Gambler

One of the most cheesiest Govinda movie I have ever seen with forgettable songs and elementary school level special effects. Storyline though borrowed from a malayalam movie was totally nonsensical. Govinda has an exaggerated style of acting which is suited for slap stick comedy movies only, as soon as he tries serious roles, his acting stands out like a sore thumb as in this case. This movie didn't do well when released in the 90s and is an embarrassment to Indian cinema in this age and time.

The name Gambler is kind of a misnomer for this film, which is kind of a remake of "Short time" and which also incorporates the Rambo character.

Cowardly but humorous and outgoing officer Dayashankar happens to nab notorious criminals by fluke, which wins him accolades but which also gets him into the bad books of the city gangs. Soon he less that he is ill and not going to live long; this and few other happenings transform Dayashankar completely, which is what forms the rest of the film.

There is good acting many a time, especially by Govinda, but which gets too overt occasionally. The editing work is poor, which I think was a major issue in many films of the 90s. Johnny Lever and Govinda put in their effort to make us laugh, which is at times successful. Dialogues are good. The film has a mix of comedy, action and drama. The portrayal of cop Dayashankar as a "Rambo" is however weak.

The Choreography of the film is excellent. And the songs are melodious and remarkable. It is the memory of the songs like the title one, Meri marzi and Stop that!! which made me wanna see this film.

At present this would be considered a childish film, but for the 90s, it should've been noteworthy.

Govinda has done several serious roles even when he did comedy post AANKHEN this is one of those films where he gets to prove himself as an actor

he film is a remake of SHORT TIME the initial scenes are ordinary but the scenes when Govinda coems to know about his sickness to the entire track of he trying to die on duty till Aditya revealing the truth are brilliantly handled

The problem with the film is that the film rests on clichés and crude scenes like the Govinda- Shilpa scenes initially and the dances which were added for Govinda's mass appeal

Also the villainy track especially Gulshan Grover track is badly handled The film ends too as a typical potboiler

Direction by Dayal Nihalini is good in parts but bad in parts Music is good, especially the title song

Amongst actors Govinda is as usual in comic scenes but excels in serious scenes, especially when he comes to know he has tumour and the entire scenes later and also his outburst with Aditya proves he can deliver much more Aditya too is very good in his part Shilpa Shetty is typical and irritates at times Raj Babbar is nothing great Gulshan Grover overacts, Mohan Joshi is unbearably loud the rest are adequate