When everyone else is busy discussing the issue on news panels as 2014
supposedly being the year of Women Empowerment, Producer-turned-director Vikas
Bahl has done his bit full-heartedly, loud and clear with his second and the
most delightful film of the year, crowned already in its name. ‘QUEEN’ powerfully
belongs to the genre called ‘slice of life’ movies where every ounce of emotions,
every piece in the settings and each shade of events is authentic, appropriate,
raw & relatable. And then, there is Kangana Ranaut- the gifted conductor
without any baton who single-handedly orchestrates all of it to create a magnificently
charming film. Make a nice cozy room for this in your hearts. It’s not going to
leave any soon.
Rani [Kangana as a surprising revelation] is a typical ‘Rajauri’ girl of
West Delhi who’s all excited to loose her ‘virginity ka vrat’ since it’s just a
couple of days more for her to get married with his prince charming Vijay
[Rajkumar Rao in a comparatively smaller but significant role]. While good
things are in wait for its turn, bad knocks the door first. She’s been dumped
for not being modern enough to match the status of the London-retuned eligible groom.
Rani is shattered but doesn’t want to miss her last chance to taste freedom as the
pre-planned honeymoon package in Paris is still on. And then, begins a
fascinating yet simple journey starting with a maze of ambiguity, resistance, conflicts
and winding up in the unfastened ends of independence, liberty and freedom to
live happily ever after.
Sounding similar to ENGLISH-VINGLISH, ‘QUEEN’ is not more than a distant
relative who never actually has met with the other. Rani here is more spirited
and progressively more opened up soul than anyone you have seen on screen. Her
first reactions to anything inventive towards her are immediate, simple and carefree.
Her tricky tactics to deal with any unseen, enforced situation might have its
own logic behind but are totally entertaining to have you in splits. So, she
can be apprehensively charmed by people doing ‘lip-to-lip’ kisses. She can also
recount the state of women in India where they aren’t allowed to even burp in public
and that too without making it a loud protest. Well-written!!
QUEEN belongs to Kangana. She owns it as much as any legendary actresses
do to their lifetime roles. She succeeds to make your heart somber in pain but does
an outstanding job to bring tons of smiles on your face. Every actor needs a
character he could slip into to make it alive. For Kangana, this is it. Rajkumar Rao makes his presence felt. Lisa
Haydon is good as Rani’s confidante in Paris. Actors as her friends-cum-roomies
are perfectly cast.
Director’s sweet remembrance
audio-visual to film’s late cinematographer Bobby Singh, Amit Trivedi’s
uplifting songs & background score, delicious dialogues co-written by
Kangana herself and a total breezy-fresh and funny tone to the film are added features
that don’t allow you to miss it at any cost. Include it in your to-do list for
this weekend, soon after finishing this review. Others can wait! QUEEN shouldn’t!!
[4/5]
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