What Is the Story About?
An official remake of ‘Ray Donovan’, Rana Naidu follows a top gun fixer Rana Naidu, who makes a living by fixing the mess left behind by his famous clients. Known as the “fixer of the stars,” He fixes his siblings messes as well. However, Rana struggles at home with an irreparable connection with his wife and two children. The situation gets worse when his estranged father Naga Naidu comes back from prison after serving 15 years for a crime he never committed.
Performances?
Rana Daggubati is the fulcrum of Rana Naidu. He leaves no stone unturned in this author-backed role and steals every frame he is in with his looks and screen presence. Venkatesh’s performance is toe to toe with Rana and sometimes even better with his swag and humorous one-liners.
Analysis?
Created by Karan Anshuman, written by Karmanya Ahuja, Anany Mody, B. V. S. Ravi, Vaibhav Vishal and Karan Anshuman, and directed by the duo Suparn Varma and Karan Anshuman, Rana Naidu is partly one of those routine Netflix India shows with sexual expletives overweighing the narrative sometimes, and partly an engaging crime action drama with two heavy weight performances from its main leads.
Rana Naidu follows a top gun fixer Rana Naidu and his estranged father. Rana makes a living by fixing the mess left behind by famous clients in Mumbai. He fixes his siblings messes as well but is caught in a strange turmoil when it comes to his relationship with his wife and children.The situation takes a stronger turn when his estranged father Naga Naidu comes back from prison after serving 15 years for a crime he never committed. On one side Naga wants to mend his relationship with his sons, and on the other hand get his vengeance.
Now, a premise like this gives ample space for the two leads to go off on one another and rightly so both Venkatesh and Rana Daggubati are the aces of spades in the story. The pilot episode set-up is engaging and pulls you right into the narrative, much like the original show Rana Naidu is based on : Ray Donovan. But soon one would realise the daily soapy level drag the writing undertakes.
There are many characters and sub-plots that obstruct the primary narrative, only to elongate the series further. Most of them serve minimal to absolutely no purpose, and only leaves you with a bitter taste when the respective episodes end. That said, the show still has entertaining bits stingily scattered over. Especially every scene featuring the main duo and Naga Naidu for that matter. Strong author backed writing for Rana and Naga’s characters act as a saving grace when the writing goes un-necessary mountains and rivers.
As much as the interesting and entertaining characterisation of its main leads are, Rana Naidu is tediously long. I mean..come on Ten episodes, 50 minutes each? For a Netflix crime action drama? I mean the makers really overestimated attention span of audience in that regard. A crispier writing and taut editing would’ve made the show land at a much higher place that it already is, now.
Another disappointing aspect of Rana Naidu is the overuse of sexual expletives, grossly shot sex scenes and polished language. Despite attempts to be an honest remake, Rana Naidu loses a chunk on it’s originality and authenticity in this front.
To conclude, Rana Naidu is a two-man show. With a talented supporting cast, Rana Naidu still manages to be a watchable affair solely for the main leads, their face-offs and chemistry. We’d rather see the duo in a kickass action film soon. That said, the entertaining bits of Rana Naidu are really entertaining.. and the boring bits are really very lethargic.
Other Artists?
Besides the two main leads, Rana Naidu boasts of a talented supporting cast. Surveen Chawla churns a scene stealing act and plays to her strengths in Rana Naidu. Rana Naidu’s side-kicks played by Lauren Robinson and Adithya Menon also make a mark. The very talented Gaurav Chopra and veteran Ashish Vidyarthi as a don are such clever casting additions too.
Music and Other Departments?
Jayakrishna Gummadi’s camera work knows and captures the pulse of Mumbai and it’s night life and it’s blacks whites and greys splendidly. John Stewart Eduri’s background score makes the story telling groovy and engaging even when the narratives slips. Ninad Khanolkar’s editing is however a major major let down. Mostly why tiringly slow the show is.
Highlights?
Main Leads
Supporting Cast
Background score
Drawbacks?
Duration
Meandering needless subplots
Expletive overload
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, but with reservations
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, because the entertaining bits are entertaining and the main leads are a riot onscreen.
Rana Naidu Series Review by Binged Bureau
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