Gunday
Year: 2014
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan

Yashraj films have had a super successful 2013, ending with the biggest hit of the year Dhoom 3. Here comes their first 2014 release featuring their two protégés- Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, along with another perennial favourite Priyanka Chopra. The promos looked promising. How is the film?

What’s the plot?

It is 1971. The Indo-Pak war has just ended, paving way for birth of Bangladesh. But the aftermath of war has left the new country in tatters. Two young orphan boys, refugees from Dhaka, run away from that post-war misery to begin life anew in Kolkata. After being thrown out of their sundry restaurant jobs, they start looting coal from trains and trading it in the black market. Over the years, they- the hot-headed Bala (Arjun Kapoor) and the cool, methodical Bikram (Ranveer Singh) - become the kingpins of Kolkata’s underworld. As they start legalizing their illegal trades, a top cop (Irrfan) is assigned to nab them but he finds himself hampered by lack of hard evidence.  But when both the friends fall for a newly arrived hot cabaret dancer (Priyanka Chopra), the cop senses an opportunity. Will the duo’s newfound love interest finally break their thicker-than-blood friendship and land them behind the bars?

What’s hot?

·        Writer-director Ali Abbas Zafar weaves an interesting tale of crime and passion with dollops of affectionate references to 70s and 80s Bollywood movies.

·        The first half of the movie is pacy and powerful.

·        With colorful frames, catchy music, well-choreographed dances and non-stop action, the movie ticks the right boxes for a commercial big screen spectacle.

·        The lead actors- Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Irrfan – all deliver competent performances.

          Good on-screen chemistry of protagonists.

What’s not?

·        The narrative becomes slow and loses grip in the second half.

·        The climax is stretched and ineffective.

·        The dialogues needed a lot more punch.

·        The reason for the lead characters to take up crime is not convincingly portrayed in the script.

Verdict

Gunday unabashedly treads in the path of the 70s Bollywood buddy potboilers such as Sholay, Hera Pheri, Muqaddar Ka Sikander and Parvarish. Till the intermission, it remains on course to be an enjoyable (if decidedly loud!) mass entertainer but then loses its steam. Still it is not a bad weekend outing!

Rating

3 out of 5