Johnny Gaddar : Movie Review

If you have read my other posts you would have hardly found any mention of cinema, let alone a full blown movie review. Which is where this becomes more special. This movie is enthralling to the say the least, and by far one of the best things doing the rounds of bollywood in recent times.

Johnny Gaddar starts with the story of a motley of five out to make quick money getting involved in a shady deal. In a span of four days they need to gather Rs. 2.5 crore and earn a 100% profit on that, with every putting up the same amount and thereby entitled to equal profits. The elder in the group is Seshadri (Dharmendra) who is the glue for the group. Due to him the club owner-cum-compulsive gambler Prakash (Vinay Pathak) tolerates Shardul (Zakir Hussain), a fellow crony and a snob. Then there is Shiva (Daya Shetty), the strongman in the group. And the new discovery - Vikram (Neil Nitin Mukesh, grandson of the singing maestro Mukesh of yesteryears), who is the youngest in the group there to earn the fast buck.

All goes fine till the money is gathered and given a send off to purchase the loot. And then all goes spine tingling. Each frame keeps you guessing, wanting you to make a prediction for the next twist. And when the actual plot unfolds you are left wondering why you missed that angle and you curse yourself. In end you just begin to accept the brilliance of direction in the movie. And no less should be expected when a movie derives its inspiration from James Hadley Chase and Amitabh Bachhan's relatively unknown "Parwana". One request: don't fall off your seats as you go wow with every murder that takes unfolds in the movie.

The plot holds on very nicely and the performances are really good. Just that amount of shock and incredulity on every one's faces to convince the characters in the movie as well as keep the audience in the loop. Besides the main cast, Rimi Sen delivers the role of Mrs. Shardul a.k.a. Twinkle very well. This lassy gal is learning it seems. And Ashwini Kalsekar is all powerful performance for the small part she has. In fact all the supporting cast has done their roles optimally.

The director Sriram Raghavan has done a very good job of the movie. And I loved the camera angles and the edits (I think it is called cinematography in the broader sense). And the background score beautifully matches the sequences (yes, that is all the music that is there, except for the ending score).

Perhaps this review is a tad too late in coming but I recommend you to definitely find time for it. One of the best in recent times that I seen to come out of bollywood. The money and time spent is worth every penny.