Actor Taapsee Pannu's latest movie Rashmi Rocket premiered on Zee5 on October 15, receiving mixed to negative reviews from critics. The consensus is that the sports drama failed to do justice to its bold premise, which evolved around 'gender testing' and ended up being a middling affair that catered only to die-hard fans of the Haseen Dillruba star. Here are four changes that would have made the Akarsh Khurana-helmed flick more watchable.
Better character development
The film began as a sports drama that focussed primarily on Rashmi's early life and her rise to fame as India's 'Rocket'. These portions failed to rise above cliches and relied on way too many to set pieces. A scene in which the protagonist saves a character from a landmine is a case in point. The first half would have made a better impact had the makers tried to explore her backstory in detail. There are a couple of sequences that touch upon the problems she faced for being 'masculine' but they hardly suffice. The track sequences make a middling impact as most of the characters, including her foe, feel one-dimensional.
Rashmi's relationship with Niharika needed to be explored more articulately as it was an integral part of the narrative. The makers could have tried to examine Niharika's backstory a bit more to make it easier for one to relate to her resentment against the protagonist and eventual change of heart.
A stronger role for Supriya Pathak
Sarpatta Parambarai is a recent example of a movie that used the 'amma' sentiment effectively to tell a compelling tale. Bakkiyam, played by actor Anupama Kumar, remained a part of a narrative throughout the entire duration, emerging as the film's emotional fulcrum. The makers of Rashmi Rocket try to do the same through Supriya Pathak's character but the results are not as good as expected as she did not get enough scope. Moreover, the character wasn't as layered as the one seen in Pa Ranjith's film.
Choosing a path
Bollywood's courtroom drama can be put into two broad categories--realistic and dramatic. Damini with its intense dialogues and commercial elements falls into the first category. Pink, on the other, is an example of a realistic courtroom saga. Rashmi Rocket falters as a legal drama as the court sequences are neither as intense as the ones seen in Sunny Deol's film nor are they as caustic as the ones that helped the Shoojit Sircar-backed movie emerge as a sleeper hit. To make matters worse, most of the 'arguments' feel too predictable. The sequence involving references to some sports greats is a case in point.
The team could have chosen a direction and stuck to it.
Less of romance, more of Shweta
Shweta Tripathi did justice to her role in Rashmi Rocket with her 'main biased hoon' dialogue hitting the right notes. The Masaan actor, however, doesn't really have too much screen time. She could have been given a meatier role as she has proved with her work in Mirzapur that she is a dependable performer. It would have been nice to see her interact with Taapsee on the screen. The same applies to Priyanshu as reel romance with the Badla star feels half-baked and rushed. In fact, the romantic angle as well as the dance number Ghani Cool Chori could have been avoided as they simply diluted the impact of the core story.