Gulaab Gang

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.

GULAAB GANG is a political thriller directed by Soumik Sen, starring Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla.

The film revolves around how a woman named Rajjo (Madhuri Dixit) started the Gulaabi Gang, who fight to prevent injustice to women, and teach education to children for free. However, the Gulaab Gang gets compromised with the entrance of the corrupt politician, Sumitra Devi (Juhi Chawla).

Gulaab Gang had gone through a lot of controversy near the release date, and in addition to that, the trailer and soundtrack hadn't quite pleased the critics. That being said, the film was only recognized due to the fact that two of the most iconic actresses in Bollywood were sharing the big screen together.

And Gulaab Gang pretty much delivered what we expected in terms of acting. Madhuri Dixit gave a stellar performance but Juhi Chawla clearly overpowers her, playing the film's antagonist. But the film does have many flaws. Firstly, the plot isn't very steady as it tries to focus more on how the Gulaabi Gang operate without having any real plot to help the audience refer to what's going on. It is that same reason why we aren't really on the edge of our cinema seat, wondering what is going to happen next. Juhi Chawla is only introduced a few 20 minutes before the interval, and it is only then where the real (I think) plot begins. One more problem was that Juhi Chawla didn't quite have much screen time compared to Madhuri Dixit. That being said, she is STILL able to overpower Dixit's acting, but there should have been equal screen time for both the lead casts. Since the film is dedicated to women's rights, you could see it does quite live up to the main reason why the film was made, however, the plot could have been better. Also, the film tends to be a bit slow, so everyone may not like it for the way it drags its story.

So, in conclusion, GULAAB GANG is quite an okay movie. If you're a die hard fan of political flicks, you might just find this movie good. If you're a die hard fan of Madhuri Dixit or Juhi Chawla, you too might enjoy, purely because the acting keeps this film together. The film tries to be original, but at times, you do tend to feel that it is one of those masala flicks trying to be serious but ends up not being. The film had a lot of potential, which you could say was quite wasted... however, it being dedicated to Women's Day, I will give this film credit for trying to get the message through that women are people and not objects, except in a more violent way to attract all types of audiences.

GULAAB GANG- 5.5/10

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.

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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By showing women empowerment as a solution to thwart the patriarchal anarchy prevalent in some (many) parts of the country. Based in Uttar Pradesh, Gulaab Gang goes on to talk boldly about the times of the original Gulaab gang, a vigilante group concerned with achieving righteousness through violence.

The plot conveys quite a good message, two of which can be absorbed: one, that women power is the need of the hour to help the oppressed & two, that even women can get corrupted by power. Madhuri Dixit's portrayal does a greater impact on-screen, while I am disappointed with Juhi Chawla who decided to flash her white pearls throughout the movie defining a stupid air as a minister.

While the action sequences are good enough to entertain, the writing is flawed. It only shows the moments of culmination. What about the terrible lives they themselves lead? No insight into the inside story of the gang members. Showing just two instances of a rather unbelievable side-story troubled me.

But, I'm not complaining. The writers also had few good ideas that is visible; the dialogs are bold but Bollywood still hasn't learned to edit their songs properly. What, 4 or 5 songs? That is too much. I could get bored, but the fast-paced story-line kept me hooked.

BOTTOM LINE: A watchable crime drama, showing relatively new characters, and at least snubs the age old fashion of having a male lead protagonist. It works.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO

Violence: Very Critical | Alcohol/Smoking: Very Strong | Nudity: Very Mild | Gore: Mild