Gulaab Gang

Soumik Sen's 'Gulaab Gang' released amidst some controversy especially the lawsuit it faced from real Gulabi Gang leader Sampat Pal. After seeing this mess of a film I completely understand why. Of course, when the lead actress Madhuri Dixit describes it as her 'Dabangg' (another overrated awful movie) one pretty much knows what to expect: that this wouldn't be a film that intends to depict the Gulabi Gang and tell their story but just another meaningless good versus evil 'masala' flick masquerading as something that depicts and supports women's rights. Even the producers shamelessly throw in the disclaimer that the movie is entirely fiction. Okay.

There are several songs (ranging from mediocre to awful) and dances. Yes, Madhuri does dance and I doubt she'd ever do a film where she isn't required to dance. After all, she's a much better dancer than actress and here she fails to have an effect. Sen's 'Gulaab Gang' (should have been titled Madhuri's Gang) are all good looking thin women with nice makeup. Occasionally, they swing their hips to music, stand erect looking indifferent or jump around with domestic weapons. Madhuri also gets to do some Kill Bill-Matrix style action sequences (which are mostly shot in slow motion because Bollywood thinks that's cool).

Moreover, the references to Madhuri Dixit the star (and her steamy numbers from 80s movies) are painfully evident. This film was supposed to be about the real Gulabi Gang and not Madhuri the hero. But enough on that. Even otherwise, it's all done so over-the-top. A shootout final? Really? Is this 'Sholay'? The sequences of Rajjo's childhood are laughably bad. Alphonse Roy's cinematography is decent but Sen's script and direction are messy. The film lacks a consistent narrative. The tongue in cheek dialogue appears forced at times.

The only interesting thing about the movie are the Sumitra's sequences especially those with Rajjo. In fact, the Sumitra character is way more interesting than the formulaic (super?)hero. It makes the viewer wonder about her background, what made her into this ruthless power-craving monster. She's clearly a sociopath who's managed to get away with so much all those years.

And of course, Juhi Chawla is transcendent as she steals every scene and is the only reason why the film is even watchable (despite limited screen time). Of the supporting cast Tannishtha Chatterjee and Priyanka Bose stand out. Divya Jagdale is quite loud. Overall, 'Gulaab Gang' is silly. It, very noticeably, tries to milk on Madhuri's former stardom and the growing recognition of the real Gulabi Gang, with it's supposed 'feminist message'. No.

After watching the movie on the first day of its release, I was eager to read the reviews. But i was shocked to learn that critics have rated this film as average to poor. If you watch a film wearing magnifying glasses you will surely find errors in every film. But this film, which is made with such conviction surely deserved better reviews. The highlight of the film is its star cast. Juhi Chawla is excellent as the evil politician. She brings so much life into the diabolic character that you get goosebumps whenever you see her on screen. Juhi is totally believable as as a malignant and immoral lady. Madhuri too has acted well, but something was lacking in her characterization , due to which this does not make one of her memorable performances. Rest of the cast is also good. The actresses who played madhuri's associates have delivered a great act. Despite having no male lead actors, the film is thoroughly entertaining. It is thrilling to watch the confrontation between Madhuri & Juhi. I wish the critics had set aside their double standards and watched the movie from audience's perspective. This film is far better than multi million grossing films which i feel are making fool out of the audiences.

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.

The early 90's of Bollywood was ruled by gorgeous and talented Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla,Karisma Kapoor who set the screen on fire with their charisma and versatility in acting. Gulab Gang will blow your mind with powerhouse performance by Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla.

Gulab Gang talks about the right of education , freedom , speech of women in the village of UP. Rajjo ( played by Madhuri) leads the gang and fights for crime against women. Her path is vehemently blocked by shrewd and crooked politician ( played by Juhi Chawla). They face-off each other in the battle of guts and glory.

As a first time director, Soumik Sen does a decent job of bringing two veterans and extracting extraordinary performance from them. The movie is exceptional in the first half with few moments like introduction scenes of Madhuri and Juhi , confrontation between them and shutting down then entire office of local office are definitely applauding. However, the second half is messed up completely with so many potholes in the script and not so convincing climax as if the director was in hurry to complete the film. Cinematography is outstanding. Art direction is decent. Background score is good. Music is a big letdown. In fact, it was not required at all. Madhuri Dixit outshines as Rajjo. She will remind you of Janki from Lajja where she played similar strong-headed character. She excels in dialogues and is brilliant in the action scenes. You will probably remember Juhi Chawla as chirpy and bubbly next-door-girl characters she played in various film but you will be taken in for surprise as she plays the negative role with aplomb. She emotes expressively through her eyes with devilish charm.

Overall, decent flick where Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla shines in this political drama. Good 3/5

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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.