Ramba Radha Rani (2004) is a very important film, a
powerful examination of the fine balance between providing a safe haven
for immigrants and providing national security, and the terrible price
paid by an innocent woman trapped between two nations. When your life
and love are on the line, the film asks, who can you really rely on? A
trio of spunky kung fu starlets, of course.
Only kidding, of course. Ramba Radha Rani isn’t a powerful examination of anything. It’s a chaotic, but very enthusiastic, mess. There is a main plot somewhere in the movie, but the film itself can’t be bothered to pay attention, so instead we’re treated to a random assortment of guest stars and “comedy” bits and fighting and dream sequences and music and explosions and BLUE MEANIES!!!!
Our heroines are Ramba (Rambha), Radha (Jyothika), and Rani (Laila). They are aspiring singers with very rich parents, and they do not want to get married. Ramba and Radha are pretty much interchangeable, the only distinguishing feature being that Radha is played by Jyothika, and I really like Jyothika. Rani has more of a distinct personality - she’s the dumb one! She also has an internet boyfriend named Akash, who never actually does anything.
The girls have a friend named Asha (and I have no idea who plays Asha, because the IMDB is pretending that this movie doesn’t exist.) Asha is very sad; she comes from an unnamed repressive Muslim country which is pretty transparently supposed to be Pakistan, and she is in love with an Indian man. Naturally, her country is so repressive that she is forced to flee to India (wearing a burka) and is promptly arrested for using a fake passport.
The Indian authorities seem to believe that anyone using a fake passport must be a terrorist, and even if this particular person using a fake passport is not a terrorist, if they let her stay in the country, that means they are obligated to throw the borders wide open. Asha is going to be sent back to her unnamed country, where she will be put to death, unless her three perky friends can do something about it. Unfortunately, no lawyer in the country will take the case, since Asha was using a fake passport, which is apparently an unforgivable sin.
The unnamed country is not willing to leave matters to chance, however, so they hire the film’s villain to make sure Asha is sent back. I don’t think the villain is ever actually named in the movie, so I will just call him Budget Mogambo. Budget Mogambo doesn’t have an island fortress, or a snazzy uniform, or an acid pool, or the services of Fu Manchu. Budget Mogambo has a half-dozen henchmen and a plastic globe, which he uses to kill. Seriously. He throws it at people; I don’t know why it doesn’t break, or bounce off, but it is a lethal weapon.
Anyway, to make a short story even shorter, the girls appeal to the wonderful nature of the Indian heart with a hunger strike, Budget Mogambo captures Asha so he can finish her off himself, and there’s a big fight. The end.
The main plot only takes up a half hour of the film, at most. The movie fills out its running time with an interminable subplot about private detective Shankar (played by Vivek, who is apparently the King of Comedy) plotting to marry Bollywood idol Mumtaz. This subplot mainly serves as an excuse for a never-ending stream of unfunny fat jokes directed at his overweight assistant.
Ramba Radha Ranihas one more major subplot, about the girls accidentally running over a truck driver and hiding the body. All this plot does is show us that the girls are, in fact, horrible people. And then we have dream sequences and random fights and a few dance numbers and then it all stops.
Let me be clear. This is not a good movie. It’s not an average movie. It’s not even a mediocre movie. This is a very bad movie. On a technical level, it is easily the worst Bollywood movie I’ve seen (though it doesn’t inspire the same hatred for humanity that Boom or Anjaam do.) While the main plot has a certain campy charm, the film is a jumbled mess, the acting is bad, the music is unremarkable, the choreography is almost universally awful, and the (Matrix inspired) fight choreography is bad even by Bollywood standards.
Having said all that, I am of two minds about Ramba Radha Rani. The film is filled with a reckless joy that lends the whole enterprise a kind of campy charm, and the main plot is potentially very entertaining. On the other hand, campy charm is not really hard to come by, and there are plenty of campy charming films that don’t involve comic relief which makes me long for the subtle wit of Johny Lever. It says something about a movie when the high point is the cameo appearance by Govinda.
Only kidding, of course. Ramba Radha Rani isn’t a powerful examination of anything. It’s a chaotic, but very enthusiastic, mess. There is a main plot somewhere in the movie, but the film itself can’t be bothered to pay attention, so instead we’re treated to a random assortment of guest stars and “comedy” bits and fighting and dream sequences and music and explosions and BLUE MEANIES!!!!
Our heroines are Ramba (Rambha), Radha (Jyothika), and Rani (Laila). They are aspiring singers with very rich parents, and they do not want to get married. Ramba and Radha are pretty much interchangeable, the only distinguishing feature being that Radha is played by Jyothika, and I really like Jyothika. Rani has more of a distinct personality - she’s the dumb one! She also has an internet boyfriend named Akash, who never actually does anything.
The girls have a friend named Asha (and I have no idea who plays Asha, because the IMDB is pretending that this movie doesn’t exist.) Asha is very sad; she comes from an unnamed repressive Muslim country which is pretty transparently supposed to be Pakistan, and she is in love with an Indian man. Naturally, her country is so repressive that she is forced to flee to India (wearing a burka) and is promptly arrested for using a fake passport.
The Indian authorities seem to believe that anyone using a fake passport must be a terrorist, and even if this particular person using a fake passport is not a terrorist, if they let her stay in the country, that means they are obligated to throw the borders wide open. Asha is going to be sent back to her unnamed country, where she will be put to death, unless her three perky friends can do something about it. Unfortunately, no lawyer in the country will take the case, since Asha was using a fake passport, which is apparently an unforgivable sin.
The unnamed country is not willing to leave matters to chance, however, so they hire the film’s villain to make sure Asha is sent back. I don’t think the villain is ever actually named in the movie, so I will just call him Budget Mogambo. Budget Mogambo doesn’t have an island fortress, or a snazzy uniform, or an acid pool, or the services of Fu Manchu. Budget Mogambo has a half-dozen henchmen and a plastic globe, which he uses to kill. Seriously. He throws it at people; I don’t know why it doesn’t break, or bounce off, but it is a lethal weapon.
Anyway, to make a short story even shorter, the girls appeal to the wonderful nature of the Indian heart with a hunger strike, Budget Mogambo captures Asha so he can finish her off himself, and there’s a big fight. The end.
The main plot only takes up a half hour of the film, at most. The movie fills out its running time with an interminable subplot about private detective Shankar (played by Vivek, who is apparently the King of Comedy) plotting to marry Bollywood idol Mumtaz. This subplot mainly serves as an excuse for a never-ending stream of unfunny fat jokes directed at his overweight assistant.
Ramba Radha Ranihas one more major subplot, about the girls accidentally running over a truck driver and hiding the body. All this plot does is show us that the girls are, in fact, horrible people. And then we have dream sequences and random fights and a few dance numbers and then it all stops.
Let me be clear. This is not a good movie. It’s not an average movie. It’s not even a mediocre movie. This is a very bad movie. On a technical level, it is easily the worst Bollywood movie I’ve seen (though it doesn’t inspire the same hatred for humanity that Boom or Anjaam do.) While the main plot has a certain campy charm, the film is a jumbled mess, the acting is bad, the music is unremarkable, the choreography is almost universally awful, and the (Matrix inspired) fight choreography is bad even by Bollywood standards.
Having said all that, I am of two minds about Ramba Radha Rani. The film is filled with a reckless joy that lends the whole enterprise a kind of campy charm, and the main plot is potentially very entertaining. On the other hand, campy charm is not really hard to come by, and there are plenty of campy charming films that don’t involve comic relief which makes me long for the subtle wit of Johny Lever. It says something about a movie when the high point is the cameo appearance by Govinda.
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