Rangeen Review: A bold, bizarre, and brilliant midlife crisis

Rangeen Review: Story – A small-time journalist, Adarsh (Vineet Kumar Singh), is busy with his mundane life and forgets to give attention to his home. One fine day, he finds his wife Naina (Rajshree Deshpande) hooking up with a boy half their age, and the boy, Sunny (Taaruk Raina), turns out to be a gigolo. Hell breaks loose as their marriage is hit by this tragedy. But unlike many couples, this doesn't result in a family drama of sorts; this story takes a wild turn as now Adarsh wants to prove his ‘Mardangi’, so he now aspires to be a hooked,r only to find out himself in the process and what he never really attempted to do in his married life. Will they come back together? Watch the show.

Rangeen Review:

You know how the entire world is right now talking about the cookie-cutter effect, right? Yeah, exactly the thing you hear probably every actor with their art and heart in the right place. That shows and movies are all made from the same clay at this point, and are expected to serve the same purpose. List down the last 10 movies and shows, and you will exactly know what I am talking about. Amid all of this storm, when finally a product comes out from somewhere and dares to not just be different but the rare adjective to find these days, FRESH, it feels like a victory of sorts. Almost like we have been revived after being dead for ages. You want to forgive every flaw that the show/movie has because it has done the bare minimum by being different; yes, Saiyaara, you. The latest Amazon Prime Video show, Rangeen, is exactly that and more.

After every show or film I watch, I ask myself a simple question: why? Why did you like or not like what you saw? The answer is mostly that there is nothing new. So when a show finally brings something new, the avid viewer in me is happy and is probably celebrating it. Rangeen taps right into that corner of my cinephile heart. Created by Amardeep Galsin and Amit Rizvi, the Amazon Prime Video show starring Vineet Kumar Singh is a story about a man who is not man enough for the world. The fact that his name is Adarsh and he lives by his morals says a lot about him. He has a routine, discipline, and an almost boring life, which doesn't have any room for change.

So when such a guy discovers that his wife has been cheating on him with a gigolo, his world comes crashing down. Rangeen gets interestingly busy because of that. It is not looking at a man with a gun, but a man who doesn't know how to fire one, and represents a large population of this country. In a scene where two men with a gun are in a room where they must save themselves, they choose to hit people with a gun rather than figuring out how it will work, and that is what makes this show a fun ride. It dares to show you something very fresh and potent. The idea that a man will have to question his manhood and prove that he is man enough in a circumstance that is crazy to be precise, is so novel.

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Rangeen is written in beautiful layers. It is in no mood to alienate anyone involved because it has a story sketched for every corner. It is very interesting to see the same show manage to present two perspectives so beautifully. In a scene when Naina asks Adarsh if he ever thought why she had to hire a gigolo, it instantly reminds you that this show is not going to only hold her accountable. Every character here is grey, and the choices they make are so not right and that is why Rangeen becomes an indulging ride that wants its audience to be very involved. It is showing you a man who is slowly learning what he should have actually been before, so he wouldn't ever have to choose this profession, and that thought is translated well.

The drama is top-notch, and the chaos of it all is handled well. Sheeba Chadhha’s character brings a quiet balance to it when needed, and that serves as a trigger for a lot of things. So is Taaruk Raina, who is so good in his performance. A boy who is in this dark world only to bounce out of it whenever he has collected enough funds. The actor gives a very impressive performance. Vineet Kumar Singh excels as Adarsh, and this is something that you have never seen him do ever. Rajshree Deshpande is perfect as Naina and brings the much-needed energy to it. However, I did feel she deserved more screen time for the character to become even better.

However, the screenplay also lags a bit at a couple of places and even rushes by the end without giving us the time to breathe.

Rangeen Review: Final Verdict –

The fact that there is a show that is brave enough to do something different is a breeze of fresh air, and add to that a phenomenal cast, and it's almost perfect.

Rangeen is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Stay tuned to OTTplay for more on this and everything else from the world of streaming and film.