Guddu Rangeela

Guddu Rangeela is a 'hatke' film with the Khap panchayat and its misogynist "honour killing" mindset as the backdrop. It is not entirely a serious film as it also has some well-placed comedy in it.

MERITS of Guddu Rangeela

1 - Fine acting by Arshad Warsi & Ronit Roy esp. with the Haryanvi accent

2 - Pulsating & thrilling background music

3 - Interesting twists and surprises in the tale

4 - No cheap melodrama in acting or dialogues

5 - Very good pacing and build-up of the film

6 - Funny dialogues and funny characters are presented very well and these "merge" very well with the story (without looking "forced")

7 - Great speech by wife of Arshad Warsi on the hypocritical and misogynist mindset of the barbaric Khap Panchayat

DeMERITS of Guddu Rangeela

1 - The ending is horribly melodramatic involving bloody fights and shoot-outs between the bad guy and the good guy! The kind of scene you will get to see in a 70s or 80s film. (It seems Subhash Kapoor ran out of ideas and decided to end the movie in this totally cheap way)

2 - Amit Sadh & Aditi Rao Hydari got married, but this was not shown properly at all. It was shown, after the film ended, in a totally flimsy and casual manner in a series of visuals which also included film-shooting scenes.

What rubbish is this!

3 - Aditi Rao Hydari's sister committed suicide unable to tolerate a brutal husband (Ronit Roy). And then we see Aditi visiting Ronit's house and living there, with the clever idea to secretly record his bedroom activities with a prostitute.

What looks totally unrealistic is that Ronit welcomes her (the sister of his wife with whom he never had any previous relationship) to the house by warmly embracing her!

Director is himself writer too. He was so confused about this movie that should he treat is like a comedy or serious film. Yeah, Issue was serious but approach was confused. He tried to stuff comedy in action scenes too without thinking about the gravity of screenplay. Even promo and title were promising comedy and melody with slight pinch of action but movie could not offer anything due to its bad characterization. A normal orchestra singer turns into a super fighter with extra skills of shooting as well muscle flexing in climax!! A brutal person, who makes sure to kill every couple who go against the marriage system of Khap Panchayat, leaves a wounded male. Writer even didn't bother to clarify about his survival, which is the main plot of movie!! That brutal person first time shows his mercy to girl because makers have planned to take her in pre climax! Very bad characterization indeed. Screenplay is very routine. How can anyone thinks excuse of toilet for running away!? Gone are the days of such lame imagination. Film's look is very real but characters are typical fake. Locations establish some seriousness but characters try to cater comedy. Outcome is irritation. Love song is better than the love track. How one can establish love by boys saying sad story to girl and then she offers shawl to come him inside because its cold!? Was he mentally retarded to go out in cold without any shawl or jacket!? Film shows as if only corn is available food in Shimla, always roasting on fire or taking its seeds out. Climax is so boring and irritating. Only two persons can take over the complete army of ruthless killers!? Even how male protagonist were sure that they have to be taken over to a rock crusher factory!? Performance wise everyone is just OK. Music by Amit Trivedi's "Mata Ka email" and love song "Sooiyyan Chubhne Lagi" are good.

Subhash Kapoor's previous feature Jolly LLB (2013) was a brilliant satire on the Indian judicial system which everyone could relate with. This time around, his topic is a current affair, but the execution is damp.

Starting by setting a stage for the two main characters, the film throws a couple of jokes (bad they are) at us with an intention that we don't walk out in the first ten minutes. Spurious haired Guddu (Sadh) teams up with his stout brother Rangeela (Warsi) to undertake petty, criminal jobs to fend themselves and God knows who else. Suddenly, they get entangled in a million-rupee deal involving the niece (Hydari) of an orthodox supremacist (Roy). And then the plot experiences a paradigm shift where nothing makes sense even if it is about addressing stark social issues like honor killing and rape.

The jokes warn us what to expect, but the warning turns invalid as you sight the reservoir of predictability the story is going into. There is enough substance and thrills to chew in the first half, but the second half goes haywire into some alien territory and never comes back. Before you know, the credits roll, and you will think at least it was not a drag.

It is basically a dynamic revenge story turning into a bloody drama with one badly handled twist. The Bihari language may interest some, but that's about it. Attempt at humor is average.

Warsi is good, and so is Sadh. Mouse-faced Hydari and the newcomer are average mostly because all they do is eat a bullet or an abuse. Roy is typecast as a vindictive villain with a fine performance.

BOTTOM LINE: Guddu Rangeela may be gudd (good) at heart and preaching and rangeela (colorful) in depiction, but it is definitely not near a good concoction to what it could've been.

VERDICT: 3 stars out of 10. Below average.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO

Violence/Gore: Medium | Vulgarity: Mild

#‎GudduRangeela‬ : Subhash Kapoor and Arshad Warsi are back with this film after the hit movie Jolly LLB. Amit Sadh and Aditi Rao Hydari are also there in this film. Story is basically on honor killing and revenge. Two orchestra singers, Guddu and Rangeela are brothers. Babali (Rangeela's wife) has been shot by Ballu Pahelvan. Both brothers are trying in the court for the justice to Babali. But, as Ballu has a political support, they can't do anything. But one day, they were requested to kidnap Ballu's sister in law. Till the interval, the comedy film becoming some thriller with lot's of twists and turns. Post interval, the only factor left in the film is revenge. Somehow the end looks similar like the end of Boss. Arshad Warsi is one of the underrated actor of Bollywood. He is simply perfect for the role. Amit Sadh suits in the character of Guddu. His equation with Arshad is enjoyable. Two policemen are simply fantastic. One must enjoy the bathroom scene where Amit and the policeman are playing Antakshari. The caretaker of the house in Shimla and Bangalibabu - these two characters are also enjoyable. I don't know why Aditi Rao Hydari doesn't get a good role. She is so talented that her charm spreads on the viewer's mind in just her 10-15 minutes role. Hoping best for her. The villain, Ronit Roy, is always a delight to watch. His expressions, his entry sequence, his anger, his voice, his style - everything is so perfect. Music is given by Amit Trivedi. Lyricist is Irshad Kamil. Mata Ka E-Mail is one of the decent song I've ever heard. Sooyiyaan is one of the best romantic songs in this time. The title track is just superb. And this is the only song which suits perfectly to the film. Comedy is not very high. All jokes are old. One can laugh only when Guddu-Rangeela are fighting in Hariyanvi language. The bathroom scene is the best one. Action is above average. But, background score is high, so action scenes look good enough. Cinematography and locations are extraordinary. I've never expected such a good work. My most favorite scene was when Arshad and Ronit point gun against each other, and there was a sun in the background. Story has many twists and turns. But, then also the film doesn't appear as a must watch. One can easily avoid it. I went for Shubhash Kapoor, because I loved Jolly LLB. I love this too, but, it's not better than the previous of Subhash. He can make better and he will do. But, this movie will not be a successful at the box-office. Those who think that this is a comedy movie, then they are wrong. It's on serious issue with some kind of entertaining factors. In the climax, Jai-Veeru type entry is a must watch. So, on the whole, if you are free in this weekend, go for it. Otherwise skip it, you will surely not regret.

'Guddu Rangeela' showcases  the falsified concept of honour ingrained within the minds of the Khap Panchayat and has sprinkles of humour throughout the 2 hours. It covers multiple genres – Action, Social Message, Suspense, Comedy and Drama.

Guddu and Rangeela work as orchestra members for weddings  who also make a secondary living as informants of thieves(They provide a money estimate of the wedding-homes they play at and the exact time to carry out the theft).

How they get embroiled in a kidnapping of a girl? How they become enemies with a local goon politician who acts like an adviser to the Khap Panchayats ?  And finally, how they take revenge and fight with the goon politician and his aides ?

These are the questions that the audience finds the answer to as the movie progresses.

20 mins. into the movie and I was blown away by the background score during the action scenes. Very few Indian movies use creative and innovative rock music for their action scenes and this movie is one of them. Being a rock-music lover and a guitarist, I was simply absorbed by the music and my expectation from this movie grew a bit.

The dialogues are probably the most important ingredient in this non-Khans/non-Kapoors small starrer movie. The non-Hindi viewers (watching through subtitles) will probably not be able to relish the movie due to non-comprehension of the original Hindi dialogues.

I liked almost all the characters in this movie but my favorite has to be Ronit Roy who plays the goon-politician. You can actually feel his terror and the cold-heartedness throughout the film.

The camera-work ranges between good to excellent and there are a couple of beautiful close shots. The screenplay is interesting and keeps the suspense part of the movie alive.

 

It was only in the last 15-20 mins. that I got disappointed with the director. At the end, the movie reeks of the masala Hindi movie action scenes where the logic goes out of the box.

 

In a nutshell, I applaud the intentions of the filmmakers to create a film which tries to convey a social message through drizzles of humour and without sounding too-preachy. This movie should reach out to a wider audience, especially those who don't wish to view out-and- out serious movies with low entertainment/leisure content.

 

The Friday evening show had only about 30 people in the cinema hall. I am guessing that the box office will pick up the collections from Saturday night when the people will get to know about 'Guddu Rangeela' from their friends/family/colleagues/ acquaintances.