Review : RaoRambha : A battle between war and love!

In recent times the historical movies are order of the day, especially based on and around Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj era. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has been the focal point of many movies, especially in Marathi, as it allows to showcase valour with emotions. Even #AjayDevgn played Tanhaji in a film directed by #OmRaut.

In marathi there has been quite a few movies dedicated to Shivaji Maharaj era, viz. Fatehshikst, Sher Shivraj, Pawankhind, Sarsenapati Hambirrao, Har Har Mahadev to name a few. One more movie joins the list is RaoRambha. It’s basically a love story between Shivaji Maharaj’s one of the trusted Mavla, Raoji and his fiancée Rambha. But the call of duty, despite he being given a permission to be away from the battle field for marriage, Raoji prefers war over marriage because he strongly and staunchly believes in protecting Swarajya.

Rao (Om Bhutkar) is an expert warrior from a village and Sarnobat Prataprao Gujar (Ashok Samarth) recommends his name to Shivaji Maharaj (Shantanu Moghe) to induct him in their Jalebi force. His skill of using porcupine’s quills as a weapon with accuracy allows him to earn a golden ornament from Shivaji Maharaj. He becomes one of the trusted aid of Shivaji Maharaj. Back home a beautiful lass, Rambha (Monalisa Bagal) is madly in love with him and parents of both are ready to marry off Rao and Rambha. In fact Rao’s mates tease him a lot about his affair. Sarnobat grants him leave to get married. The wedding proceedings are in full swing and something happens and Rao rushes to the battle field, without getting married. What transpires before and after that is the crux of the story.

A love story around Shivaji Maharaj era is quite rarely portrayed on screen. The thrust of the movie, though a historical, is romance. The director Anup Jagdale has tried to infuse romance with war scenes but the plot remains dangled in between. The writing (Pratap Gangawane has adapted it from a novel, Agnidivya) is good but the screenplay is bit lengthy. In fact one gets to witness two stories in a single movie. Because of this the romantic plot gets suffered. The dialogues are forceful and the music is good. Cinematography by ace cinematographer Sanjay Jadhav is outstanding. The makers should have invested more in VFX because the existing one is not up to the mark. Om Bhutkar portrays Rao with energy and sincerity. Despite a lean physique he carries off the warrior scenes with elan. Monalisa Bagal looks beautiful in each frame and she too dishes out a good performance. Ashok Samart is outstanding and offers a delightful performance. Santosh Juvekar as Jalinder is impressive and steals the show hands down. Kushal Badrike, Meer Sarwar, Mayuresh Pem and others lend good support.

RaoRambha is decently made film which could be enjoyed on the big screen.

***