Mission Raniganj is based on the coal mine in Raniganj where many miners got trapped when water gushed into the mine killing a few even . How a Sikh named Jaswinder Gill managed to rescue them in record time using a first time in India technique is the plot of this completely ignored poorly promoted film.
The story no doubt is interesting by default. Any story based on such intense rescue missions which are basically race against time are always interesting. It's just the way these stories are presented. The first half actually felt pretty average with pretty average camera works (fast forward camera works that amateur directors mostly use). The villagers and miners talking felt like some serial or skit going on. However , as the interval arrives, the film starts to come back to form.
The second half is where things get really interesting and tense where we are shown a timer as Jaswinder races against time to rescue the survivors. This is where we are introduced the new method of rescuing miners from underneath is explained. Also not the water, but another deadly factor forces Jaswinder to speed up everything (watch the film to find it) . Many hurdles also are shown , all these factors make the second half and tense and worthy watch.
The VFX is pretty bad, not even below average. The gushing water has such bad VFX , it literally pricks your eyes like thorns. Clearly no budget was allocated for VFX (a problem with most Indian films).
The miners performance could have been more grounded. Their performance is way too over the top that at one point their shouting and screaming in bihari was getting on my nerves.
Introduction of negative characters just for the sake of making the film more interesting is okay but should have been fleshed out better. The negative characters which include Dibyendu Bhattacharya felt cliched and just added with lazy writing in the film.
As i mentioned before, I am not a fan of the often used fast forward camera work used in the film. It gave the film a lower grade feel. Just a personal opinion, yours could differ, you may like or not bothered with this.
Also, the setting of the disaster was too rushed . A bit of time taken to set up the disaster would have created a greater impact.
While Akshay Kumar and kumud Mishra were in fine form in the film, Pareeniti was an unnecessary addition just there for the money. Talented actors like Rajesh Singh and Dibyendu are wasted .
No songs in between the film is a big plus point and hence these things don't hamper the screenplay . The only thing that hampered the screenplay sometimes in between was Pareeniti calling Akshay in between the tense situations.
Overall, a flawed yet decently engaging film that should actually be watched to know about Jaswinder Gill . It's a shame that this film was not promoted at all and hence suffering at the box office.
