Friday, February 14, 2014

Gunday Review: All fun no regrets!


The Real People:
Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar (also directed Mere Brother Ki Dulhan)
Produced by Aditya Chopra
Music by Sohail Sen (also composed for Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ek Tha Tiger)
Background Score by Julius Packiam (also gave the score for Dhoom 3, Badmash Company, Kabul Express)
Ranvir Singh & Darshan Gunjar as Bikram & young Bikram
Arjun Kapoor & Jayesh Kardak as Bala & young Bala
Irrfan Khan as ACP Satyajeet Sarkar and also the Narrator
Priyanka Chopra as Nandita

At a Glance:
Paisa Vasool! Thats what you call a movie like this one! Oversimplified, full of flaws, and yet loads of fun! The movie is a typical bollywood style entertainer and so much so, that like most movies of this type, it has a pathetic climax too! I would not say it is a must watch...but I can tell you that if you do watch it, you will like it!

The People of Screen:
Bikram & Bala jr. 
The two kiddos play their part with extreme confidence and although very brief, they establish the characters very well right at the onset of the movie! The minute they both walk out after their first coal adventure, you know that you should expect a lot typical bollywood punch lines and slow motion walkings scenes and "yaari-dosti" cliches in this movie!


Bikram & Bala
Ranvir and Arjun are the terrific duo and they seem to be having a lot of fun doing this 80s style masala drama. They both are extremely likeable and even though their affection for each other reaches the dangerous heights of being qualified as "Dostana"they portray the old school filmy dosti very nicely! They both get powerful punches to deliver, literally and figuratively (rather verbally). The best part about their performance in my opinion is that even though they play the roles of the notorious "Gunday" very nicely, yet they perfectly depict the characters' innocence and the purity of hearts at the same time!


ACP Satyajeet Sarkar
As usual, you cant help but luv the way this guy acts! Irrfan...from the middle aged government officer in The Lunchbox to this cunning ACP who not only orchestrates all the twists and plot surprises but also narrates the story with some great dialogues in Gunday! My favorite pick of the lot..... "Jis tarah har aag ke saath paani hota hai, iss kahani ka Sailaab....Mai Hoon!"


Nandita

No surprises here, Priyanka plays the role of the troublemaking, love inducing, morality changing, woman! She looks great, is always decked up wearing the best of sarees and why she plays the role of a Cabaret dancer? Beats me completely! I meant she could have done "Asalam-u-Ishqum" anyway! Her acting however is strictly average and could have been done by anyone, even Katrina! ;)

The tunes:
Sohail Sen churns out, once again, some  good music! Jashn-e-Ishqa is the most crucial track here as it is almost the theme of the entire movies background score. Mankunto Maula is a great track as well with both, the classical and the contemporary tracks being used effectively in the movie. Jiya is a very "Saiyyara tu Saiyyara" type of composition, but nevertheless as impressive and with Arijit at th vocals, it sounds magical. Tune Maari Entriyaan but of course is a total chart buster.
The background score is loud, filmy and yet very apt and catchy! Good job Julius!

Been-O-pinion:
I rate the movie 3.5 out of 5.
The movie is completely flawed, has no feeling of it being set in the 1980s (except from Bala's and Bikram's weird sense of dressing), uses every cliche in the books of bollywood of friend-turning-foe-and-back-again-to-friend, and yet....the movie is paced in a way that you get no time to think, you get engrossed in the twists and punchlines only to realize 130 minutes later (about when the 20 minute climax starts) that "damn! This is such an old school thriller-drama and I am having a good time!". The climax should have been edited out completely however! Watch it if you have nothing else to do, watch it if you want to have a good time at the movies. You will not regret it! 

No comments:

Post a Comment