Hindi
‘Revolver Rani’… Of Bullets and Boredom
MUMBAI: The title of the film, Revolver Rani, sounds like Hunterwali and various others mid 20th century woman-oriented films. These films commanded their own audience; a class of moviegoers who remained loyal to the brand. Some makers like to find such local subjects which either fail to find buyers or, when they do, don’t work with the audience at all. Despite a couple of woman dacoit films like Putlibai and Bandit Queen, Revolver Rani seems quite outlandish as the story of a woman bahubali from the dacoit belt of Chambal.
Kangana Ranaut has just lost an election to a creepy politician, Zakir Hussain, who had lost to her in an earlier election. Zakir, it seems, got a bribe to the tune of 200 crore from a mining giant to get them a concession on a mining belt. Wonder which corporate would invest that kind of money in a loser politician expecting him to win because they gave him 200 crore. But this is nothing compared to what follows.
The film is actually about the plight of a woman who has never had anything work in her favour. She is unattractive to start with. She sees her mother being raped by the very man who killed her father. One day she empties all six bullets into him. After that, she is taken away by her mama, Piyush Mishra, with ambitions to turn her into a terror in his area and make her a political heavyweight. Her marriage has also been disaster with her husband branding her as a banjh and torturing her and also ending up with bullets with Kangna emptying an entire magazine in his body.
Piyush is a master manipulator and uses Kangna’s angst for her political rise. Her opponent, Zakir, as well as the local police are equally scared of her. She is the gun-wielding terror though it is another matter that when she and her rivals shower each other with bullets, no bullet hits anybody! While their battles continue, Kangna finds or she thinks she has found true love she always craved for in a small time actor, Vir Das. Vir actually has a girlfriend waiting in Mumbai but he decides to exploit Kangna’s weakness and talk her into financing his films. Since Kangna really loves him and is overtly possessive about him, Vir is now trapped. He is virtually a prisoner not allowed to step out without her.
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Director: Sai Kabir. Cast: Kangna Ranaut, Piyush Mishra, Zakir Hussain, Vir Das. |
Producers: Raju Chadha, Nitin Tej Ahuja, Rahul Mittra.
Piyush, meanwhile, does a sting on Zakir through a TV journalist making him confess to accepting 200 crore. He loses his ministry. In the by-election, Kangna is sure to win. The enmity is now at its peak and ways are being sought to eliminate her. That is when Kangna finds out that she is pregnant. She was not a banjh after all. The woman in her comes alive and she wants to keep the child and marry Vir, collect all the party funds and move to Venice with Vir. While Vir wants nothing to do with this idea, mama Piyush sees all his plans going awry. Both Vir and Piyush, now turn into Kangna’s enemies and are ready to join her enemies and betray her.
Kangna is ambushed at a night halt by an army of her enemies. She fights, killing many and heavily injured herself is given up for dead. But, she has survived and threatening you with a sequel!
But before a sequel, the makers could at least have made the first version a bit tolerable. The film is shoddily written; it wavers from one thing to another and, let alone convincing episodes, they are not even plausible. If this kind of politics and political rivalries still exist in parts of India, what about the audience in general finding identification with them? If the script is bad, direction is pointless. The film has a couple of good songs, including one from Asha Bhosle, but they don’t fit in the scenario. Neither the film nor Kangna’s plight touch you. Why has the director gone out of his way to make Kangna look unattractive? As for performances, Kangna excels despite her character offering little variation. Piyush is impressive with fair support coming from Zakir. Vir refuses to change his expressions.
Revolver Rani was expected to cash in on the recent Kangna hit, Queen. But it is a letdown on that count and otherwise too.
Samrat & Co… Bankrupt
A detective thriller is still a genre the big screen can share with small one even as many genres are now monopolised by the television. A decent Hindi detective whodunit has not been seen in a long time on the screen and the idea is sound enough to try one. Kavita K Barjatya of the Rajshri banner attempts one here. The inspiration comes from various original sources such as Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie novels and even Satyajit Ray’s famous Bengali character, Feluda, among others. The film pays homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his best known character, Holmes. Since the sources are from past, so is the story of Samrat & Co.
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Director: Kaushik Ghatak. Cast: Rajeev Khandelwal, Madalsa Sharma, Gopal Datt, Girish Karnad, Priyanshu Chatterjee. |
Producer: Kavita K Barjatya.
Rajeev Khandelwal plays a private investigator that has been called in by Madalsa Sharma, daughter of a rich patriarch from Shimla, Girish Karnad, to check on a series of mysterious events taking place at his mansion. The lush green garden in the mansion is going dry, her father’s horse dies and Karnad himself suffers from indifferent health and dies soon as Rajeev arrives on the scene.
It is a typical old-fashioned investigation as read and seen in various books and films earlier. Rajeev talks to himself as he works on various clues and red herrings. As Madalsa visits Rajeev to seek his help, he decides to impress her by telling things about her observed from her presence. Not all his explanations are convincing. He says she has had an eye correction surgery to get rid of her spectacles because she is still in the habit of adjusting her nonexistent specs but it could easily have been her migration to use of contact lenses. Much more is in the offing on this account as the film proceeds.
The film neither has anything new to offer nor does it present the old story in a manner worth watching. The writing is poor and so is the direction. The film lacks finesse having been made on a small budget. While Rajeev is a misfit for the role and his fuzzy hair look not going well either, Madalsa is around only to fantasise about romancing Rajeev.
Samrat & Co has had a poor opening with ‘No audience, No show’ tags at many halls.
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
