So Complicated, Yet So Simple! A Twisted Love Triangle With More Than Three Angles

Star Cast: Dhanush, Sara Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ashish Verma

Director: Aanand L Rai

What’s Good: It’s a twisted love triangle with its edge so sharp that it busts all the perceptions of “What romance should be?” & the urge of finding someone as hopeless as romantic as Dhanush

What’s Bad: It makes you cry but fails to make toh laugh apart from a couple of funny sequences

Loo Break: Definitely, not during the songs!

Watch or Not?: This will test your patience at times but trust me, it’s all for the better!

Available On: Disney+ Hotstar

Runtime: 138 minutes

Language: Hindi

User Rating:

Okay, so, before we get into the story let me be as clear as possible, I won’t be able to explain it fully keeping the twist & thrills intact. So, whatever I write about the story, take that as just a fraction of what’s in the film. The story revolves around Rinku (Sara Ali Khan) who is madly in love with her magician boyfriend Sajjad Ali (Akshay Kumar). Due to the obvious cast-clash, Rinku’s toxic family does her ‘Jabariya Shaadi’ (forced marriage) by kidnapping a groom for her named Vishu (Dhanush).

Vishu, a polite & obedient doctor, before landing in this situation was all set to raid his girlfriend’s wedding to make a heroic entry making it memorable for them. But, fate brings Vishu & Rinku together who ultimately fall for each other. This leads to a love triangle between Vishu, Rinku & Sajjad (I’m making it sound simple to not spoil anything, trust me it’s not) and it’s a lot more than which guy would get the girl in the end. (Phew! I managed to tell the crux without revealing anything).

Atrangi Re Movie Review: Script Analysis

Think of a love triangle, now imagine all the permutations-combinations you can think of and what could happen in the lives of those three people to get till a result, Himanshu Sharma’s story of Atrangi Re won’t fit even in a single aspect of whatever you just predicted. The script majorly highlights PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) backed by a tormenting misery of a certain character in the film. It falls in the ‘so complicated yet so simple’ category of stories as the twist, which might get monotonous & unconvincing for a few as the film progresses, won’t let anyone leave the cinema hall with a half-hearted viewpoint.

The brilliance of Sharma’s script is that it doesn’t rely much on ‘the twist’ as it keeps building to one soul-fatiguing climax just before it makes you smile before leaving. The entire film is just a rush of emotions ranging from “oh, f*ck that’s so heartbreaking” to “what is even happening on-screen?” and trust me Sharma & Aanand L Rai manage to put all the pieces back together to wrap up this intricating piece of art.

Does it ever fall short? Yes! Where? Comedy! Given the track record of what extent Rai & Sharma (Tanu Weds Manu & Returns, first half of Zero) could go to tickle your funny bone, this is nowhere near it. I also get how much the story is supposed to rely upon has to rely on drama, but there was an incredible amount of scope.

Supremely promising cinematographer Pankaj Kumar (Haider, Tumbbad, and upcoming – Brahmastra) adds his magical fresh touch enhancing the look & feel of the film. Rai and Sharma complete their trusted trio with editor Hemal Kothari, who had an extremely complicated job this time in stitching together a convoluted screenplay without many bumps.

Atrangi Re Movie Review: Star Performance

Dhanush and Sara Ali Khan remain to be the soul, heart of the film with AR Rahman’s music (more on that below) acting as blood to keep them alive and pumping. Dhanush just owns every frame he’s injecting pure conviction in every scene. There’s a beautifully penned scene in which he speaks in Tamil, without any subtitles but even if you don’t know the language, you’ll still get what he’s trying to say & that’s Dhanush for you.

Despite Dhanush’s exceptional presence, it’s Sara Ali Khan’s visible efforts that cements the hope of how better she could get with a proper script in hand. It wasn’t just the effortless physical attributes of Rinku that she becomes adept at, but also the modulation of her accent that she skillfully controls.

Amid all the acting and drama, Akshay Kumar, unfortunately, remains to be the weakest link of all three. It’s not because his character doesn’t comparatively have equal depth, it’s just too routine stuff from someone who himself has set the standards too high. Ashish Verma, playing the role of Dhanush’s friend, is wasted and it’s more annoying because we’ve seen the kind of talent he possesses to handle comedy which remains to be unused here.

Atrangi Re Movie Review: Direction, Music

Aanand L Rai takes the most simple route to reach an extremely complicated destination as far as the storytelling is concerned. He makes sure to keep the intrigue alive most of the time building things on the go while moving towards the finish point. He always tries to keep a proper balance between humour & comedy but this one remains to be his most unique attempt at narrating a story.

Rai creates history by ending the movie with “A film by AR Rahman” and thankfully so because the songs bring everything together. Rait Zara Si & Tumhein Mohabat Hai will be on my playlist forever. Following Rahman’s style, the songs aren’t mere melodies but act as extended dialogues to the narrative.

Atrangi Re Movie Review: The Last Word

All said and done, Atrangi Re is way way more than being your routine love triangle. A very welcoming change for Bollywood to learn how you can tell an age-old story in so many different ways.

Three and a half stars!

Atrangi Re Trailer

Atrangi Re releases on 24th December, 2021.

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