Lanka Review

Filmmakers have been burnt badly while trying to adapt Ramayana into modern times. The best example being of Mani Ratnam, whose magnum opus, Raavan proved to be quite a disaster. While Raavan focused on the main story of Ramayana i.e. Ram vs Raavan, Lanka focuses on the story of Vibhishan and Raavan. The film is about the falling out of two good friends over a girl. One of them is on the right side and the other on the wrong. Who will prevail in this modern day adaption of the epic?

Jaswant Sisodiya (Manoj Bajpai) is like an uncrowned king of a village in Uttar Pradesh. He does what he wants and when he wants. He has a right hand man (Arjan Bajwa) and he is the only for whom he has some sort of affection. A female doctor in the village, Anshu (Tia Bajpai), is his keep and every night he goes to her drunk and forces himself on her. She is trapped by him and wants to get out.

Arjan Bajwa feels sorry for her and wants to help her get out. However, he also loves Jaswant a lot who is like an older brother to him. Can he commit the ultimate betrayal for the sake of good? Can he help Anshu escape the clutches of Jaswant and start her life again?

Lanka has all the elements to make an interest film; love, lust and betrayal. However, the final product is a big letdown. The great concept has failed to transform into a good film. Lanka has too many flaws in the script. The presentation and the character development are good but if the story has gaping holes the rest does not matter much.

The biggest flaw with the writing is that they have failed in creating many good confrontational scenes. Only a few scenes in the film stand out, but the rest are not at all effective. There are too many loopholes and the climax is clichéd. The topic of the film is such that the writers could have written some gutsy scenes. However, they have backed out from writing anything outrageous and have followed a beaten down path.

The dialogues are good in the film. The lack of imagination by the writers is clear in the fact that this story is based in Uttar Pradesh. There are so many films that base such stories in Uttar Pradesh. Are there no other states in the country or are all those states crime free? Another drawback is the horrendous pace. The story just does not move forward. One can' t wait for the end.

The direction by Maqbool Khan is decent. He manages to establish all the characters really well. However, he lets go of this advantage by taking too many cinematic liberties. Some issues depicted in the film seem illogical. Another plus for the director is his handling of all the characters. The main leads do a good job under his guidance. Some scenes also shine through and display his skills really well. However, Maqbool' s should have paid more attention to screenplay and should have speeded it up by removing unnecessary scenes.

Manoj Bajpai proves to be as solid as ever. Hopefully, he can make a comeback in the film industry and live up to the potential that he had once shown. Tia Bajpai is also good and proves that she is not just a pretty face. Arjan Bajpai gives one of his best performances. He might be praying that people forget his performance in Tell Me O Khuda after this. The rest of the cast is also solid.

The cinematography is good but there is not much scope for it in a film like this. The editing is also decent. The editor did not have much scope to speed up the pace of Lanka as it was flawed in the screenplay itself. The music is good but sadly, it has not been promoted and not many know about any of the songs. The production value is decent.

With Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl taking up all the space in most newspapers, nobody even knew about the release of the film. This will severely hamper the prospects of this film. Lanka also does not have a star that might bring in some crowds. It will struggle to make a profit. It will prove to be a loss making venture for the producer.

Rating: *1/2

Verdict: The good performances in Lanka are wasted because of the poor screenplay. The BQ (Bore Quotient) of the film is too much to handle.

Reviewed by: Harshal Anand

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