JOIN USVikas Bahl has crafted a beautifully nuanced film, steering away from the customary to offer a refreshing cinematic experience.
Coy and overprotected since childhood, Rani (Kangana), a simple middle class girl from Rajouri Garden, Delhi, leads a sheltered life, which pretty much revolves around her fiancé, home science college and family. She is overjoyed at her wedding, but destiny has other plans and at the nick of time, her fiancé dumps her.
The wedding is called off but instead of sinking in sorrow, still devastated though, she decides to go alone on her pre-booked honeymoon to Paris.
Bahl has brilliantly used travel as a metaphor for self-discovery.
Rani takes off on her journey and is soon lost in a new world; she gets mugged, gets kissed for the first time and meets the wild single mother Vijayalakshmi (Lisa Haydon) in Paris, who teaches her how to have a good time. In Amsterdam, she is hesitant to share a room with three men, but a rewarding friendship blossoms between her and her roommates.
What’s great about the film is the simple moments, especially the flashback scene, when she recollects her chauvinistic fiancé (Rajkummar Rao) telling her she can’t drive for life, and then Rani feels liberated while driving a car alone in Amsterdam. Or the scene when she tells her roommate in Amsterdam that she too wants to do something in life and he asks, ‘Whose stopping you from doing so?’
The screenplay is skillfully etched to show Rani’s transition from a girl with low self-esteem, caught in the net of patriarchy to a young empowered woman ready to take on the world.
Kangana has done a fabulous job proving her finesse as an actor, be it her body language, expressions or impressive dialogue delivery. Rani’s role fits Kangana like a glove and her comic timing is first-class, if not to die for.
Amit Trivedi’s music doesn’t disappoint, tracks like London Thumakada and
O Gujaria add to the mood of the film.
Queen is a must-see.
Queen
Hindi (U/A) ****
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Lisa Haydon
Director: Vikas Bahl