Neeljai Films and Naam Mein Kya Rakha Hai Production’s Lantrani is actually three stories rolled into one film. The three stories are Hud Hud Dabang, Dharna Mana Hai and Sanitised Samachar. The three stories are stand-alone, have been written by one writer and are directed by three different directors.
Hud Hud Dabang is the story of a police officer, Deelip (Johny Lever), who has been asked to take a criminal to court on his last day of duty. The judge sentences the criminal to 10 years’ imprisonment for unnatural sex with another man who, incidentally, is not in court. While Deelip wants to help the criminal and, therefore, asks him to run away after the court verdict, the criminal shoots himself dead, using Deelip’s revolver.
Durgesh Singh’s story is silly — and that’s putting it mildly. His screenplay is quite childish and seems to have been written without application of mind. As for his dialogues, they are dull.
Johny Lever is average as police officer Deelip. Jishu Sengupta is alright as the criminal. Sanjay Kumar Sahu hardly impresses in the role of the bridegroom. Masood Akhtar passes muster as the judge. Pranay Garg (as lawyer Rajaji) lends fair support. Bhagwandas Tiwari is okay as lawyer Vinod. Pushpendra Singh does an ordinary job as the dhaba owner.
Kaushik Ganguly’s direction is pathetic. Indraadip Dasgupta’s background music hardly adds anything to the drama. Appa Prabhakar’s camerawork is routine. Dhananjoy Mondal’s production designing, and Shankar Samanta’s art direction are average. Subhajit Singha’s editing leaves a lot to be desired.
Dharna Mana Hai is the story of a lower caste sarpanch of a village. Gomtidevi (Nimisha Sajayan) belongs to the lower caste and is a sarpanch in the village. She and her husband, Debu (Jitendra Kumar), are on a fast unto death in front of the DDO’s office. Reason: Gomtidevi can’t open a bank account to deposit the cheque which the government has given for the village, as the other four panchas don’t grant her permission. When DDO Gautam (Rajesh Awasthi) meets the four panchas, each of them gives him a different reason for not letting Gomtidevi open a bank account. The helpless Gautam returns without being able to convince Gomtidevi to break her fast. Elections are soon announced. What happens thereafter?
Durgesh Singh has written a story which doesn’t mean much as there is no solution in it to the problem raised. His screenplay is boring to the core while his dialogues are weak.
Nimisha Sajayan does an average job as Gomtidevi. Jitendra Kumar is okay as her husband, Debu. Rajesh Awasthi provides routine support in the role of DDO Gautam. Sanjay Mahanand (as the PA), Nishesh Tripathi (as the clerk), Alankar (as the inspector) and Deepak Pandey (as reporter Anurag) pass muster.
Gurvinder Singh’s direction is below the mark. Vinod K. Ram’s background music is average. Sandeep Yadav’s cinematography is ordinary. Anchal Bhalla’s production designing, and Mukesh Kumar’s art direction are nothing to shout about. Reema Maur’s editing is loose.
Sanitised Samachar is the story of a Corona-positive news anchor, Millie Sinha (Preeti Hansraj Sharma), who is brought by her channel head, Pinaki (Boloram Das), to the channel office to shoot for an ad film for a sanitiser.
Durgesh Singh’s story is so routine that it is hardly worth commenting on. His screenplay is childish. The drama moves on the predictable path and affords no excitement to the viewers. Durgesh Singh’s dialogues are weak.
Preeti Hansraj Sharma is fair in the role of Millie Sinha. Boloram Das is alright as TV channel head Pinaki. Aditya Pandey does an average job as Malay Kumar. Sunil Prajapati is okay as Rishiraj. Chaitanya Solankar (as Subodh), Anand Tambe (as Satyajit Rai) and Romita Sarkar (as Amina) lend weak support.
Bhaskar Hazarika’s direction is ordinary. Abhishek Jain’s background music is barely passable. Riju Das’ camerawork is so-so. Manas Baruah’s production designing, and Dhananjoy Mondal’s art direction hardly deserve separate mention. Suresh Pai’s editing leaves something to be desired.
On the whole, all the three films lack merits and, therefore, Lantrani will not get the approval of the audience.
Released on 9-2-’24 on Zee5.