BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

MartinHafer "Rann" is one of the best Indian films I've ever seen. And, while I have seen far fewer films than most Indians, I still have seen many films from this film making power house.The story is set in India but it could just as soon be set anywhere else. It's a film about the news media and how they've slowly become either banal (with news stories which are crap) or outright lies. The film is set at a CNN or Fox News type of media empire run by Vijay Malik (Amitabh Bachchan). While his India 24/7 Network prides itself in presenting real news, it's also suffering because of this. A newer, glitzier media giant has emerged...Headlines 24. Headlines 24 isn't afraid to wallow in the mud and deliver crap to its viewers...and the people are eating it up. In desperation, Vijay brings his brilliant son Jay back from America to help him run India 24/7...not realizing his son is as completely amoral as the boss at Headlines 24. Jay sees his network slowly collapsing and makes a fateful choice--to throw his lot in with the sleaziest and most evil politician and create news. To solve the mystery of a recent terror bombing, Jay concocts news--implicating the evil politician's rival and setting himself up to become the next Prime Minister. Into this horrible and corrupt mess comes an incredibly idealistic reporter, Purab (Riteish Deshmukh). What is one small man against two media empires and a politician who makes Darth Vader seem like a pussy cat?!This movie has everything going for it. The script is taut and exciting and after the film was over, I felt drained. Many times I felt myself gasping or on the verge of tears near the end...it was THAT powerful. It also helped to have some amazing acting. Everyone was great but Bachchan really outdid himself during the monologue near the end of the film. The direction was amazing. And, the music was very tense and exciting--and among the best I've heard. Unlike a typical sort of Bollywood film, there are no song and dance numbers (this would have severely hampered the movie) but a couple well chosen nice musical interludes really worked well. Overall, a terrific film with nothing to complain about...nothing. And, unlike most films, it has a universality that makes it a great bet for anyone no matter where they live. A must-see.

Sharat Chandra The news is that old RGV is back on track.I was hoping for RGV to hit form at least in RANN after few craps like Contract, Aag and Agyaath. And guess what, He actually hit form in this movie. Trailers were promising and thats what took me to the theater. In the end I was really touched by this masterpiece which really went unnoticed. This was definitely one of the best works of RGV since Sarkar.The movie rightly exposes internal politics of the media and how the news are created instead of reporting the actual news. No wonder why the electronic media reviewers like Rajiv Masand, Anupama bashed the movie saying "Ill researched"!!!! Coming to the performance, Everybody from Rajpal Yadav to BigB has done justice to the character but Sorry BigB its Sudeep who steals the show with his terrific performance. Pros.. Almost everything..Cons Nothing really...Verdict: Get your copy of DVD right now

kunalkhandwala "Government, businessmen and politicians are responsible for the stability of the country, thereby encouraging development but to the common man, how are they accountable for their duties? For this very reason, Media was born". Rann deals with the misuse of media's power that reaches out to millions with the truth. This high voltage, no nonsense thrilling drama that captivates your mind and engages you into its unpredictable screenplay has Ram Gopal Verma written all over it and it is indeed among his finest films. Rann is technically brilliant in every aspect. The subject is serious and seldom will you find a light moment and when the story demands it, Ramu enters the realm with all his might. Not a single song for diversion, not a single heroine dancing around, not a moment to edit, not a single mundane dialogue and not a stone unturned. This is cinema in its finest story telling form.Vijay Harshvardhan Malik (Amitabh Bachchan) is the Godfather of India's news media. Righteous and truth seeking in his approach, Malik always favors the truth over TRP ratings and sensationalism. His son, Jai (Sudeep) wants the company to prosper by catering to the viewers' choices while supporting his father's integrity. Naveen (Rajat Kapoor), brother-in- law to Jai, introduces Jai to Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal), the cunning politician who will cross all limits to gain his political mileage and together, they convince Jai to create news to gain a tremendous jump in the channel's viewership. Purab Shastri (Ritesh Deshmukh), the new comer in the channel is a devotee of Vijay Malik and as the sinister plot unfolds before him, politics and media unleash true mayhem. In all this, Amrish Kakkar (Mohnish Behl) stands to gain advantage out of his competitive positioning and his shrewdness. Rann moves at a reckless pace with a riveting narrative and explosive dialogue from its ensemble starcast. In terms of its distinct musical score, Sikkon Ki Bhookh, Gali Gali Mein Shor & Jana Gana Rann are very pertinent tracks to the movie's theme and will take repeated listening to catch the essence of the lyrics. Credit for a phenomenal screenplay goes to RGV and for optimizing the potential of such a strong cast of actors. Amitabh Bachchan is outstanding as the restrained and truthful media baron. His finest moment is towards the end when he comes in front of the nation, unravelling his channel's misuse. Paresh Rawal as Mohan Pandey is evil yet his confidence in his techniques is appalling. The smoothness with which he misleads the public in his speeches deserves some chuckles. Rajat Kapoor impressively plays the over ambitious businessman, Ritesh Deshmukh portrays the right amount of composure for his character while walking straight on RGV's guided path while Mohnish Behl deserves an applause for such an awesome come back. He is a capable actor and one wonders why his on screen shrewdness went unnoticed for so long. Gul Panag and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi are worthy in their roles while Rajpal Yadav renders some comic relief without digressing from the movie's theme. But RGV is the true hero of the Rann. With slick presentation, brevity, brilliant screenplay aiding the seamless narration and a no-nonsense, to-the-point approach in every scene, he conveys the movie's message in a thriller like socio-drama. Sikkon Ki Bhookh, Gali Gali Mein Shor & Jana Gana Rann are very pertinent tracks to the movie's theme and will take repeated listening to catch the essence of the lyrics. Rann is uplifting, enlightening, meaningful, intense and worthy of a large combo deal at the cinemas. 8.99 on a scale of 1-10.

DesiBaba I must admit the movie fell short of my very high expectation. Overall, the movie does not bring anything new to the table. It is quite predictable all the way through. I think I am generous in giving it 6/10; without RGV/Amitabh, I would have probably rated it 4/10. But sometimes wine tastes better when its has top winery label. There have been several movies that capture similar nexus between the print media and politics/industry. Here it is the news networks, instead of circulation, its all about TRPs and ad revenues. Following are the top reasons the movie did not work as well as it could have, at least from my perspective...#1: In acting terms, Amitabh, while effective, appears quite one dimensional, largely due to the way his character has been scripted. The new guy (who plays Jai) was OK in some scenes but below average in many others, no consistency in performance. Paresh Rawal is same as always, seems stale. Neetu Chandra is largely wasted. Mohnish Behl seems like he is overacting, his character is somewhat over the top. Rajat Kapoor is only okay, which is unusual for him. Ritesh Deshmukh is the only one who comes out as a stand-out performer in the movie.#2: Whats up with the camera work when Purab is searching through Khanna's apartment? Or when when Vijay is on-air with his final appearance on his show. Different is not always better, too much experimentation with camera work, I thought.#3: Minor annoyances, such as Purab chasing Jai right behind his car and not covering his face up with the helmet cover or that they never show what evidence they had against Jai/Pandey/Naveen, the CD with the evidence is given to Amrish, who uses it to extort Rs. 500CR out of Pandey, but this evidence is never shown to us. Did they have something concrete or was it all circumstantial? #4: The industrialists did not look anything like someone who would be #1 industrialist by taking over his brother (I am assuming it was meant to be someone like Anil Ambani?) He is always alone, no assistants or anything. Pandey is also almost always by himself with 1 or 2 enforcers around him, never in a setting as an opposition party leader with other politicians.