Gunday

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 14th February, 2014
Time : 153 minutes
Director, Writer : Ali Abbas Zafar; Music : Sohail Sen, Julius Packiam
Starring : Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Saurabh Shukla, Irrfan Khan, Pankaj Tripathi



1. After giving us two brothers falling for the same woman in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ali Abbas stays on topic, with two friends-who- are-thicker-than-brothers committing the same folly.

2. It traces the rags to riches story of our two heroes, Ranveer and Arjun, and then the battle of wits vs supercop, Irrfan. While both fall for a cabaret dancer, Priyanka.

3. This is an over-the-top, mindless, Salman-esque film. Logic takes a back seat wherever the need for drama is felt to be greater. Slow motion shots are liberally sprinkled, as are muscled torsos, six packs and high octane bravado

4. The childhood friends are refugees from Bangladesh & for some reason seem very touchy about being called that. They turn to crime as a means to survive and their early years and escape to Kolkata is quite nicely shown, including a nice cameo by Pankaj Tripathi and the child artistes

5. The twists are quite predictable, regular Hindi film watchers (and they’re the only category I would recommend the film to) will be able to see them coming a mile off.

6. The film is too long by at least thirty minutes. Couple of songs, some of the slow motion shots, lots of the dialogue needed to go…the second half, in particular, had characters doing strange stuff.

7. Arjun Kapoor really stood out, stealing the show from some of his seniors…he’s good, got his part right. Priyanka looked hot, after a long while. Ranveer was hamming it up too much, for my taste.

8. There is a tendency among a lot of our film makers to manufacture conflict, simply because they feel a good story needs it. So is the case here. The clash between the heroes is a veritable storm in a teacup, nothing a couple of appropriately timed phone calls couldn’t have solved.

9. There are a few great visuals – one top angle of an umbrella opening in the rain, lots of Durga Pooja ones, the colours, Howrah Bridge. Some tender moments. And a very dramatic, stretched climax

10. With the right degree of patience and a comfort with the inane brashness of most action-oriented Hindi films, you may actually be able to ‘enjoy’ this one. Not for everyone, though.