Mission Raniganj Review {3.5/5} & Review Rating
MISSION RANIGANJ is the story of a man trying to rescue miners against all odds. The year is 1989. Jaswant Singh Gill (Akshay Kumar) is a rescue officer and is based in Raniganj, West Bengal. On November 11, hundreds of miners descend into the mine of Mahabir Coillery at night. An underground blast goes wrong and water starts gushing with powerful force. The miners attempt to escape. Several of them safely make it to the ground. But a group of 65 miners get stuck. The next morning, Jaswant volunteers to rescue the miners. D Sen (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), who is a local contact, however, attempts to take over the rescue operation. He comes up with a plan and tries to save the miners. However, his plan fails. On the other hand, Jaswant finds out the highest point in the underground mine. He then drills a hole at that very place and attempts to establish contact. The miners, too, realize that they need to be at the highest point for better chances of rescue. With great difficulty, they try to reach there but get stuck due to a stoppage wall between them and the highest point. Meanwhile, time is running fast and Jaswant needs to rescue them before they drown or die by inhaling a poisonous gas present in the mine. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Deepak Kingrani’s story (story idea by Poonam Gill), inspired by a true incident, is intriguing. Vipul K Rawal’s screenplay is engaging. The writer has peppered the narrative with dramatic and tense moments. Deepak Kingrani’s dialogues are okay. A film like this should have had more powerful dialogues.
Tinu Suresh Desai’s direction is superb. At 138 minutes, he has kept the duration in check. He has packed in a lot and also kept things simple for most parts. The obstacles that Jaswant encounters from locating the miners to establishing contact to manoeuvring politics make for a great watch. Some scenes that stand out are Jaswant offering water to a lady in distress, Jaswant convincing the railway officer to slow down the speed of the trains, the intermission, Jaswant establishing contact with the miners, Jaswant promising O P Dayal (Shishir Sharma) that he’ll have tea with him next day etc. The finale is nail-biting.
On the flipside, the first half is a bit weak and doesn’t create the desired impact. The VFX is poor. Lastly, there are cinematic liberties in the finale which take away the realism.
Speaking of performances, Akshay Kumar’s beard looks a bit unreal. But his performance packs a punch as expected. One can’t help but root for him in this mission. Parineeti Chopra (Nirdosh) puts up a nice act but her role seems forced. Kumud Mishra (R K Ujjwal) is fine but showing him smoking in all scenes gets too much after a point. Dibyendu Bhattacharya is dependable. The same goes for Pavan Malhotra (Bindal) and Virendra Saxena (Tapan Ghosh). Rajesh Sharma (Govardhan Roy) is over the top. From the miners, Ravi Kishan (Bhola) and Jameel Khan (Pasu) leave a mark followed by Sudhir Pandey (Behra), Varun Badola (Shaligram), Mukesh Bhatt (Murli), Bachan Pachehra (Noor; dog-lover) and Omkar Das Manikpuri (Bishu). Shishir Sharma (O P Dayal) is fair. Rajit Kapur and Ananth Narayan Mahadevan are hardly there.
Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue | Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar
The songs are disappointing. ‘Jalsa 2.0’ is well-shot while ‘Jeetenge’ and ‘Keemti’ fail to register. Sandeep Shirodkar’s background score has a commercial vibe.
Aseem Mishra’s cinematography is appropriate. Sheetal Iqbal Sharma’s costumes are realistic. Amrish Patange and Dayanidhi Patturajan’s production design is detailed and well-researched. VFX is very bad. Parvez Shaikh’s action is fair. Aarif Sheikh’s editing is just right.
On the whole, MISSION RANIGANJ makes an impact due to the subject, clap worthy moments in the second half, nail-biting moments and Akshay Kumar’s performance. At the box office, the negligible buzz can affect its prospects and it will need a strong word of mouth to make the desired impact.
