Quick Review : Gangs Of Madras
by Rinku Gupta
Directed by CV Kumar, as the title suggests, the film is about a war between two gangs and how an innocent couple become victims of thier machinations.
In brief, the story centres around a brave and feisty girl, Jaya aka Razia ( Priyanka Ruth) who converts to marry Ibrahim ( Ashok Kumar). He works as an accountant in a drug lord's office. She is unaware of the nature of his boss' job till the day Ibrahim gets shot in a police encounter. She learns that his boss wanted a scapehoat and tipped off some cops to shoot her husband by framing him in a drug dealing case, when they needed someone to show an encounter.
Shattered by the destruction of her idyllic world she now has only 1 highly ambitious and seemingly impossible goal. To eliminate the 3 top gang men responsible for her situation.
She goes to Mumbai to seek help from a rival gangster Boxie ( Daniel Balaji).
Does she achieve her goals? At what cost? Is she used as a pawn in the bargain?
Kumar seems to have gone all out to give his film a realistic touch. The blood bath, gore and level of violence is not for the faint hearted. It will definitely makes you squirm in your seat. Though these scenes are the mainstay of the film one does wonder if they had to be so graphic and detailed after all. But Kumar doesnt try to couch anything in filmi stunts and thats what makes the film true to the vendetta/ gang war genre.
The acting of Priyanka Ruth stands out and she needs to be given full marks for bringing conviction and credibility to the character. Her stunt scenes deserve special mention. When is the time one saw heroines taking on villains in full -fledged no -holds- barred action sequences in Kollywood? ( In Hindi, Taapsee's character in Baby and Naam Shabana comes to the mind).
The whole cast is well chosen, lending solid support to the screenplay. Ashok as usual does a good job. The screenplay keeps up the momentum and suspense. CV Kumar has not diluted the story with unnecessary melodrama nor comedy tracks. The nexus between the gangs and the powers -that- be is well brought out with enough twists to keep the interest high. The art direction lends a realistic touch to the proceedings. The bgm too lends raises the bar of trepidation and anticipation throughout.
On the flip side, the elaborate violent scenes can be tough to watch. Some of the situations the heroine is shown in while seeking revenge seem contrived. Similarly too with the Boxie character, manipulating things easily from Mumbai.
Overall, Kumar has written a feisty heroine character seeking vendetta ( and made it look credible) in a role usually reserved for male actors, and for this he deserves credit. For the elaborate homework and getting out of the comfort zone of lazy writing we see in many films nowadays, formulaic horror, rom-coms and ( filmi )action genres, Kumar's deserves marks. A rivetting watch.
Directed by CV Kumar, as the title suggests, the film is about a war between two gangs and how an innocent couple become victims of thier machinations.
In brief, the story centres around a brave and feisty girl, Jaya aka Razia ( Priyanka Ruth) who converts to marry Ibrahim ( Ashok Kumar). He works as an accountant in a drug lord's office. She is unaware of the nature of his boss' job till the day Ibrahim gets shot in a police encounter. She learns that his boss wanted a scapehoat and tipped off some cops to shoot her husband by framing him in a drug dealing case, when they needed someone to show an encounter.
Shattered by the destruction of her idyllic world she now has only 1 highly ambitious and seemingly impossible goal. To eliminate the 3 top gang men responsible for her situation.
She goes to Mumbai to seek help from a rival gangster Boxie ( Daniel Balaji).
Does she achieve her goals? At what cost? Is she used as a pawn in the bargain?
Kumar seems to have gone all out to give his film a realistic touch. The blood bath, gore and level of violence is not for the faint hearted. It will definitely makes you squirm in your seat. Though these scenes are the mainstay of the film one does wonder if they had to be so graphic and detailed after all. But Kumar doesnt try to couch anything in filmi stunts and thats what makes the film true to the vendetta/ gang war genre.
The acting of Priyanka Ruth stands out and she needs to be given full marks for bringing conviction and credibility to the character. Her stunt scenes deserve special mention. When is the time one saw heroines taking on villains in full -fledged no -holds- barred action sequences in Kollywood? ( In Hindi, Taapsee's character in Baby and Naam Shabana comes to the mind).
The whole cast is well chosen, lending solid support to the screenplay. Ashok as usual does a good job. The screenplay keeps up the momentum and suspense. CV Kumar has not diluted the story with unnecessary melodrama nor comedy tracks. The nexus between the gangs and the powers -that- be is well brought out with enough twists to keep the interest high. The art direction lends a realistic touch to the proceedings. The bgm too lends raises the bar of trepidation and anticipation throughout.
On the flip side, the elaborate violent scenes can be tough to watch. Some of the situations the heroine is shown in while seeking revenge seem contrived. Similarly too with the Boxie character, manipulating things easily from Mumbai.
Overall, Kumar has written a feisty heroine character seeking vendetta ( and made it look credible) in a role usually reserved for male actors, and for this he deserves credit. For the elaborate homework and getting out of the comfort zone of lazy writing we see in many films nowadays, formulaic horror, rom-coms and ( filmi )action genres, Kumar's deserves marks. A rivetting watch.
