Vishal Bharadwaj ambitiously mounts Rangoon but the execution of this Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor film never manages to match its intentions.

Rangoon haunts in unlikely fashion and, while the director’s most straightforward picture, holds enough of its own marvels to justify multiple viewings.

Like a song-and-dance troupe trampling all over a map of Europe to tell their own fractured, misguided jokes, or an old man cosily swilling wine after having faked his own death, Rangoon may be direct, but it is never obvious.

Rangoon deserves a watch for its smart sub-plot, Kangana-Shahid’s titillating chemistry and of course, Kangana Ranaut’s vulnerability as a popular actress turned liberated lover Julia.

At 167 minutes, Rangoon isn’t only long but painful. And this isn’t the pain of love. And it doesn’t end in pleasure.

Rangoon is definitely not avoidable but it is certainly not a Vishal Bhardwaj masterpiece.

Rangoon is wholeheartedly recommended but with a rider: it isn’t a stroll in the park because it demands patience and concentration. It definitely helps that the cinematography (by Pankaj Kumar) is so lustrous that you simply cannot take your eyes off the screen.

In his attempt to pack in too much on war, love and deceit, the maker ends up with some haphazard division of war scenes versus love games, leaving the viewer muddled.

Rangoon is not Vishal Bhardwaj’s best directorial venture, but it deserves a one-time watch.

Rangoon is a mighty effort and worth seeing once.

Rangoon has grandeur but is a lost cause thanks to its multiple threads. Kangana and Shahid, leave a mark with their characters but do not help the film rise above its inconsistencies.

Vishal Bhardwaj, caught with the duty to serve two movies in one (an old-school romance and a war thriller), doesn’t really do a Casablanca though he does give Rangoon his best shot. Nevertheless, Rangoon comes off as probably 2017’s most good-looking and well-made Indian film. Certainly, this year’s most ambitious, with three great lead performances. Vishal Bhardwaj is in fine form, mostly. And yes, the National Anthem comes thrice in the film. What more do you want?

While the actors give it their best shot, Rangoon just isn’t able to tell its story with consistency. The movie tries to pack in too many set pieces and ideas in one narrative. Its choice of keeping the love triangle with jealousy and sacrifice isn’t the most inspired piece of writing either. Rangoon looks like a beautiful picture but it offers very little soul to support its epic goals. 

RANGOON is an epic misfire and the movie has demonstrated the desperation of Bhardwaj in trying to please the gallery in the end and that is more alarming. Bhardwaj’s was ‘successful’ in his unique pail of dramatics seen in his re working of Shakespearean tragedies and remarkable brilliance in KAMINEY that was never designed to please the masses, this attitude placed him in the top ranks of serious helmers but in RANGOON I found that Bhardwaj lost in his junoon ( passion) to get the maximum.

So yeah, this is also very much a musical. As you can sense, too many things have been mixed into one film. But attempted with eye-popping chutzpah. Over years, it’s another matter if you’ve liked all his movies or not, what you have to credit Bhardwaj for is sheer audacity, and flight of imagination. He takes a chance. Even when granted full indulgence, he’s been respectful of the mainstream audience’s intelligence, if not always their time. ‘Rangoon’ is not an exception.

Rangoon is far from a perfect film; there are scenes that definitely do not work in terms of the effects. Some of the pivotal moments can have a cartoon-ish quality and that does detract from the immersive-ness of the experience. It can be a distraction just when you need to be with these characters every step of the way.

Rangoon is entertaining but it is also too long, boring in parts and more class-appealing than mass-oriented. It will, therefore, do well in select multiplexes in some big cities, but this will not at all be enough to recover the huge investment in the film even after revenues from non-theatrical sources are accounted for. In the final tally, the film will entail heavy losses to the distributors concerned.

There are reluctant bodyguards, sacrificing soldiers, national anthem being sung, atrocities on common folk, and a bridge on the river Kwai that should have been blown up by at least one warring side. The movie is so long you are too tired to call it names when it is over.

‘Rangoon’ is an abruptly colorful film, which works only due to Kangana Ranaut’s performance and a half-hearted engaging direction.

If you are a Vishal Bhardwaj fan, let us warn you that this might not be his best, but we bet you’ll see another kind of a storyteller here. And yes, he does deliver a movie that is embedded with fine performances from the cast and great visuals by cinematographer Pankaj Kumar and that makes the movie deserving of a watch despite its flaws.

Rangoon masterfully weaves a drama that keeps you enraptured till the very end.

A world I would certainly visit again. Maybe with a pen in hand, even if imaginary, scratching off parts from the reel that would have made the movie crisper. Maybe coming back home imagining an alternate end for the film.

Pace aside, I often found myself slowing down to look at the details. Like how a black night frame is lit in amber fire and I just want to see those faces in that glow. Or like how Bhardwaj’s version of Jana Gana Mana plays out – stirring, yet disarming. All too often, the frames and the score knit into each other like they were conceived together in the same beautiful mind. And that beautiful mind, even with its scars, shines bright at anyone who cares to look into the window to its world.

Overall, Rangoon is a visually enchanting film that leaves one high and dry. The fact that we expect a lot from a filmmaker of Vishal Bhardwaj’s pedigree doesn’t help the movie’s cause either. Had Rangoon being made by a lesser filmmaker it would have passed for a decent film but coming from Bhardwaj it can best be described as an average film.

Definitely not one of Vishal Bhardwaj’s best work, but this one needs to be viewed solely for Kangana’s ‘Jaanbaaz’ act that wins over your hearts.

Had the film been snappier, shorter, it would have been more impactful. If you dig Vishal Bhardwaj’s brand of cinema, a one-time watch wouldn’t hurt much.

The film is long and that’s a major drawback. This one sure needed more finesse not only in the execution but also in the way it is written.

Bhardwaj must be appreciated for jettisoning the dark cinema he has patronized for 15 long years but it will need a lot more—like far better material and far superior associates at concept and creation levels—to connect with smart mainstream audiences that endorse everything from a “3 Idiots” and a “M.S. Dhoni” to a “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani” and a “Wanted.” I am repeating the oft-repeated conviction of mine that a mainstream talent can easily make great offbeat cinema but the reverse has yet to be proved true. And this a truism whose proof is written in golden letters across decades of great Indian cinema.