers so they keep their best to be on the safe side. Given his tantrums and bouts of temper, things change with the arrival of a new face and who is given the name of Trishna (Rukmini). Unusually, Rana gets quite close to her and would not entertain anyone to get close to her. The unit members are perplexed by this sudden affection and calmness towards Trishna and as expected, gossips run around the two. Meanwhile, those who try to get close to Trishna are being brutally murdered and things go out of hand with the number of victims increasing. In comes CBI officer Vivek (Arjun) who has a strong suspicion towards Rana and he begins his investigation. Much to his annoyance, his lady love Anita (Kajal) is all support for Rana and portrays his poetic brilliance and vouches that he cannot be the killer. However, the suspicions are on and Vivek is keen on nabbing the culprits. Is he successful in this? Is Rana one among the killers? All this forms the rest of the story.

Presentation:

The director has come out with an interesting plot and given the subject he has woven it with equally good narration and presentation. The script was written well and the screenplay was equally competent. Music has been a total letdown barring a song but the camerawork was brilliant. Editing could have better especially the songs were put in unexpected times. The locations were good and the costumes for Arjun and Kajal have been quite stylish. The pace of the movie was also okay. Arjun fitted well in the role of an investigating officer and this time there is not much of punching and kicking for him. Kajal was her bubbly self and had enough beauty and sex appeal to give visual feast, Rukmini could have been better since she was the focus of the story and the pressure was eased off with some comedy by Vivek and Manivannan. The real show stealer was Nana Patekar who was perfect to the hilt but then his dubbing could have been given to someone more intense. Overall, the acting department was fine.

Conclusion:

The film has come out with an interestingly woven tale of chilling murders and the exact eccentricities of few brilliant individuals in the film industry. While the first half goes about on the building up of the plot, the second half is engrossing only to give a jolt during the climax. The only drawback to this was the inclusion of songs at unwanted places that disturbed the intensity of the story. Technically and commercially, the film has it all but then there are few loose ends here and there which resulted in some bumps. The film will surely make its money.