Review : Lantrani : ‘Tall Tales’ from Indian Heartlands!
There has been anthologies which depicted human emotions, mainly love related. But a new anthology film Lantrani deals with national issues in a subtle ways. Lantrani, meaning Tall Tales, is a combination three stories which look apart but have a commonality of human emotions and a message at the end. Importantly the movie’s writing is not preachy and underlines the issues prevalent in the heartlands of India. Rural area’s issues are usually not addressed or ignored by the government and the society at large. Lantrani uses the platform to spread awareness around it and does it with a dose of good humour.
‘Hud Hud Dabangg’ is the first story of the lot which revolves around a policeman and a prisoner. After spending almost half his life on duty, a policeman (Johnny Lever) is assigned a duty to escort a prisoner (Jisshu Sengupta) to the court. The policeman is elated because for the first time he is provided with a gun and a bullet for the task. But things go awry during the travel which forms the crux of the narration. Kaushik Ganguly has directed this peace beautifully. Written by Durgesh Singh, the story is relatable. Johnnie Lever proves that he is an ‘actor’ and not only a comedian. Jisshu Sengupta imparts a solid performance.
The second story of this anthology is ‘Dharna Mana Hai’. The story revolves around the subject of remote control politics. A woman (Nimisha Sajayan) gets selected as a Sarpanch. She is the first schedule caste and the only woman to have adorned that chair. But in actuality despite being a head of the village, she doesn’t have any powers to do anything on her own. Her husband (Jitendra Kumar) decides to hold an ‘Dharna’ outside DDO office. What happens next and in between forms the crux of the story. Another well written piece by Durgesh Singh, ‘Dharna Mana Hai’ is directed by Gurvinder Singh. Lead pair Jitendra Kumar and Nimisha Sajayan have nailed the performances. Importantly they have enacted scenes only through expressions and that’s laudable.
The third and the last story is ‘Sanitized Samachar’ which revisits the corona virus era. The film narrates the story of a defunct news channel bouncing back after they find a sponsor during the covid times. The said channel is about to close down due to cash crunch and during the Corona period their popular anchor gets quarantined. But a hand sanitizer by the name ‘Covinaash’ comes to their rescue which saves their sinking boat. Directed by Bhaskar Hazarika, the film underlines the dirty tactics from some of the news agencies. The writing is good and people can relate to it as it showcases the truth behind the fake news and manipulated media. Overall the film is educative as well as entertaining.
Lantrani is a well made anthology which makes you think about the prevalent situation in the country.
Rating : ***1/2