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Ranneeti Review: Jimmy Shergill-Lara Dutta show is bingeworthy despite a few shortcomings
Ranneeti - Balakot and Beyond, directed by Santosh Singh and starring Jimmy Shergill, Lara Dutta and others, exclusively streams on JioCinema now. Read our detailed review here.
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Ranneeti is the story of an ex-RAW agent who plans an airstrike in Balakot as retaliation
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Ranneeti now streams on JioCinema
Name: Ranneeti - Balakot and Beyond
Director: Santosh Singh
Cast: Jimmy Shergill, Lara Dutta, Ashish Vidyarthi, Ashutosh Rana
Writers: Ramiz Ilham Khan, Maitrey Bajpai, Sanjay Chopra, Sudeep Nigam, Aniruddha Guha
Rating: 3/5
Where To Watch: JioCinema
Ranneeti - Balakot and Beyond, directed by Santosh Singh and starring Jimmy Shergill, Lara Dutta and others, revolves around an ex-Raw agent who plans a retaliation to the Pulwama Attacks on India. The strategies to fight the Pakistani forces also brings him steps closer to finding out the traitor who cost him his 8 year old mission in Serbia.
Plot:
Kashyap Sinha (Jimmy Shergill) is an Ex-RAW agent, who after a failed mission in Serbia 8 years ago, was transferred to the Ministry of Defence to review movie scripts as a punishment posting. Gurtek Sodhi (Suneel Sinha), who has been a part of RAW for over 20 years, informs Sinha about the capturing of Hammad Wadera (Mohammad Sarwar Mir), a terrorist closely involved with ISI and Jaish, whom he had encountered in his Serbia mission. He further shares that the arrest of Wadera has been kept underwraps and severe action could be taken against him for interrogating Wadera later, since it goes against the security protocols.
Sinha, well aware of the repurcussions, interrogates Wadera in Tihar Jail to find out about the person who betrayed the Indian intelligence, and informed him about their mission. While Wadera doesn't share about the one who informed him about their mission, he shares that a big attack is being planned on India. Sinha informs the National Security Adivisor of India, Mr Madhusudan Dutta (Ashish Vidyarthi) about an attack that is being planned by terror groups like Jaish and ISI.
Dutta asks him about his sources and Sinha has no option but to say that the intel was given by Wadera himself. Dutta loses his cool on knowing that he interrogated Wadera, and asks him to send his resignation the very next day. Next day, before Sinha could even send his resignation letter, an attack on Pulwama is carried out.
The story that follows, shows how India retaliates with a successful Balakot Air Strike, and what happens after that. In their 'ranneeti' (strategy) of taking down Pakistani forces, will Sinha be able to find out the betrayer who cost him his 8 year old mission? Watch the show to find out.
What works for Ranneeti - Balakot and Beyond:
Ranneeti is fast-paced, engaging and elaborate. It seamlessly blends fact with fiction to create a 9 episode series that manages to not just entertain but most importantly also connect. The drama completely sucks you in and keeps you on the edge through its course. The show has been mounted lavishly and the vision is for the viewers to see. The screenplay is tight and the story never loses its focus. The camera work is impeccable. There are several chase and action scenes (watch out for the elaborate chase and action scene in episode 8, featuring Satyajeet Dubey and Elnaaz Norouzi) which are shot with such precision that they completely immerse you into their world.
What doesn't work for Ranneeti - Balakot and Beyond:
Ranneeti has several plot conveniences which bog it down. A show like Ranneeti has very little margin for error because it is inspired by true events and something that is added only for dramatic effect, makes it less believable, overall. The filminess takes away from its taut, raw and rustic feel. The visual effects at instances are jarring, especially in the aerial-action scenes and the bombing scenes. Most of the non-Indian characters are stereotypically written. There are several dialogues and scenes that are forced into the narrative and they stick out like a sore thumb. A few scenes are unnecessarily long and tedious, and trimming could really have helped.
While this has nothing to do with the quality of the show, the fact that it is the third Hindi content of the year after Fighter and Article 370 to revolve around the Pulwama Attacks, the Balakot Airstrike, and the Kashmir issue in general, is a cause of worry.
Watch the Ranneeti Trailer
Performances in Ranneeti - Balakot and Beyond
Jimmy Shergill as Kashyap Sinha is remarkable. He essays his role to perfection and proves why he is among the greatest we have.
Lara Dutta as news presenter Manisha Bhardwaj is a breath of fresh air. She has an infectious energy onscreen.
Ashish Vidyarthi as Mr. Madhusudan Dutta is excellent. His presence gives the show the credibility that it requires.
Ashutosh Rana as Raqib Hamid Askani from ISI is lethal. There are very few actors who can play dark characters with the precision with which he plays them.
Prasanna Venkatesan as Wing Commander Abhimanyu Vardhan oozes confidence.
Satyajeet Dubey and Elnaaz Norouzi as the two spy agents stationed in Pakistan do their jobs, exceptionally.
Other supporting actors in the show perform well. Some of them are let down by poor writing.
Final Verdict of Ranneeti - Balakot and Beyond
Ranneeti is racy, engaging and elaborate but the convenient plot doesn't really let it soar.
Regardless, it works well as a reasonably engrossing, bingeworthy show for espionage lovers.
You can now stream Ranneeti on JioCinema.
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