Gulaab Gang Review

One Line Review: A multilayered woman v/s woman saga with the potential to create a bonfire.

Positive Points: Stellar performances by Juhi Chawla and Madhuri Dixit, Excellent direction, Power-packed dialogues, Women-beating-criminals scenes, Much realistic enlivening of the events actually happened in the society, Good music.

Negative Points: Didn't notice any!

Plot: Madhavpur. A small village in India. While the corruption is seeing golden days in India, a gang of women clad in pink sarees operates in Madhavpur. This gang is called as gulaab gang and it raises voice against the issues like injustice in the society, inflation, domestic violence, rape and the other harmful problems. This gang is lead by bold and beautiful Rajjo (Madhuri Dixit), who has the ultimate dream of women education in her eyes since her painful childhood, as the women education was considered as a crime in the village. The gulaab gang provides shelter to all those helpless women and gives them a ray of hope. Rajjo runs a small sanctuary in the village, where she imparts education to women for free. The gang members exercise their power by hook or crook to get the things done in the village like providing electricity, food and all. The village soon sees the season of elections coming nearer. A politician called Pavan Shankar belonging to Sarvottam Lok Dal party arrives to meet Rajjo for convincing her to make her gang promote their political party. The politician also shows false hopes of developing a girls' school in the village and much more. The son of this politician rapes one of the minor girls in the village and the politician starts to wipe out the issue.

Here enters the leader of Sarvottam Lok Dal party, Sumitra Bagrecha (Juhi Chawla). Sumitra devi is a cunning and ruthless politician, who believes in sheer personal benefit through power. Rajjo comes to meet Sumitra devi with lots of expectations to solve the issues and make the village a better place to live. Gradually, she comes to know about the cruel intentions of Sumitra devi. As the time progresses, Sumitra devi also learns about the rising popularity of Rajjo in the village and so she decides to shake hands with her by asking Rajjo to join politics. Sumitra devi gives offer to Rajjo to join her and taste the power. Rajjo instantly reads out her evil intentions and decides to contest the elections in the opposition of Sumitra devi. Now, the battle kickstars between two equally power-packed biggies that raises the curtain to unexpected events.

Direction And Other Technical Aspects: The director Soumik Sen has conceptualized an unparalleled chronicle, which highlights the noire world of politics. It would not be wrong if one will say the film is a face-off of today's political world. The well-intentioned narrative 'Gulaab Gang' aptly captured the game of politics and power. The tale progresses rightly by introducing the characters in the first half, then moving forward to uncover the social issues, the hindrances, the dirty game of politics and then unleashing the two opposite avatars of women in the second half of the film. Although the movie is peppered with Bollywood masala, it captures the real tale of women vigilantes in Bundelkhand, who fights for the social injustice. It rightly strikes the chord between drama and the real events. The director has handled a serious subject with great skills and by keeping it real as much as possible.

The movie stands out of the crowd due to the high octane action scenes in which women beat the criminal men to their death. The spectacular conversation scenes between Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla take the film to greater heights and make the film worth watching for the magical play of words. Albeit the fighting sequences are a great job, the combat of words by the characters steal the show. Some of the scenes like gulaab gang's punishment for the rapist and the introductory scene of Madhuri Dixit grab whistles and applause. Madhuri Dixit's never-seen-before action stunts like spinning top off the side of a truck and taking a high jump in the air and thrashing the throats of criminals, make the film a total paisa vasool and sets the mood of the flick. The dialogues that attract the attention are 'Rod is God', 'Upar wali jab deti hai chhappar phaad ke deti hai', 'Niche wali jab leti hai pataloon phaad ke leti hai', 'Jaise til me tel hai aur chakmak me aag, tera sai tujhme hai tu jaag sake to jaag'. Cinematography is excellent along with great editing and good background score.

Performance: Being a character-driven film, the character performances have a lion's share in the movie. The iconic diva Madhuri Dixit appeared in her totally new look in this film, as she depicts her emotions for helpless women, perform unmatched action sequences and also presents her graceful dancing skills. Juhi Chawla, who played bubbly roles in her earlier career span, emerges as a brainy, fox-minded politician.

The feisty Chawla has delivered a delightful performance as a cold-blooded politician that will surely enthral the viewers. Also, the political speech delivered by Juhi re-introduces the actress in her first time ever antagonist role. With apt facial expressions, perfect accents and wicked smile on the face, Juhi Chawla outshines Madhuri Dixit in the film.

The other actresses, who leave a lasting impression on the audience's mind, are Priyanka Bose as Sandhya and Divya Jagdale as Mahi. Two of them actually create the atmosphere with their excellent acting skills. The other star cast lent a good support.

Music: Music director Soumik Sen has come up with the tracks like 'Rang se hui rangeeli', 'Sharam laaj', 'Jai ho', 'Dheemi dheemi', 'Ankhiyon' and the title song 'Gulaab gang'. Out of these songs, the tracks like 'Dheemi dheemi' and 'Rang se hui rangeeli' sound soothing and melodious. The title track 'Gulaab gang' oozes the spirit of womanhood and is energetic.

Final Verdict: Although this pink saree and the sickle tale attempts to throw light on the plight of women in a certain district, the message it imparts is much more powerful and knows no boundaries. Loaded with lots of nail-biting moments and dialoguebazi, 'Gulaab Gang' is definitely a salute to womanhood. The film is a must-watch for seeing Juhi Chawla shedding her angelic image and stepping into the shoes of a cunning politician. Bravo!