Gaddaar review :
One of the finest heist movies made in Bollywood; Gaddaar was produced and directed by Harmesh Malhotra who collaborated famously with Sridevi in the '80s for the super hit Nagina (1986) and couple of other duds like Sherni (1988) and Banjaran (1991). Anyway, coming back to Gaddaar, it had a unique plot for its time where all the key characters were negative or with grey shades.
Seven chors pull off a difficult heist but one of them turns traitor (or gaddaar as the title goes) and runs away with all the money. The other six try to track him down taking help from another thief who stumbles upon their secret.
Gaddaar is thematically similar to many future Bollywood hits like Kaante (2002) and Johnny Gaddar (2007). Infact, Malhotra remade the same plot as Choron Ki Baaraat in 1980.
Of the cast, Vinod Khanna was trying to change his image from villain to lead hero in those days and Gaddaar was perfect suit for him. Veterans like Pran, Anwar Hussain, Madan Puri and Ram Mohan delivered fantastic performances. The relatively younger Ranjeet left an impression as the hot headed Babu. The lusty Manmohan got his mandatory rape scene. The plot had no place for a heroine but Yogita Bali did the best she could in her short role. Padma Khanna oozed sex appeal in her cabaret number.
Gaddaar is largely forgotten today as it wasn't so successful at the box office despite having the merits. It certainly deserves a watch. Specially for those who are Quentin Tarantino fans. See it folks and you will understand why!!
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni.
