What Is the Story About?
Netflix’s new Indian original series ‘Guns And Gulaabs‘ is set in small town India of the nineties. The sleepy little town of Gulaabganj is a hotbed of crime, owing to its vast cultivation of opium. A big-ticket drug deal draws out the daggers amongst rival drug gangs.
At the centre of the chaos is canny cop Arjun (Dulquer Salmaan), lovesick mechanic Tipu (Rajkummar Rao), drug-lord Ganchi (Satish Kaushik), heir to his crime empire Jugnu Ganchi (Adarsh Gourav), and contract killer Chaar Cut Aatmaram (Gulshan Devaiah), and their rollicking shenanigans.
Guns And Gulaabs is created, written, directed and produced by Raj & DK, and co-written by Suman Kumar.
Performances?
Guns And Gulaabs is that rare show that hits bullseye in the performances department. The acting, in Guns And Gulaabs, is brilliant across the board, with not one actor hitting a single discordant note. Rajkummar Rao is simply terrific as the softie-at-heart mechanic Tipu, carrying the burden of his father’s legacy of crime. His comic timing is a sight to behold, as is his pathos-laden performance. Dulquer Salmaan captures all the attention whenever he is on screen.
Adarsh Gourav is superb as the reluctant crime heir, Jugnu Gachi. You can’t take your eyes off him for a single moment, in the frames he features in. But the pick of the lot is definitely Gulshan Devaiah as Chaar Cut Aatmaram. He delivers a stand-out performance, stealing the scenes he features in, with his sharp presence and crisp mannerisms. He is entertaining to watch, not to say, portrays his character with effortless skill.
One might think that the rest of the cast would pale in comparison to the stellar performances of the lead cast, but that is not so. The entire supporting cast of the series rises to the challenge. Vipin Sharma is superb as Mahendra, as is Manuj Sharma as Bunty.
Rajatava Dutta as Sukanto, Nilesh Divekar as Nadeeb, TJ Bhanu as Chandralekha, Varun Badola as Pratap, Tanishq Chaudhary as Gangu, and the late Satish Kaushik as Ganchi, among others, are all terrific in their short, sharp roles.
Analysis
Guns And Gulaabs is yet another fun and entertaining piece of storytelling from stellar duo Raj & DK. The pair has carved out a narrative style that is distinctly inventive, stunningly ingenious and all their own. Guns And Gulaabs is a fun addition to their sparkling repertoire.
The story of Guns And Gulaabs is hardly new or out of the box. In fact, It is anything but. The concept is not new by any standards – we’ve seen it umpteen times before – in movies and on streaming. But what makes Guns And Gulaabs an entertaining proposition is its superb execution, fun setting, umpteen twists that keep viewers on edge, and the brilliant performances.
Another stand-out element of Guns And Gulaabs is its fantastic characterisations. The show scores a perfect ten in characterisation. Each character is superbly etched out and finely nuanced, studded with hilarious quirks for each. The most striking among them is Chaar Cut Aatmaram, with his seven lives, evil laugh and stylish penchant for slashing his victims to death.
The performances are excellent. The attention to detail, the expressions of the actors, the way each scene pans out, tiny nuances that stand out – all these make the series a genuinely amusing watch. It has elements of everything – it is equal parts dark, edgy, funny, unpredictable, and yes, unusual. The climax, especially, is imaginative and twisty, keeping you glued to your screens, leaving you unwilling to even bat an eyelid, for fear of missing elements of the plot.
That being said, it’s now time to discuss all that’s bad in Guns And Gulaabs – the erratic pace of the storytelling, for one. For much of its runtime, the plot rises and dips erratically. It starts off well and ends spectacularly. But in between, and quite inexplicably, the pace drops like a ton of bricks, dragging and heaving its way forward. The tediousness of the plot pushes through, and you are compelled to hit the fast forward button several times.
Also, what’s with the pitch dark night time shots? The shoot-out scene at the hospital, several sequences in the climax, and then some more — all are so dark that you simply can’t make head or tail of what’s happening on screen. You just have to wait it out for the sequences to get over—and some light to shine through—to know what transpired in those scenes.
The overstuffed narrative is also a downer. Too much is happening, and all at once, making it a busy, messy, bloated narrative. Too many characters also add to the confusion somewhat.
Last, but not the least by any means, is the abominable treatment meted out to the female cast in the series. Not a single one amongst them has got a part worth writing about. Each of the three accomplished performers – TJ Bhanu, Shreya Dhanwathary and Avika Gor, has been handed inconsequential roles, with very little to do, and even less to say. Writers Raj, DK and Suman Kumar could very well have written at least one substantial part for a female cast member, only for the sake of inclusiveness, if nothing else.
To put it bluntly, the underwritten female roles in Guns And Gulaabs suck big time. And this issue of female underrepresentation definitely needs to be addressed, not just by the content creators, but also by the platforms that commission the content.
All said and done, Guns And Gulaabs is an entertaining watch, despite the predictable storyline and draggy middle. Give it a watch this weekend, for the superb performances and breezy vibe.
Music and Other Departments?
Aman Pant’s background music is brilliant, imparting a feverishly racy tempo to the narrative. It also makes good use of the rich musical repertoire of the Bollywood of the nineties. Pankaj Kumar’s camerawork is superb, elevating the storytelling by notches — except for the pitch black night time shots, of course. Sumeet Kotian’s editing is flawless. Parichit A. Paralkar’s production design is terrific.
Highlights?
The superb casting
The terrific performances The inventive treatmentDrawbacks?
Predictable plot
Overstuffed narrative, with too much happening, all at once Draggy in parts Abominably underused female charactersDid I Enjoy It?
Yes
Will You Recommend It?
Yes
Guns & Gulaabs Series Review by Binged Bureau
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