She is a simple, innocent
bride-to-be, dressed in a loose, beige hand knit cardigan and churidar kurta, getting
her mehendi done. Her thoughts during her mehendi ceremony are also simple……”Mummy ne saree nahin pehni…yeh Chintu kahaan
hai,phone pe meri photo lena chahiye,Facebook ke liye…parson meri first night
hai…dar lag raha hai…”She is, of course, a virgin.
Her fiancé has been calling
her urgently to meet her at a coffee shop. She walks up to his table, coy and
demure and dainty and starts talking, her words as rapid and simple as her
thoughts….’aap wait nahin kar sakte ..”He
cuts her abruptly and tells her he can’t marry her. She looks blank and dumbfounded.
Then there is disbelief. Then, denial. As the truth hits home, tears start
welling up, her voice starts trembling. Over the years, he has moved on from being
a small town man to a man of the world, ever since he has been to London. ”Hamara status match nahin hota…. we will
be friends ya…”he says casually. She runs out, weeping and lost. Runs back again,
lost for words. All she can think of is how it may give her father a heart
attack. That he should speak to her parents. Back home, she locks herself in
her room for a night.
In the morning she announces
she wants to go on her honeymoon alone. After all, her tickets are booked for
Paris.
In his second film after
Chillar Party, the director, Vikas Bahl has his story and script, so well
centered around the protagonist, Rani ,that right from scene one, he has the
audience rooting for her, engaging with her, crying with her, laughing with her
at her silly Santa Banta jokes and even applauding her when she does the heroic
thing at the right moment.
In some ways, reminiscent of
English Vinglish and a helpless Sridevi in Paris, Queen takes Rani on a trip to
Paris and Amsterdam, forces her to live by herself and come on her own. Like
she says at one point in a drunken state (the best drunken performance on
screen for a long time) to her new,hot and bold friend, Vijaylaxmi,”sab kuch akele kar rahi hoon, akee gunde se
fight kar rahi hoon, akele Eiffel tower dekh rah hoon…” She has just saved
herself from being mugged in a dark alley, by holding on to her bag, struggling
against a big guy, rolling over with her bag, straddling it with her thighs but
simply not letting go. The heroic deed, done most unheroically, has the
audience clapping. Especially when she tells her Vijaylaxmi,”ab woh kabhi Dilliwaalon se panga nahin
lega.”The lines may play to the gallery but they work like a charm.
Kangana has many, many clap
worthy moments throughout. Watch how she stands in drunken pride as she says,”maine kabhi koi galat kaam nahin kiya,”
or when she innocently says,”main Vijay
se zyada good looking hoon…itna life kharab ho gaya..”Soon she moves from self-pity
to determination. In a beautifully shot close up, we see the look of wild
defiance in her yes as opens up her simple braid and lets loose on the dance
floor.
Another scene stealing moment
comes when the camera is placed strategically in front of her and a “cute’
French restaurant owner challenges her if Indians kiss better than the French,
Her facial acrobatics are hilarious as she mentally braces herself for her
first kiss.
From time to time you are
reminded she is a virgin having the best time on her ‘honeymoon’. The way she
thinks aloud, ’meri bag mein condom hai’
(because Vijaylaxmi has put some in her bag), the way she picks up sex toys at
a shop as gifts for her family without realising what they are, the way she
jumps up in fright in her hotel room on her first night there, at the sounds of
loud lovemaking from the next room, the way she wears her bra underneath the
covers in the presence of a man; would otherwise have appeared like going
overboard if not for Kangana’s smooth and easy performance.
Rajkummar Rao makes an impact
despite very little screen time. Lisa Haydon as the hot Vijay Laxmi suits the
part.
Every bit of fabulous
performance from all comes from the writing alone. Kangana, incidentally is
credited for additional dialogue.
Queen marks a significant
turning point in women centric films in its honest and entertaining treatment.
It is all about how Rani is Kangana sans
makeup and Kangana is Rani.
If Shahrukh is King Khan,
Kangana is Queen Ranaut.
More power to ‘her’ cinema.
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