Costume Drama: R...Rajkumar

'R…Rajkumar' is the regurgitation of a testosterone fairy. The commendable part is that every faceless and nameless member of the supporting cast is dressed carefully. As a result, the pigments of a frame are never diluted. The downturn is that every scene is hyper colourful. There is no respite for the eyes.
It also has the worst suits seen on a villain since the 1990s ( I say only because I am nostalgic about the velvet suits and smoking jackets worn by smugglers of the 70's.Since crime pays, it’s only just that Taaka (Srihari), a cocaine dealer in the international market, wears button-less tiger print blazers over orange shirts. The short lapel kind. His henchman, played by Bharat Dhabolkar, wears shiny shirts with Marilyn Monroe ties.
Then there is Chanda (Sonakshi Sinha) dressed by Manish Malhotra, who I wish would get over his chikankaari phase soon. Amidst all this monotony, a few details refreshed the optic nerves. One was Manish’s use of western prints in kurtas and the pantone sari blouse. There was a prancing horse on a kurta and a smaller print on a lehenga blouse that rejuvenated his staple net ghagra.
The details in Romeo Rajkumar (Shahid Kapur) and Beyoji's (Sonu Sood) costumes were heartening. For a change, there was more sartorial indulgence in the men’s costumes than the woman’s. Kunal Rawal played with contrast sleeves and pockets. In a song, there’s a creative flash of tiffin box clasps on Shahid’s shirt pockets — just the kind of tangent from reality we look for in an entertainer. In the last sequence, Sonu Sood wears a blingy jacket, but underneath it, a cross-over white shirt with an embroidered pocket — another pleasure point.
Apart from these flashes, the landscape of R…Rajkumar burns the optic nerves as much as its plot immolates brain cells.