Review : Gangster

Rating : Above average (3.2/5)
Genre : Thriller/suspense
Year : 2006
Running time : 2.5 hrs
Director : Anurag Basu
Cast : Emran Hashmi, Shiney Ahuja, Kangana Ranaut

GANGSTER : NOVEL BUT DEPRESSING !

Gangster is the story of what else – a gangster and the people affected by his life. This film marks the debut of Kangna, who while pretty and shapely, is not heroine material. She does OK, in this churn-out from the Bhatt film factory. So, here’s the story :

Simran (Kangana) is a sad young woman, alone and addicted to alcohol in Seoul it seems, until she meets a night-club singer Akash (Hashmi). He pursues her, comforts her, and while she wants to be friends she hesitates in starting a relationship. One day she tells him why. She’s apparently the girlfriend of dreaded gangster Daya (Ahuja), and living alone once he’s out for work for months out of town. Akaash however convince her of his love, and they have an affair. Unfortunately Daya turns up and finds out about them, with disastrous consequences for Akash . . .

The film starts out with Simran in hospital, Akash badly wounded, trying to piece together the past from her shaken memory, and thus the film is told partway in flashback. From the way the film started and the path it seemed to be taking, I was expecting a placid, easy-to-figure out story, but the film has many unexpected twists and turns, especially in the second half which keep one guessing. Apart from that, the story is sad, sad, sad, and very darkly shot. So, it’s less like an “entertaining” film, and more like someone’s relating you their painfully sad story, and while I;m for dark, heavy, arty films, this one is really DEPRESSING. And really why would I pay for that ?

Direction is good, with some pretty shots making use of the Seoul skyline. Emran Hashmi is a decent enough actor, although absolutely NOT hero material – personally he gives me the creeps. Kangna is fine actingwise too. Ahuja because of whom I’d actually seen the film, is good, not spectacular as he was in “Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi”. The songs are really good, but 4 out of the 5 are borrowed tunes.

So, a good enough film, if you’re up for the heavy stuff.