Rangoon: Will Kangana Ranaut Recreate Fearless Nadia’s Magic ?

Years ago Vishal Bhardwaj was to make a film on the  life and cinema of  the stunt queen  Fearless Nadia. He had even signed German actress Franka Potente for the part. Then the project fell apart.

Vishal’s dream project finally comes to fruition not with Ms Potente but KanganaRanaut playing a dead giveaway doppelganger of  Nadia named Julia . The elegantly-cut trailer shows Ranaut and having a great deal of fun doing the Nadia like ‘Fearless’ stunts and flirting with and seducing the two men in her life, played by Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan.

Set in 1944 when World War 2 raged across the world Rangoon wears a lush ripe look. The three protagonists look good together, and apart,  and seem to believe in what  is essentially the story of a movie star persuaded to travel to a war zone to provide recreational relief to soldiers.

Fans of  Kangana Ranaut and of the on-screen liplock , in the order, would be pleased to know that there are shared smooches with both her co-stars. And there’s a  lot of stunning untamed locations, to go with the wild-child image of  Julia/Nadia.

The  trailer captures the chaotic excitement of war-time exigencies splendidly. It remains to be seen how much of the original excitement of Fear Nadia’s life is captured in the film.

One person  most excited about a film on  the life of Nadia is  her grand-nephew choreographer Shiamak Davar. “She was my Marymai She loved me insanely and left her famous trademark whip and mask and even her house to me.I was always her favourite and she said it openly.”

It was Shiamak’s ‘Marymai’ who encouraged Shiamak to take up dancing. “She was my inspiration! She encouraged me to sing and dance. She urged my parents all the time to never stop me from chasing my dreams. I am where I am because of Marymai’s encouragement.”