Johnny Gaddar

Whenever I go to watch some movie in a hall, I gauge its interest quotient by looking at the time i took to take out my cell and start playing silly games on it. In Manorama, I was restless after 45 minutes (maybe because i didnt smoke in past 3 hrs) while in Dhamaal, most of the time i was busy with my cell. In the case of Johnny Gaddar (JG), my cell was in my pocket for good 95% of the movie. That should tell how gripping its story is, even though during the end i got restless(bored would not be a right word for this movie). Most of the thrillers are based on who dunnit or why dunnit, even nearly all the heist movies are based on the formula of how dunnit but JG stands apart amongst all these. Most of the viewers with intelligence level greater than that of a new born baby would have got the idea that who is JG by looking at the trailers itself . The director also shows no signs to conceal who is gaddar in first half an hour of the movie itself. Even we are told about how dunnit portion in the first half only!!( An average K-series tv director takes atleast 90 episodes to show this stuff :P). Second half of the movie shows the struggle of the gaddar and how one crime leads to another. Its during the later part of the second half that the movie seems to drag along and you wish that the director would have done something better.
The movie borrows many scenes from various movies and whats good is the fact that director is totally unapologetic about it. Parwana (Do watch this AB, Navin Nischol starrer if u havent) is mentioned more than twice in the movie. Homage to Vijay Anand and Chase is apparent throughout the movie. To top it all there's one scene where Dharam Paji says, "Aisa kuchh to Scarface me bhi tha na!!". Now thats known as coming of age homage.
Coming to the things that I loved in JG; First and foremost , the opening credits. That was creativeness maximized and even after watching the whole movie, the thing that I loved the most remains the opening credit. Then comes Vinay Pathak , this man seems to hit boundaries on every delivery he gets(ya there are some dot balls like Buddha Mar Gaya, about that some other day). Last week it was Manorama, and he betters it by giving yet another awesome performance in JG. In his last scene when he knows the truth about JG and knows his fate next, we can literally feel what Prakash (his character's name) is feeling at that moment. Nowadays even Om Puri sahab can not do that magic. Zakir Hussain comes next on my list. He was typecast earlier as sincere looking(idiot inside) villain by RGV in Sarkar, Shiva and some other RGV movies which i'll never see but here he is given full chance to prove his acting skill and he come out with flying colors( somewhat similar to the printed shirts he is made to wear in JG :P). Neil Mukesh looks impressive in his debut but his dialog delivery seemed patchy in some scenes and he lacked what some call chemistry in the scenes with Rimi sen. During most part of the movie his facial expressions remain more or less same but I would give benefit of doubt to him as all these acts suit his character in the movie. Even if he doesnt "act" in few more movies still his future looks bright thanks to his great looks(Common John is doing the same!!). Background score of the movie is rocking and sometimes takes back to 70's. DharamPaaji is good in parts but why did the director give him English lines when he looks soooooo good speaking Punju-hindi/Urdu. Mr. Raghwan should have taken some cue from Anurag Basu who although showed Dharam paji as an NRI but still all his dialogs in Metro were in Hindi/Urdu. (Even the letter that he wrote to Nafisa was in Urdu). Rimi sen is forgettable once again. Only an actor of her caliber can do such poor job in a role which didnt require any histrionic. Supporting cast includes Vinay Ptahak's wife (Ashwini Kalsekar) who is simply brilliant but I felt she overdid herself in the last scene. Scenes between Vinay and Ashwini are not only written brilliantly but these two seasoned performers have shown that how good scenes on paper are made better on screen. Govind Namdev overacts in his short cameo and even his southie accent is on and off throughout his cameo. It seems he thought that he will sleepwalk through the role but surely he falls flat.
The pace of the movie is just fine, neither too racy, nor too sluggish. All thanks some crisp editing. The DoP has done some brilliant job and some of the shots look really good. The way music is included in the movie shows the director's music sense. One last thing for the dialog writer: Bhai kya dhansu dialog likhe hia, agar main yeh movie single theater cinema hall me dekh rah hota to seeti zaroor bajata.
This movie is worth watching, once atleast.
---Dubey