Movie Review: Atrangi Re

Rating: 3 of 5

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

Director: Aanand L Rai

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’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.

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.

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.