Rangoon
- Director
- Vishal Bhardwaj
- Studio
- Viacom18 Motion PicturesNadiadwala Grandson Entertainment
- Release Date
- 23 February 2017
- Running Time
- 154 min
- Language
- Hindi
- Country
- India
- Budget
- ₹80.00 Cr
- Box Office
- ₹41.04 Cr
Review
Vishal Bhardwaj attempts to stitch together a wartime espionage thriller with period romance, but "Rangoon" emerges as a tonally fractured mess that can't decide what it wants to be. The film's premise—a glamorous actress becoming an unlikely courier for the Indian National Army during World War II—has genuine intrigue, yet Bhardwaj squanders it with bloated runtime, heavy-handed symbolism, and a narrative that lurches between jingoism and melodrama without conviction. Kangana Ranaut delivers fierce moments as Julia, channeling old-world cinema glamour, but she's let down by a character that oscillates between intelligence operative and damsel in distress. Saif Ali Khan feels oddly disconnected from the proceedings, neither charming nor complex enough to anchor the romantic subplot that derails momentum repeatedly.
The film's technical craft—Bhardwaj's hallmark cinematography and Vishal Dadlani's occasionally effective score—cannot save a story that confuses historical weight with narrative substance. The INA subplot feels tacked on, the espionage mechanics are transparently contrived, and the climax opts for bombastic patriotism over earned emotional resolution. What could have been a sharp, morally ambiguous thriller about complicity and ideology becomes a glossy, self-congratulatory period piece that mistakes scale for substance. Even veteran Saswata Chatterjee's talents are wasted in underwritten roles. Bhardwaj has made better films; this isn't one of them.
Rating: 5/1
Storyline
So picture this: it's 1943 and India's caught between fighting the British for independence while World War II is happening around them. There's this guy named Subash Chandra Bose who's leading the Indian National Army and he's basically done with Gandhi's peaceful approach—he wants to fight back with actual force. During one of these intense battles near the Burma border, a soldier named Jemadar Nawab Malik gets captured by the Japanese after a pretty brutal firefight. Meanwhile, the INA leadership is desperately trying to scrape together money to buy weapons and ammunition so they can make a real push toward Delhi.
Back in India, there's this glamorous film actress named Julia who's basically the biggest star around, performing in shows for troops and civilians. She's got her loyal right-hand man Zulfi who works as her butler and makeup artist, and her films are produced by this guy Rusi Billimoria, who used to be an action star himself before a stunt accident cost him his hand. Rusi's got a pretty good relationship with the British military commander, Major General David Harding, who shows up at one of Rusi's fancy parties.
So at this party, Harding spots this absolutely stunning gem-studded royal sword that belongs to a Maharajah, and he acts really arrogant and dismissive about it. This ticks off the Maharajah, who then decides to do something pretty bold—he wants to send this valuable sword to the INA soldiers fighting near the Burma border because they can sell it and use the money to fund their weapons and ammunition.
