Starring: Kangana Ranaut, Vir Das, Piyush Mishra, Zakir Hussain
Directed by Sai Kabir
Rating: **
For his debut film, Sai Kabir marries the Quentin Tarantino style of cinema with that of his own mentor, Tigmanshu Dhulia, and offers a Kill Bill set in the badlands of Paan Singh Tomar. Revolver Rani does hold promise to start with: the authenticity of setting, the local lingo and rough-hewn humour and even the not-so-musical music. The combination of the earthy and the absurd, the sly wit, wacky touches like the TV presenter sutradhar lend a unique sense of ‘crude cool’. The lead character also holds promise. Alka Singh, the gangster-politician, is manic with a bluster and libido to match. In a nutshell, the kind of woman one is not particularly used to seeing on the big screen.
It’s fun to witness the role reversal, her hot pursuit of the man. Kangana, who did tread on hyper, frenzied zone in role after role in her early days, tries to put her best quirk forward in Revolver Rani as well. But, in the second half, the turnaround to motherhood and the switch from guns to soft toys feels abrupt in a way that strains credulity. The film loses its momentum alarmingly fast.
