Sanchita
Gumraah 1st half feels oddly structured and the romance and songs break the thriller’s momentum. But it properly hits its stride in the 2nd half – and the case – inspired by real events, proves to be interesting, even if it seems far-fetched!
Read Full Gumraah Movie Review –
Rating: 2.5/5
Director: Vardhan Ketkar
Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Mrunal Thakur, Ronit Roy, Vedika Pinto
Run time: 2h 30m
Storyline:
One fine night, a rich guy is brutally murdered by a man in a yellow raincoat. The only trace left at the scene is a slight blood fingerprint on a flowerpot, and it’s quite inconspicuous. Sub Inspector Shivani (Mrunal) is assigned to the case.
The suspect – Arjun Sehgal (Aditya Roy Kapur) is conveniently photographed at the crime scene, in the background of a selfie taken by a couple in the neighbouring house. Arjun is a well-to-do civil engineer, with a happy love life and career and no apparent motive for murder. However, ACP Yadav (Ronit Roy) has a personal vendetta against Arjun for something he did in the past and is hell-bent on proving him guilty.
And here comes the twist – Arjun has a lookalike Sooraj Rana, a reckless daredevil with street smarts and quite a decent knowledge of the law. Shivani is already biased against Rana. Which of the two is the killer? Will Shivani find the incriminating fingerprint and solve the case? Watch Gumraah to find out –
What Do We Think:
The 1st half of Gumraah feels oddly structured and rather boring in bits and pieces. The lacklustre romance and unnecessary songs break the momentum of the thriller as it establishes its build-up. However, in the 2nd half, Gumraah properly hits its side as the cops dig deeper into the connection between the lookalikes. The case is inspired by interesting real events…
Aditya Roy Kapur in his 1st double role gives a decent enough performance. However, even though his characters are poles apart, his demeanour and energy while playing both is NOT too distinctively different! Mrunal plays a no-nonsense cop and doesn’t really have the room to experiment too much – keeping one stern poker face throughout the movie.
Ronit Roy has done his part well as the cop nursing an unfair grudge. Vedika Pinto plays Aditya’s girlfriend in the movie, but their chemistry is quite dull and the way the whole romantic plot is woven into the movie, kind of lags the thriller’s pacing.
That being said – 2nd half is rather interesting, even if it may seem ludicrous. The film mentions real-life cases where this ‘far-fetched’ scenario has had an impact on the court’s verdict.
Hit Or Miss:
Go watch Gumraah in the theatres if you’re in the mood for a whodunit! But take note – this one will take some time to get interesting…
