Review: Gadar 2

To avoid the weekend rush, I normally choose to catch the latest flicks during the weekdays.

This time around, I decided to watch Gadar 2.

Sunny Deol has returned to the silver screen with a bang — the last major hit being Yamla Pagla Deewana in 2011.

Any 'mass' movie has to be watched in a single-screen cinema hall. But due to a limited number of such halls, I decided to catch the most economical seat available at a nearby multiplex.

The last time I was this excited to watch movies without reading any reviews in advance were on handful occasions — Uri: The Surgical Strike, Kantara, KGF series are some names that come to my mind immediately.

Here is my quick take on the whole experience, and some takeaways from the movie:

Hits And Misses

Despite all the misses, the last 20 minutes make it for a worthwhile watch.

It is safe to say that the action scenes involving Sunny Deol received the loudest cheer from the audience. Even at 65, Deol has managed to master the action sequences with ease.

While the chemistry between Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel in the movie is somewhat lackadaisical, the Utkarsh-Simrat duo manage to create some sparks on the screen.

However, many in the audience felt that the romantic bits between them was unnecessary, and resulted in the movie being dragged to nearly three hours long.

Utkarsh Sharma and Sunny Deol are at their best when the father-son duo take on the Pakistani forces towards the end. The loudest cheer undoubtedly came from the audience when Tara Singh's hand reached for the hand-pump.

The editing could have been a lot better. Even minute errors like poorly executed transitions from one shot to the other can be identified by anyone who has a pair of eyes.

Why Are Movies So Lengthy?

Before watching Gadar 2, I had a chance to see Rajinikanth's latest film Jailer on the big screen.

While there is nothing more entertaining than watching the 'thalaivar' flip a cigarette into his mouth in style, the running time of these mass-movies touching nearly 180 minutes cannot be justified with any good excuse.

Similarly, Gadar 2 has a running time of 170 minutes and one cannot help but endure the torture some directors lay on the audience. Especially when Anil Sharma has not induced a lot of excitement the audience were hoping to have in the process.

This dampens the mood initially, but slowly picks up as Sunny Deol enters the scene where a firing between the Indian and the Pakistani forces is taking place.

The absence of Sunny Deol towards the middle leaves Utkarsh with a huge responsibility of having to carry the whole movie on his shoulders — which I think he tried to, to an extent. But these vacuums created in between certain shots make for an unpleasant viewing experience.

Poor Direction Plays A Spoilsport To Paaji's Class Act

If Anil Sharma needs a bridge-course in direction, he should watch his own prequel.

From the opening shot to the part where the plot thickens (towards the end of the first hour), the movie seems directionless. The introduction of the main characters does not induce any major enthusiasm, and if one is unlucky with the crowd, the silence can be deafening.

While many criticise the screen time given to Utkarsh Sharma and Simrat Kaur, there is a certain chemistry to the on-screen couple. Ameesha Patel has nothing but frowning scenes throughout the movie, and has far less screen time in comparison to the junior actors.

This somehow makes the imbalance more visible, and perhaps the director's attention to details like this would have made the experience of watching a nearly 170 minutes movie a better one.

The one hand-pump scene with Sunny Deol and an action scene around that time has to be the best 20-odd minutes in the movie. The expressions on the audiences face clearly spoke for themselves. Without a doubt, it is Deol who saves the movie through and through.

The Setting

The first Gadar movie was released at a time when tensions with Pakistan were at a historic high. Today, Pakistan does not occupy even a tenth of the mind-space of the average Indian.

On its part, the film does not (and rightfully so), bother to promote 'harmony' between the two countries, like some critics hoped movies would. This, like many other movies, presents an experience that is drawn from the accounts of many, like Boota Singh, in this case.

Verdict

With Gadar 2, OMG 2 and the success of Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, Bollywood has shown early signs of revival and hope, but one can understand why the audience continues to be sceptical.