When it’s the director of PHAS GAYA RE OBAMA and JOLLY LLB returning with the same lead artist (Arshad) and a title like GUDDU RANGEELA, then the expectations are bound to rise and the viewers look forward to witness something engaging enough with a fresh message oriented subject dealt differently. But sharing the sad news, director Subhash Kapoor doesn’t deliver anything even close to the entertaining PGRO or JOLLY LLB and shockingly comes up with a film which has nothing fresh to say post its engaging opening sequence to say it all.
In support of the above point, sample this big blooper in its first scene itself.
The film begins with a private musical show and we have Amit Sadh coming on stage to crack a stale obscene joke (with a beep). Now just after that on the same stage we have a devotional song being sung by Arshad Warsi with red chunris tied to everyone’s forehead singing the lyrics “Kal Raat Maata Ka Mujhe E-mail Aaya Hai”. And watching this silly mess happening in the first 5 minutes itself it becomes pretty clear that this is not what was being expected from the same team unfortunately.
Moreover the fact that the promoted identities of both Amit and Arshad as small time stage performers have nothing to do with the film’s actual script (after the initial song sequence), becomes another big drawback for the project, since that exactly was the key point making its trailer interestingly different and promising. In other words, the audience expecting a blast with reference to some stage performances reminding them of the small hilarious insertion in Dibaker’s OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE would be hugely disappointed since the film is not at all about that in reality.
(Spoiler’s Ahead)
Anyway moving ahead, as soon as we finish with the opening 15 minutes, GUDDU RANGEELA fast turns into the same routine fair revolving around two people kidnapping a young girl (falling into a trap laid), their long time rivalry with a flashback, the girl having her own plan to take a revenge from her sister’s husband, a political career at stake due to a secretly recorded cd, love blossoming between one of the kidnappers and the girl, the goons catching them all finding the mole and then the climax with big bomb blasts and guns coming out of nowhere strictly following the same seen before routine ruining it all. In fact with a heavier second half pulling the film further down, the basic plot (and its few one liners) reminds you of several similar movies ranging from SHOLAY to FARGO, LOVE KE LIYE KUCCH BHI KAREGA and lot more made on related subjects.
But wait, being a Subhash Kapoor film we do have a decent message here and two novel insertions in the script too that were never seen before in a Hindi film till date giving the director his deserving due.
As far as message is concerned, Kapoor plays it real well bringing in the controversial Khap Panchayat issue clearly & boldly with the impressive Ronit Roy portraying the baddie. But a message actually works when it successfully manages to reach the viewers through an equally hard hitting narrative. Sadly here it gets lost in the routine script and doesn’t make any long lasting impact on the viewer walking out of the theatre (working against the noble motive).
Mentioning the two ‘never before’ scenes in the film, as a positive one GUDDU RANGEELA has a fabulously shot sequence where a group of saffron-dressed sadhus are playing soccer with the reference of Messi and more names making it a great sight. But as a negative, the film has an extremely shamefully vulgar dialogue making a clear offer to the girl for sexual favours as never heard before in a Hindi film in such a straight manner. Probably the censors were sleeping while that line was being said or possibly they heard it all wrong not getting to its actual hidden meaning in the sequence.
As a director, Subash Kapoor perfectly catches the local feel of the subject as required but is not able to get the writing as sharp and fresh as expected. Many of the silly, overheard jokes cracked with the reference of a certain Mr. Singh, reveal the biased mindset of the writers and its really strange why Kapoor selected such a rotten subject for his next film to be honest.
Luckily the director gets saved by his chosen actors performing sincerely, led by the supremely effective Ronit Roy instead of Arshad. Playing the village demon, he is intense, he is tough, highly believable and spells terror on the screen just perfectly. Arshad Warsi once again performs a ‘done-before’ kind of role with a visible ease, entertaining the viewers in the first half. But Amit Sadh slowly gets into his character in the later part of the film only doing fairly well. Aditi Rao Hydari looks beautiful in a confusingly written role having nothing to do towards the end along with the other lady. However in the supporting cast, a big comic support comes from Rajeev Gupta as the careless cop, Dibyendu Bhattacharya as the middle man goon and Brijendra Kala in an entertaining cameo as always.
The soundtrack hasn’t got much to say other than the “Mata Ka E-mail” track, whereas background score truly lifts up some key sequences as required. Cinematography & action remains average but the editing could have been much sharper resulting in a shorter length.
Overall, this is neither GUDDU (a Shah Rukh Khan dud), nor RANGEELA (a Aamir Khan hit). This lies somewhere between them sliding more towards GUDDU with a message that fails to reach the masses due to a routine script. Still the film might perform better in the smaller centers as compared to the metros due to its local feel of the subject.
Rating : 2 / 5
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