Gunday
2014 · Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar
Original language: Hindi
- action
- crime
- drama
The story
The lives of Calcutta's most powerful gangsters - Bikram and Bala, changes when Nandita enters it. Then a counter-force takes charge and a thriller unfolds.
What it’s like
Coal-dust blacks and warm ochre light, with rain-slicked Calcutta streets and the grime of the docks at dusk, give this a hot, saturated, slightly romantic look. The camera moves with energy: quick cuts, sweeping crane shots, and big frames of crowds and machinery, with the boldest set piece a fight across a speeding train's roof. The score is loud and brassy, with lush romantic songs threaded between the thumping action cues. The tone swings between swagger, sweet longing and hard-edged menace, and the pace is brisk and unapologetically overheated. Violence is frequent and stylised, with gunfire, brawls and some blood, though it is played more for spectacle than horror, and there is no graphic sexual content. Its people are two rough-edged friends whose loyalty is tested by a woman who comes between them, and the story's emotional weight rests on that bond. It suits a loud, indulgent night in with a big screen, and viewers who enjoy heightened Bollywood melodrama and high-octane action.
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