Gunday, an action film by Aditya Chopra trying to keep the Yash Raj legacy alive released this Friday. Directed by Ali Abaas Zafar, Gunday is a movie which represents the times of turbulence and refugee movement in the 1970’s in Calcutta and Dhaka.
It is the story of two refugee kids called Bikram and Bala who run away from the base camp and take refuge with a man who gives them food and trains them into smuggling guns. Smart and brave both the boys run away to Calcutta and ever since struggle to make an identity in India.
They become stronger and grow into two most powerful goons who control all the kala dhanda (black marketing) in Calcutta during the 1980’s.
Though black listed with the police they are the Messiahs for the poor and the needy. Then they fall in love with the same girl and that is when the fight starts. The new A.C.P is called to track them down and the adventure begins. Love which tears them apart and creates havoc is what brings out the worst in them.
Overall Gunday is a nice desi Bollywood masala film but it somehow loses the charm as the story goes haywire after they fall in love. It reminds us of ‘Sholay’ and ‘Kala Patthar’ in someways. The rawness is very appealing especially which is rare in the movies now a days.
Calcutta, Dhaka and Dhanbad are the main backdrops and truly ‘Gunday’ does take you there. The dialogues are one liners like old movies but the character artists have no appeal and they fail to deliver.
The cast includes Ranveer Singh as Bikram, Arjun Kapoor as Bala, Priyanka Chopra as Nandita, Saurabh Shukla as Kali Kaka and Irrfan Khan as A.C.P Satyajeet Sarkar.
Irrfan Khan is wasted though he does a good job but the dialogues given to him are quite hopeless and does not suit his character. The Mithun Chakraborty dialogue, “achha hai, bahut achha hai,” is just not Irrfan Khan’s style sadly.
Priyanka Chopra is seen in three avatars in Gunday. She does a good job but still fails to impress. Her cabaret is pretty impressive and costumes are apt. Ranveer Singh steals the show and Arjun Kapoor is a misfit actually.
Lyrics by Irshaad Kamil, music by Sohail Sen and cinematography by Aseem Mishra are commendable. The songs which one may not hear otherwise are suiting the story very much. The screen play is bad and ruins the film.
With a better cast and a tighter script, this movie would have been a blockbuster.
