New Delhi: 'Gumraah' is a complete package of a theatre film having the right blend of action, music, performance, drama, romance, suspense and thrills. Aditya Roy Kapur in dual roles with Mrunal Thakur and Ronit Roy, 'Gumraah' is filmmaker Vardhan Ketkar's debut directorial. And, an earnest debut that is.


Gumraah Review


'Gumraah' opens with an 'inspired by true events' disclaimer and then a card that says 'The Crime'. Following which, we see Aditya Roy Kapur brutally murder a man in his house. The opening credits song sequence follows which is underscored with a play on motion graphics. The title track is the opening credits song after which the chapter on 'investigation' begins.


Everything is a beat too quick in 'Gumraah', an element important for the thriller genre, but in the first-half particularly feels like a race against time. The pace gets better in the second half as the filmmaker feels more assured of his material. But, more importantly, 'Gumraah' feels like a film made for the contemporary fast-content consumption audience. Like a beat amiss here and there, and they would lose interest in the film.


Mrunal Thakur as a no-nonsense ASI is introduced at the crime scene, following which the tension between Ronit Roy (the senior inspector) is established. Aditya Roy Kapur is arrested and the film seems to begin.


'Gumraah' is a whodunit thriller with the ‘who’ rather interestingly known but yet to be identified between two identical twins ( Aditya Roy Kapur in dual role as Ronnie and Arjun) who are prime suspects. Prime suspects also because the police have a clear picture of one of them from the murderer's gallery.


Hero character introduction songs for both versions of Aditya Roy Kapur, the serious-brooding-office-going guy and the loud-brashy-clever type are well placed into the narrative.


What is of a major problem though is the filmmaker's interference in his own material. Why would a director try to lead an audience into a certain kind of thinking rather than letting them unravel for themselves who the killer is?  This is done with the use of murder shots being interlaced with the interrogation scenes involving Ronnie and Arjun. Almost repetitively till you can play the murder scene in your head with your eyes closed!


A fair observant eye that does not help spoon feed or manipulate the audiences could make an even better film.


Despite that, 'Gumraah' has enough to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. 


Aditya Roy Kapur in both versions of his character does a good job.Mrunal Thakur and Ronit Roy's characters are not so well-etched out though Mrunal does get some space in the second half to flex some acting muscles. 


Vedika Pinto has a small cameo and she does justice to her poorly sketched-out role.


The dialogue suits the genre, as does the design. 'Gumraah' is based in Delhi and Gurugram and the story feels well-placed in the region.


Interestingly, for a murder in Delhi and a film of this kind, the involvement of the media is left out. 


'Gumraah' is a much better film in the second-half. There is much more to it than just the plain interrogation in police custody, there is an inter-caste marriage angle and an ACP trying to frame one of the characters for personal revenge, a 'juwari  mother' angle, a girlfriend and family rivalry to layer the story and make it more than a just a murder mystery.


The edit looks much better with the constant back and forth movement between past and present without the hurried pace of the first half. In the way, action-sequences are shot, and the revelation done, the camera work is good in the second half. 


In fact, there is an action-sequence in the first half which also deserves a special mention. It would bring back memories of many 90s action flicks, a meta comment on genre perhaps, that as an audience one is likely to enjoy.


The background score is slightly over-the-top though it does its job in most parts. Barring the three songs in the film ,'Allah De Bande' feels cringe when placed in the scene it is composed for.


The climax of the film is all about the revelation and verdict. There is no high-tension melodrama there thankfully. However, the catharsis is achieved in a particular manner and justice prevails. What does pinch is how the woman inspector( Mrunal) is fooled because she gets 'emotional'. A no-nonsense police-officer gets lost in looks, and talks to the criminal on a personal level, losing all level of objectivity she was shown to be a master of earlier. Could 'Gumraah' be more typical than that?


'Gumraah' closes with case summaries of such crimes wherein two identical twins were accused but acquitted for lack of evidence in several countries. A knowledge-imparting disclaimer which cites the source of inspiration for the film. 


In all, ‘Gumraah’ is a complete entertainer and a ‘paisa vasool’ film you could watch in theatres this weekend.


Note: 'Gumraah' is the Hindi remake of Tamil film 'Thadam' which was released in 2019.