Vikrant Rona review: Kiccha Sudeep’s pan-India film is low on entertainment, high on confusion

Cut to your faithful critic who is left staring at the screen in dire confusion. Is this a period action-adventure which is aimed at kids, because that’s how it appears to begin. Or a revenge saga featuring a downtrodden family whose members are constantly belittled by the village bullies? In between all of this, there is a theft of precious jewels and a runaway, who may or may not have had anything to do with it.

The only thing that’s clear is that Kichcha Sudeep plays Vikrant Rona, the titular character, with a slit-eyed swag that would have better suited a film that knew what it was doing. Maybe it has something to do with being lost in translation in its Hindi dub (the film has released in multiple languages), but neither the convoluted plot, which includes an unconvincing romance between a mismatched couple (Nirup Bhandari and Neetha Ashok), nor the stilted dialogues and their delivery make for an entertaining watch.

All you are left with is a string of questions. How does the insertion of so much blood and gore mesh with a film meant for kiddos? If the violence is to do with caste, why so much fudging, why not just say it? The humour is forced. Out of the blue, Jacqueline Fernandez comes on for an item number in which her athletic bouncing leaves nothing to the imagination. And a location which is clearly somewhere in the south has characters speaking in Hindi heavily laced with a Marathi accent.

Is this what they mean by pan India?

Vikrant Rona movie cast: Sudeep, Nirup Bhandari, Neetha Ashok
Vikrant Rona movie director: Anup Bhandari
Vikrant Rona movie rating: 1.5 stars