Box Office: Gunday Leaves You Clueless But Cash Register is Ringing

Welcome to another action-crime thriller with big dollops of Bollywood masala that has earned a decent response at the box office. But if you are expecting a movie featuring Kolkata in the troubled 70s or a big-time gangster flick that reveals a human core, it will be better to skip Gunday. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, this gun-goon-and-gal flick has loads of twists and turns, follows a long-winded storyline and stars big names including Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Irrfan Khan. But that’s where its claim to fame should end unless you are ready to ogle some brawn and oomph, a pseudo-historical account of the times and a glimpse of the City of Joy as the background.

Gunday was released on the Valentine’s Day (February 14) and tries hard to explore the bromance between the male leads – the outlaw duo of Bikram (Ranveer) and Bala (Arjun). While that is commendable to some extent, the contrived love triangle involving Priyanka (Nandita) looks scarcely convincing and her main utility seems to be getting the eyeballs.

Yet, the movie has done fairly well at the box office, netting around Rs 43.93 crore at home after the first weekend. Gunday has, however, failed to race past another action thriller, Salman-starrer Jai Ho, which earned around Rs 60 crore in the debut weekend. Overseas collections of Gunday stood at $2.16 million gross. But there was a drop in collection on the crucial Day 4 (February 17) and the movie netted around Rs 6.5 crore as per industry estimates. Still, we are seeing some steady traction and Gunday may soon enter the coveted Rs 100 crore club. The flick, made on an approximate budget of Rs 50 crore including promotions, has reportedly hit over 2,000 screens across India.

Coming back to the story, let’s have a close look at what makes Gunday kind of unpalatable. Interestingly, Big B, who had watched the film at its Mumbai premiere, told the media that it’s “an adrenaline-packed movie.” That’s true and Gunday tries to capture the saga of angry young men who get on the wrong side of the law on their way to a glamorised life of crime. Does it remind you of Deewaar? The broad theme of Gunday is not unlike that old classic but then, everything else has gone awry – be it storyline, acting, periodicity or dialogues.

For one, the entire journey of Bikram and Bala looks patchy. The movie fails to give us a realistic version of the metamorphosis they have undergone – from orphan kids (migrants from Bangladesh) to big-time coal mafias who are always on the run from the law. But in doing so, Ranveer-Arjun display loads of bromance; get involved in shirtless fights à la Salman Khan, and show off their biceps & waxed 6-packs (imagine that in the 70s) quite unabashed. Are they the new male eye candy, we wonder? But more than that, they are the brainless brawn type who can be easily trapped by the cops.

The duo duly falls in love with the gorgeous cabaret dancer Nandita (Priyanka Chopra) who obviously can’t be what she seems. So she turns out to be an undercover police officer, in league with ACP Satyajeet Sarkar (Irrfan Khan). A look at Nandita’s get-up makes us wonder whether Kolkata had ever seen such flamboyant fashion trends during that period. Still, Priyanka is playing the role of a seductress and undercover agent. So she must look lethal, even when she is clad in the traditional saree. In contrast, Irrfan does a commendable job and does the voiceover, too.

What you may love about this movie is the easy-flowing chemistry between Ranveer and Arjun, some good punch lines and Irrfan’s great acting. But the flick falls flat by the end as clichés abound and not even the suspense ending can save it. Protagonists/anti-heroes of this sort can attain a different height if the storyline and the characters are handled with subtlety and sensitiveness. But director Ali Abbas Zafar gives as something as crass and over-the-top as his earlier movie, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. And the outcome? As Mohar Basu of Koimoi says, it’s a “sexy show gone dull.” All because talented actors are made to struggle to find their rhythm in a cliché-laden plot.

Image: Indiatimes