In spirit, RAIN may resemble Ramgopal Varma’s KAUN? [Urmila, Manoj Bajpai] since both KAUN? and RAIN focus on a woman [living all by herself in a secluded mansion] and a visitor.
But RAIN is different. It tells the story of a woman and her rapist, an abstract theme no doubt. But the execution of the subject by director Amol Shetge keeps you on the edge for most parts.
The plus points include a riveting story and the generous dose of skin show [it might appeal to the hardcore junta], but on the flip side is an overdose of songs that act as impediments.
RAIN tells the story of Sandhya [Meghna Naidu], who is born blind. This valiant girl with grit and determination has fought all odds and managed to become a celebrated writer. She lives in a bungalow, which stands alone amidst the wilderness of a hill station.
Sandhya loves solitude and spends most of her time on her Braille typewriter, typing stories that seem to be an escape from the tough realities of life.
One day, a journalist, Prakash [Himanshu Malik], seeks an appointment for an interview. Before he arrives at her abode, she starts picking up knives and hiding them in different places in the house. What is the motive behind it?
Fortunately, nothing untoward takes place, till the topic steers towards rain. Prakash learns that Sandhya has a strange fear -- the fear of rain. The mention of rain makes her nervous and tense. She also gets frantic when it actually starts raining.
Prakash decides to unearth the reasons that make her suffer from this strange phobia.
RAIN starts off quite well, but it gets too complicated as it moves further. A few sequences are well handled, especially the interval point, but it has an erratic graph in the second half.
With Himanshu trying to solve the mystery, the story moves into zones that one rarely watches in Hindi movies. All along there’s titillation that has been juxtaposed in the story, which might tempt the viewers. But an overdose of songs, especially in the second half, ruins the impact.
However, the narrative perks up during the pre-climax, but it again drops in the climax, primarily because the viewer knows what’s in store next.
Director Amol Shetge takes an offbeat subject, but how one wishes he had cast mature actors for the roles in question. Meghna and Himashu do make an honest effort, but the roles demanded actors with infinite range. Music [Satish-Ajay] is functional. Ishwar Bidri’s camerawork is up to the mark.
Meghna Naidu exposes her anatomy without inhibitions and as an actor too, she does a neat job. Himanshu is alright, although he needs to go easy on his expressions.
On the whole, RAIN is a fair effort, but too many new films on the same date would cut into its business. Thanks to the skin show, its business at smaller centres could be better.