Corruption, so it seems, ain't dying anytime soon. Up until then, it only seems plausible that we take joy in watching it die on screen, time and again, subtly or forcefully.
The movie Gabbar is back, is one such offering. Though it doesn't offer any insights or solutions we don't know of, nor it makes us stand up and take notice, and also does not make an everlasting impression on our minds, it still has its moments.
It feels rhetoric and clichéd too but most importantly, it works because it is
entertaining and unabashedly massy.
Gabbar entertains because it tries to stay honest, because the scenarios seem so relevant and because the mood it projects, is so easily relatable.
It works, because the protagonist preaches less, and executes more. And executes in a manner we want. It does so, occasionly sprinkled with hard hitting dialogues and some flair.
'He is Gabbar not Gandhi' remarks a Policeman, at one point responding to the threat, and you can't help but chuckle in your seats. You know this, the feared fears the same fate, they fear the taste of their own medicine. The viewer loves when the untouchables get their egoes dented, when the affluents are taken down and even so when the dishonest and deceitful have every reason to panic and feel jittery. It is for the very reason, the movie scores above average points.
We all, inherently are fed up with our own existence and the prevalent disreputable system. So we seem to rejoice every time the unholy system takes a beating. The film too banks the same emotion.
In one scene, the villain mouths, " humare tak logon ki arziyan pahunchti hai, awaaz nahi". Exactly, what we witness, exactly, what hurts us. Exactly what one feels sorry for and wishes to fight against.
The first half is breezy and has a handful of impressive pieces. The entire hospital episode where Gabbar deceives and tricks in the doctors to keep operating on a dead body is a delight to watch. Also there is much fun to be had, especially in a scene where the amoral government officials admit to their corrupt behaviour in order to avail police protection.
That is to not to say, there are no flaws in the proceedings, infact they are plenty. Not everything is exciting and not everything works.The characters are badly underwritten, the intelligence is lowbrow and the ramifications very poor. The dialogues, barring a few, are corny and makes you cringe. The constant screaming and imbecile behaviour of the police, a filthy item number pre-climax and a forced back story of the protagonist weigh the film down.
The entire second half is sluggish, predictable and stagnant. What should have escalated, both the mood and the consequences, is reduced again to the old 'One man army' form. The only answer our filmakers can come up with is the same old One man bashing, thrashing and punching his way out through the system. Can only a grief stricken man take on the system? Utter nonsense. Wit's end only this far?
What needed a mass movement and a stimulating statement, instead falls flat and looks hurried and contrived.
Sadly, Gabbar stays only a filmy hero, never transforming into anything symbolic. In the end, this only makes for an average one time watch.
The film stays entertaining, but falls way short of greatness.
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