When the original Gulabi Gang
leader, Sampat Pal took Anubhav Sinha’s film, Gulaab Gang to court, the makers
said that the film is not based on her. That’s
quite true. Only the title is similar minus an ‘I’. Plus the pink saree is a
6-yard sham.
Rest is Bollywood bunkum as
unbelievable as a politician’s election speech.
The film is a disgusting mish
mash of pink sarees, awkward fight scenes with warrior women using laathi,
sickles and axes, loud, dramatic dialoguebaazi cashing in shamelessly on to two
yesteryear, ravishing Yash Chopra heroines.
When Rajjo(Madhuri Dixit) was
a little girl, nothing could drag her away from the Madhopur village school and
her books. Not even her mother’s relentless beatings. She grows up to be a
leader of a gang of women who fight for the helpless. These include a victim of
domestic violence (Tannishta Chatterjee, suitably natural) who is converted
into becoming a ‘gulaabi’.
When the village collector
shuts down the electricity until he is paid a bribe, the gang of women round up
his office and lock him up inside until the electricity is back. It is another
matter that Rajjo is not shown as Rajjo, the feisty and crude gang leader but
as the sexy and sometimes dignified Madhuri
Dixit who dances around bonfires in a pink cotton sari and low back blouse with
her gang of manicured women. Even when she teaches school kids, they want to
recite ek do teen, to which she gives
that knowing, secretive smile of the young ‘Tezaab’ girl who stole millions of
hearts with her dance to a numerical song.
Thankfully, things get better
the moment, her opponent; Sumitra Devi (Juhi Chawla) walks in and how. Her lips
constantly curved in a half manipulative, half sweet smile, she arrives at the
village to gather votes. In one well orchestrated scene in the otherwise badly
directed film, a defining moment of Rajjo’s power over Sumitra’s is shown
nicely when Sumitra stands with folded hands, waiting for cheers from the crowd
who are silent for a moment until Rajjo walks past and they start cheering for
her.
Juhi shines in her moment of
no glory. Every time she is on screen, her impeccable dialogue delivery is a
delightful surprise, especially when she starts on a honey dripping tone with
“prem ka matlab samajhte hain aap?” and then snarls,”GHANTA samajhte hain.”If
only she had cut down on her lip chewing in an attempt to look malicious.
Madhuri manages to hold her
own when she has her moments, very much in keeping with Prakash Jha school of
dialogues. She pulls off lines like “sangathan
main shakti hai, akele main aapki phat ti hai” like a pro. However, she is
made to run like a wild hunter and jump off vehicle tops with an axe in hand
and a killer look on her face a la Goddess Durga . It is a marvel that she agreed
to do it.
Much more fabulous actor
power is seen amongst the gang of women like Divya Jagdale, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Priyanka Bose who obviously
relish their meaty roles. Ms Dixit could have borrowed some tips on body
language from them.
While the film is rightfully as
violent in places, it turns downright gross when Juhi Chawla orders a woman
staffer to lift her sari so that a man has to crawl through. Is this the
producer and director’s idea of women empowerment?
What could have been a hot
pink drama of woman power amongst the casting coup of the year, unfortunately, is a dirty pink embarrassment, soiled by very bad direction by Soumik Sen.
Celebrating Women’s Day with
Gulaab Gang is not recommended at all.
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