Kangana Ranaut’s Rambolika act opens up a new genre in Bollywood

It is Manjulika Versus Rambolika this week at the box office. While Tabu more or less holds the crazy horror-comedy of _Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2_ together with her macabre Manjulika act, in _Dhaakad_ Kangana Ranaut does a female _Rambo_ act with aplomb approaching a nirvanic expedition. It is an out-and-out revenge story. No frills, unless we count the ones in Kangana’s wigs which go from red to blonde within a span of two hours. She is a woman on a mission and she won’t allow any digressions to come in her way. There are no songs, at least none in the foreground except a club song where Kangana slithers and slides with seductive certainty. Her character Agnee works for an underground government agency which specializes in bailing out distressed Indians who are trapped in counter-espionage activities in other countries and are unable to spell out their SOS. In a beautifully shot black-and-white flashback, Kangana’s parents are shown to be killed by a mysterious killer while a little girl hears noises of gunfire. The little girl who plays Kangana’s junior conveys the shock and confusion of an impressionable mind at the sheer brutality and futility that grips our society at large. The lean muscular flab-free film is shot with an excruciating exquisiteness by Japanese cinematographer Tetsuo Nagata. Dhaakad oozes blood from every pore. It is a film about a wounded woman who would not let her hurt heal. Because healing means forgetting the wrong done. It places our female hero in situations of imminent peril. But Agnee (we don’t know her real name) has no time to cry over her losses.

In her range of existence, there is no room for finer things, she has no boyfriend, and no interest in men. A boyfriend would mean distractions from her mission. Kangana Ranaut goes for the kill, like no other. This is the first full-fledged female-hero vendetta spree where Kangana playing a field agent, is sent to get a human trafficker, played with sinister diabolism by Arjun Rampal . The confrontation sequences between the two crackle with an implosive tension.Hats off to debutante director Razneesh Ghai for exercising such a stronghold over the dramatic tensions that irrigate the humourless humid plot. When I connected with Kangana congratulating her for her taut tensile performance she said she hoped the film industry would give an opportunity to more new directors. I agree. Dhaakad is an all-new idiom of violent intentions. When the female hero fights, she really fights not for self or country. But to bring a semblance of justice to her chaotic universe. Neither the screenplay nor the audience is expected to grant her brownie points for being such a formidable fighter in spite of her gender. In the action sequences, Kangana surrenders to the aggression like no other. Watch her glide around her adversaries in leonine strides. This is one female hero who doesn’t mind getting her feet dirty. As for the reputation of being a limelight-hogger here is the thing: she allows a female co-star, the marvelous Divya Dutta to take centre stage in one vital sequence. Kangana has, over the years, learnt to pull back and let go. She values silences like very few actors today. You could say Kangana’s Agent Agnee is the reverse side of _Jayeshbhai Joridaar_ . They both care for their country. But she doesn’t have to raise slogans to qualify as a loyalist. In the coming days, you will hear a lot about Dhaakad being more style than substance. It is that. But what a joy it is for us to see Kangana Ranaut play a female hero with balls of steel. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.