Mission Raniganj Movie Review: Akshay Kumar's rescue mission cannot save you from this laborious snoozefest

Tinu Suresh Desai's Mission Raniganj is based on a real-life coalfield collapse in West Bengal's Raniganj in 1989. One braveheart, Jaswant Singh Gill came up with a precarious rescue operation to save the lives of 71 miners who were grappling for their life. While the attempt was honest, the movie's shoddy screenplay and a laborious pace makes it a weary snoozefest instead of serving the required thrill. 

The plot revolves around a disastrous coalfield explosion taking place threatening to cost the lives of several miners trapped inside through drowning. While the authorities in Coal India struggle for an immediate solution to rescue the miners amidst protests from their family members, mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill (Akshay Kumar) takes up the responsibility to come up with a capsule which will be the medium to rescue the trapped miners. However, he must also battle the petty politics and corruption amidst the authorities in the process. 

The biggest con of Mission Raniganj is it's half-baked and lousy screenplay. The plot which had the potential to be crisp turns out to be laboriously paced with some sub-plots which only added to the length of the movie. The sub-plot showing the politics and conspiracies in the management turns out to be extremely caricaturish. One cannot fathom the dreadfully done VFX especially to showcase the flooding scenes inside the coalmines. The sequence inside the mines involve everyone shouting at the top of their lungs leaving you no room to strike a chord with the victims. The incessant over-the-top closeup shots of their family members do not help either. The movie however manages to have a strong build-up during the climax. You find yourself rooting for the operation when finally the 'capsule' starts doing its trick. The particular scene wherein Jaswant realizes that the trapped miners are alive after almost giving up hope also forms one of the highlights.

Talking about the performances, Akshay Kumar's enthusiasm looks half-hearted and preachy until the climax wherein the actor finally takes up charge. Pavan Malhotra, Varun Badola, Virendra Saxena, Jameel Khan, Sudhir Pandey are convincing in their roles. However, Ravi Kishan though tries to give his best, comes across as shelling out an over-the-top dialogue delivery half of the time. It became frustrating to see Kumud Mishra not parting ways with his cigarette in almost half of his scenes. Shishir Pandey and Dibyendu Bhattacharya are extremely caricaturish. Rajesh Sharma's fake and stereotypical Bengali accent was embarrassing to watch. A stray dog being a silent and strong spectator in the coalfields has more impactful closeup shots unlike Parineeti Chopra who barely has anything to do in the movie except being the supportive spouse. The cliched performances definitely do not work wonders for the movie. 

While the VFX falls flat in the scenes inside the coalfields, the cinematography by Aseem Mishra capturing the intricate preparation of the operation is convincing. The songs do not strike a chord either barring the romantic song 'Keemti'. Mission Raniganj is undoubtedly an honest attempt to pay tribute to the bravery and courage of Jaswant Singh Gill but a better execution would've made this a more delightful experience.