Gulaab Gang

Too many jumps doesn't let the story flow in a linear manner. I understand that there are a lot of by stories that need to be established but the jumps are way too many and the first foray in watching the film is that of disjointedness.

And why the delay in embracing the protagonist? And when finally she emerges from behind the veil, the entry lacks voltage.

And then comes in the antagonist and she doesn't fail. And the face off well that doesn't fail either. Both stand their ground and it's electrifying.

It's not a question of who had the meatier or glamorous role but JC over shone MD. JC was the character and vice versa. I was seeing Sumitra in each frame through all her mannerisms whether it was biting her lower lip or having that clove (atleast that's what I think it was).

Considering that the film is all about the leader of the GG, the magic, passion and the rawness just don't emerge. She excels in what she's the most graceful at but otherwise she just sparked intermittently.

There was more than a kernel of a story and considering its the directorial debut of SS, a good effort. Much will be expected in the second outing though. The reason why I couldn't add in a better adjective is because of a number of reasons. The number of songs and their reasoning for them to be? And what's with the shoddy editing? Storytelling is an art - why butcher it?

All in all it was a valiant effort and as I mentioned earlier given the sheer talent of SS, one expects a whole lot more.

The combo of 2 of the Bollywood Top Divas is out in cinemas with a high frequency slogan "Women Empowerment". The film is full of undulating situations, emotions, action and drama. The acting skills of Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla are well suited to the overall plot. The supporting actors and actresses are well balanced. The talent of Juhi Chawla has been proved finally and she has been on the stronger side of her personality signature. Madhuri Dixit was too inspirational but the action sequence filmed on her gave a bit clumsy and super hero touch that looked a bit out of reality. The film should have been advertised and promoted more.The respect and dedication extended towards Madhuri in the film is sketchy and should have been elaborated a little. The storyline developed well in the first half but it looses its tempo and effect considerably in the second half. The situations and cinematography should have been more convincing. The dialogs were effective, fresh and innovative but were out of synchronization with the situation during 2nd half. The music remained out of soul, touch and melody. An item song at an appropriate situation could have paid rich dividends towards the commercial aspect. Overall the film did a good job and can make the audience stick to their seats. Bollywood is rapidly advancing towards women excellence in films and female actors are merely a show piece now. The film is dedicated to women empowerment and nothing could have been a better gift for women on this "Women Day" than "Gulaab Gang". An intense, vocal, bold and a must watch drama packed with impressive acting skills and dialogs.

This is one of those 'exception to the rule' films, which still gets rated as an essential watch despite being just average and having many major glitches in its execution to put it honestly. So getting over with its weaker points first, the film's basic plot is now widely known to all after the recent controversy over its title and the court case filed by the original Gulaabi Gang's leader Smt. Sampat Pal. A well made documentary on the amazing social work by this famous women group was released just a few days back. And though the film is not entirely based on the real life facts, still it is quite evident from where the idea has been borrowed for its basic theme.

Directed by Soumik Sen, GULAAB GANG is a sheer commercial adaptation of a serious mission wherein the women power is shown in full force with some well directed confrontation and action sequences along with many punchy dialogues. But since the director also had the knowledge of music, so to display it loudly he goes on adding numerous average as well as not-required songs in his narration right from the first few minutes to the last. Also including a clearly forced HOLI song in the final moments, in which Madhuri starts singing and dancing right after a pretty serious sequence in an utterly silly manner. So mainly due to this worst feature of the film (i.e. the songs), GULAAB GANG fails to make that desired impact which could have easily been achieved with just a theme song being played repeatedly.

The film begins at a very lazy pace coming to the point after a long introduction and the entertaining tension actually commences, once Juhi Chawla enters the scene with her cunning smile. Later it keeps moving as a bumpy ride with some worth applauding high points coming after regular intervals. However many routine seen before sequences hamper its overall pace post the intermission and then the all hurried up, illogical climax ruins the entire build up quite badly.

So then why I am still interested in recommending the film for all the Hindi cinema lovers willing to see something great? The reason is that yes GULAAB GANG turns out to be a clear masala interpretation of a relevant theme as expected, yet it gives you something unique and entertaining in few of its well conceived sequences focusing on the powerful clashes between the two veterans i.e. Juhi Chawla and Madhuri Dixit, executed like never before. Its indeed a treat to watch the stunning Madhuri walking with her solid attitude in slow motion along with the pumping music playing at the back. Plus the pleasantly shocking Juhi replying to Madhuri's every move with just a playful, teasing smile like a typical shrewd politician.

In fact here I would like to admit that though the project was widely promoted as a Madhuri Dixit film in its entire promotional campaign and print advertisements. But in reality its Juhi Chawla who makes a more killer impact in her first ever role of a vamp unarguably. Hence as an exciting surprise, here we have the beautiful Juhi in a completely new negative avatar played real well, offering a lot more than the viewer's expectations from the talented actress. In other words, where Madhuri's decent attempt struggles to make an instant connect due to her mixed language (accent) or all meaningless songs (dances), there Juhi takes the full advantage of this unintentional flaw and emerges as a clear winner in this on screen contest evidently.

Now if truth be told then the only person responsible for this visible imbalance in the two key portrayals is the music composer residing inside the body of the director only, who forced him to put so many songs & dance numbers into the film, which actually weakened the entire aura around Madhuri's strong character of a revolting lady ultimately. In other words, if only this film was made with just a theme song and stressing more upon the balanced depiction of both the clashing characters thoughtfully, it would have surely become a gem of a trendsetter in all possibilities, as it seems.

Technically speaking, GG has a splendid camera-work complementing the enjoyable actions sequences of the film superbly and one really keeps waiting for all the tension filled scenes of Madhuri-Juhi together, eagerly. The novelty of a woman standing against another evil woman, moving away from the routine stuff keeps the interest alive and its truly a treat to watch only for these specific scenes alone as mentioned before. In the supporting acts, Divya Jagdale performs a bit over the top in a forceful mode but both Priyanka Bose and Tannishtha Chatterjee are wonderfully natural. All the men featuring in their various negative roles are fine, especially the one playing the local politician forced to face the cruel humiliation.

In short, do give GULAAB GANG a chance, especially for the two veterans clashing with each other like never before and I am sure you would not regret the decision made, celebrating this year's Women's Day with Madhuri and Juhi together.

More than half the film went in just introducing Rajjo's Gulaab Gang and their ferocity. Overall it looked like a series of loosely-connected events (and random songs in between) and not much focus or time was given on the main conflict between Rajjo and politician Sumitra Devi. Closer to the end you could tell that the film was just trying to rush through some dramatic scenes.

Rajjo and Sumitra Devi were interesting characters. The acting by Madhuri Dixit and JuhI Chawla was good but not exceptional. Many of the supporting characters (Gulaab Gang members) also had very powerful roles.

Based on how the film was developed, it would have made more sense to make the film 1 hour longer to develop the conflict, or to keep it the same length but cut out the irrelevant scenes and use that time to develop the conflict. It would be even better as a short high-budget TV series.

By showing women empowerment as a solution to thwart the patriarchal anarchy prevalent in some (many) parts of the country. Based in Uttar Pradesh, Gulaab Gang goes on to talk boldly about the times of the original Gulaab gang, a vigilante group concerned with achieving righteousness through violence.

The plot conveys quite a good message, two of which can be absorbed: one, that women power is the need of the hour to help the oppressed & two, that even women can get corrupted by power. Madhuri Dixit's portrayal does a greater impact on-screen, while I am disappointed with Juhi Chawla who decided to flash her white pearls throughout the movie defining a stupid air as a minister.

While the action sequences are good enough to entertain, the writing is flawed. It only shows the moments of culmination. What about the terrible lives they themselves lead? No insight into the inside story of the gang members. Showing just two instances of a rather unbelievable side-story troubled me.

But, I'm not complaining. The writers also had few good ideas that is visible; the dialogs are bold but Bollywood still hasn't learned to edit their songs properly. What, 4 or 5 songs? That is too much. I could get bored, but the fast-paced story-line kept me hooked.

BOTTOM LINE: A watchable crime drama, showing relatively new characters, and at least snubs the age old fashion of having a male lead protagonist. It works.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO

Violence: Very Critical | Alcohol/Smoking: Very Strong | Nudity: Very Mild | Gore: Mild