Genre : Drama
Year : 2014
Running time : 2 hours 19 minutes
Director : Soumik Sen
Cast : Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Divya Jagdale
Kidwise : R
This film was rumored to be about the famous Gulabi Gang but isn’t, unfortunately. To see a film about the real deal, see this. In this film Madhuri plays Rajjo, an uneducated female activist who runs an ashram for women, where girls are educated, women taught skill and employment, as well as self-protection. Her sway in the village ensures that villagers accord her a healthy respect and even bring her their problems to solve. Rajjo and her band of pink saree clad women try peaceful resolutions before trying the violent one. Juhi is the Sumitra R, or Madamji, the local wily politician who’d like Rajjo’s support in winning the election. When Rajjo demurs in helping the corrupt woman, Madamji and her evil cohorts do their best to have her jailed and put away.
I had high expectations for this film, but they weren’t met. Although Madhuri and Juhi both do very well, the film suffers from an uninteresting screenplay and trundles along desultorily. Madhuri’s Rajjo, although earnest and fair in her mission, is prone to breaking out in rhythmic songs and dances – which takes away from the seriousness of the film’s message. Juhi’s character has some nice nuances to it. In one telling scene Sumitra, a widow, enquires from her aide about the insurance claims from her husband’s demise, and the aide replies that it has been slow since he didn’t die from natural causes. Then there is one grotesque scene, involving Sumitra’s female aide, which further shows us the crudity of the character.
Despite the great performances, the film is neither here nor there – it is neither a documentary with a factual rendering of events, nor is it an all out commercial entertainer. It attempts to tread the middle ground but is moored in far too many glib, easy and clichéd characterizations and situations to succeed; very been there done that. Gulab Gang appears a toned down 80s style good-vs-evil story without a satisfactory ending.
What stays with me after this film, is Madhuri’s luminous presence. She looks commandingly beautiful and carries herself with grace and assurance; quite the avatar of Kali. It is a pity that the film wastes her role in jaded, overdone scenes. Gulab Gang lacks freshness, originality and heart. It tries to give us a theatrical, filmi version of what it thinks activism should be; had this portrayal been truer this movie would have been one to watch. As it stands, meh!
Kidwise : This film gets an R/A rating because of the sleaze, violence and that one crude scene mentioned above.
