Movie Review: Gunday

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan and Saurabh Shukla

Director Ali Abbas Zafar, who had made his debut with the rom com Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, segues into action and bromance with this one.  Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor look fantastic in their chiselled bodies and groovy swagger. Gunday has all the trappings of a modern-day action epic. What it lacks is an old school soul, a sense of true grit that makes protagonists look like real heroes.

This is a gritty tale of friendship and survival told with style. Two street smart boys Bala and Bikram are forced into committing a crime. They run off on a train from Bangladesh to India hiding in the coal carriage. That becomes their destiny. They start stealing coal and sooner than you know it, they turn into Kolkata's most revered gangsters. At breakneck speed, the innocent boys transform into swashbuckling anti-heroes. All in a matter of a swift 30 minutes. At this juncture Gunday musters up steam. The boys fall for the sultry cabaret dancer Nandita as the hard-boiled cop Sarkar cracks down on their syndicate. There are unexpected twists and turns. Every character has shades of grey. Gunday benefits from its theatrical dialogue. It all builds up into a promising premise.

Then comes the expected conflict between the heroes. There are scenes of big dark explosions at surface mines – a metaphor for the boiling rage of Arjun Kapoor’s character. It’s a great throwback to Yash Chopra’s Kala Patthar. Gunday is rich in cultural homage. Everything about the cinema of the ’70s and ’80s is paid a handsome compliment.

Ranveer and Arjun are the soul of this popcorn action flick. Their energy, their chemistry and their good looks are paisa vasool. While Arjun portrays his character at the edge of darkness with perfection, Ranveer steals the show with his textbook good guy with bad habits character. Not far behind is Priyanka Chopra. It’s a sight to see her in a cabaret and then hold fort with the two heroes in dramatic scenes. It’s a pity her clichéd character doesn’t allow her to do more. Same goes for the phenomenally talented Irrfan. He plays the witty cop with the right amount of restraint. But he should have been given the chance to lock horns with the two leads in a direct duel. That would’ve elevated Gunday to the next level.

Gunday is an action film. Naturally it has a certain element of frivolity. But it could’ve been more. The scenes needed more gravitas. The telling of the tale needed more spirit. When Bala’s and Bikram’s worlds collide the proceedings become dramatic. But the drama is all mechanical and not emotional enough. It needed to stop and allow the audience to empathise with the protagonists.

The climax is gripping. It’s a pity that the rest of the movie didn’t have the same resolve. The film has solid performances, catchy numbers like Asalaam-E-Ishqum and Tune  maari entriyaan and a story that makes equal room for emotion and social relevance. There’s a lot to impress the average film viewer. Six packs, bulging muscles, seductive dances – all the cinematic material required to make an audience friendly hit. What’s missing is a key eye for detail, a process of refinement, which they say turns coal into diamond.