Starring Amitabh Bachchan and Sudeep. In Hindi with English subtitles. Now playing at Strawberry Hill and the Raja Cinema

With the proliferation of 24-hour news channels in India, it was high time Bollywood did a dissection of the South Asian nation’s network news business, which in itself is salacious, scandalous, and sensationalistic, not to mention marred by corruption and ethical failings.

Hit-and-miss veteran filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma paints a wide canvas with Rann, a media-war drama designed to be an exposé of India’s corrupt political system.

Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan plays Vijay Harshvardhan Malik, a sort of Indian version of Walter Cronkite who is the owner and trusted broadcaster of an all-news channel who may believe in balanced and truthful reporting though it’s not helping his ratings.

His ambitious son Jay (Sudeep) is depressed over fears of losing the station due to declining revenues and growing debt. He’s bait for his political power player brother-in-law Naveen (Rajat Kapoor), right-hand man to a corrupt and dangerous politician named Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal), who will do anything to occupy the highest office in the land.

Jay and Naveen hatch a scheme of murder and betrayal that will bring down the prime minister, paving the way for Pandey to take command, all in the name of money and power. The ethically deficient media willingly serves as their lackeys in swinging public opinion.

Director Varma employs a multi-character, multi-story structure to great effect, which also works to smooth over some rough spots in this finely acted, tightly wound thriller. There are great turns by South Indian star Sudeep and seasoned character actor Rawal.

At one point in the film, the villainous Pandey tells young media mogul Jay that there are two kinds of people in this world, lions and goats, and that for lions to rule, goats must be sacrificed. This statement rings true in both politics and the media.