Gulaab Gang

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

More than half the film went in just introducing Rajjo's Gulaab Gang and their ferocity. Overall it looked like a series of loosely-connected events (and random songs in between) and not much focus or time was given on the main conflict between Rajjo and politician Sumitra Devi. Closer to the end you could tell that the film was just trying to rush through some dramatic scenes.

Rajjo and Sumitra Devi were interesting characters. The acting by Madhuri Dixit and JuhI Chawla was good but not exceptional. Many of the supporting characters (Gulaab Gang members) also had very powerful roles.

Based on how the film was developed, it would have made more sense to make the film 1 hour longer to develop the conflict, or to keep it the same length but cut out the irrelevant scenes and use that time to develop the conflict. It would be even better as a short high-budget TV series.

The combo of 2 of the Bollywood Top Divas is out in cinemas with a high frequency slogan "Women Empowerment". The film is full of undulating situations, emotions, action and drama. The acting skills of Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla are well suited to the overall plot. The supporting actors and actresses are well balanced. The talent of Juhi Chawla has been proved finally and she has been on the stronger side of her personality signature. Madhuri Dixit was too inspirational but the action sequence filmed on her gave a bit clumsy and super hero touch that looked a bit out of reality. The film should have been advertised and promoted more.The respect and dedication extended towards Madhuri in the film is sketchy and should have been elaborated a little. The storyline developed well in the first half but it looses its tempo and effect considerably in the second half. The situations and cinematography should have been more convincing. The dialogs were effective, fresh and innovative but were out of synchronization with the situation during 2nd half. The music remained out of soul, touch and melody. An item song at an appropriate situation could have paid rich dividends towards the commercial aspect. Overall the film did a good job and can make the audience stick to their seats. Bollywood is rapidly advancing towards women excellence in films and female actors are merely a show piece now. The film is dedicated to women empowerment and nothing could have been a better gift for women on this "Women Day" than "Gulaab Gang". An intense, vocal, bold and a must watch drama packed with impressive acting skills and dialogs.

Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla, two big stars of the late 1980-90s, vied for top slots in an industry which has a common habit of pitting one star against the other. But they actually were so different. The former is a huge megastar, quite a cultural icon, charismatic and sincere in her screen portrayals, a stupendous dancer and amazingly beautiful. The latter is quirky, very beautiful and attractive, a natural performer known for her bubbly personality, and above all a gifted comedienne who later upgraded her talent with phenomenal performances in offbeat films. While later decades saw rivals of sorts often act together in films (see the famous Preity Zinta-Rani Mukerji pairing in many films where most of the time the former somehow got better parts), Dixit and Chawla never worked together.

And you would expect that when the time came to cast them together in a film, these two formidable ladies would be given something at least as good as much of the stuff coming out today in Hindi cinema. But sadly, the filmmakers took these two stars and, in a weird sort of choice, decided to keep the film in the 1990s in terms of both style and narrative as well as stereotypes that come with it. Gulaab Gang is supposedly based on the real-life vigilante female group Gulabi Gang. Now, I know that many consider this group of women quite heroic, but I wouldn't think of turning them into wild action stars on film. While the film has some great colour and cinematographic work, it is amazingly regressive in terms of filmmaking and the ladies can't help it enough. Or maybe they can? Well, partly.

So, Dixit's charisma is undoubted, and she sure is an actress who knows her stuff. She is very good here but then she is clearly not very good at picking her films. In an age when contemporaries have been able to enjoy the benefits of the changing face of Indian cinema and experiment with better roles, she picks a part which is supposedly based on a real-life figure but eventually is just a recap of countless roles played by Hindi film heroines in the 1980s and early 1990s. The action sequences are really ridiculous in their absurdity. It almost feels like Hindi cinema went a few decades back in a weird tribute to the horrendous films made back then. Worse even is the quality of the dance numbers, which do not exhibit the real dancing skills of the great dancing queen that is Madhuri Dixit.

Juhi Chawla, on the other hand, is tremendous. It's amazing how brilliantly she manages to maintain her famous, lovably vivacious persona while playing a monstrous woman so immoral and drunk with power, and make it feel so real. Her every expression is a sight to behold, and the hidden intentions in her smiles are quite chilling. It's a feat that only a natural performer like Chawla can achieve, of being both enjoyable and quite intimidating in this otherwise stereotypical part, and she is doubtlessly the film's ultimate star whose absence from the screen makes the show almost worthless. Between the fake action sequences and the clichéd proceedings, she becomes Gulaab Gang's sole redeeming quality. You almost love to hate her. Watch this film for her ceaselessly entertaining villainous turn.

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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