If anyone will ask, “Which is the biggest mistake you did this year?” and I would certainly say, even without a blink, “Not watching Johnny Gaddaar in theatres”!! Johnny Gaddaar was certainly the best thriller of 2007. It had a powerful direction and an equally powerful screenplay and mind-blowing debutant-Neil Nitin Mukesh who gave a master stroke performance in his first movie itself!
The story of the movie: Five men-Seshadri (Dharmendra), Shardul (Zakhir Husaain), Prakash (Vinay Pathak), Shiva (Daya Shetty) and Vikram (Neil Nitin Mukesh) are engaged in an illegal trading. They get an offer from Seshadri’s inspector friend of Bangalore Kalyan (Govind Namdeo) who was willing to sell them a Rs. 5 crore product for Rs. 2.5 Crore. Seshadri agrees and tells each of his group members to bring Rs. 50 lakhs, and Shiva will go to Bangalore with the money and come back taking the product. The youngest group member, Vikram, was in love with Shardul’s wife Mini (Rimi Sen). He planned to take this Rs. 2.5 Crores and escape to Canada with Rimi. Inspired from Amitabh Bachchan’s flick Parwana and James Hardley Chase novels, Vikram makes a flawless plan-boarding the same train which is boarded by Shiva, knocking him unconscious in the night, taking away all the money and running away to Canada. However, things go horribly wrong for Vikram in the train. What follows next is very interesting, unexpected, and very exciting!
Johnny Gaddaar is a treat for all the Bollywood movie buffs! It is highly interesting and Sriram Raghavan’s powerful story, screenplay and direction keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats.
What I loved a lot about Johnny Gaddaar is that the movie does not diverge into sub-plots and keeps its focus on the main plot. Though some new characters are introduced as the story progresses, yet, the movie does not go off-track. And each scene is important and not unnecessarily added. Even the scenes in the beginning which you thought are unnecessary have a meaning as the film progresses.
The film may not be liked instantly but the film gathers momentum and interest as soon as all the characters are introduced. Vikram making his evil plan and going to Pune and Goa was fun to watch! And the best scene of the movie has to be the scene in the train and the later scene at Dharmendra’s house. These two scenes were amazing and had a big hand in making the movie a successful one! The second half was equally good. The climax catches you unawares and Sriram took a wise step by ending the movie little abtuptly!
So any flaws? Yes but they are very very very minor! As I said, the film will not be instantly liked. Secondly, in the second half, the film becomes a little monotonous and may bore a bit.
Each actor in this movie has done a fine job.
Neil Nitin Mukesh does a great debut! In my opinion, he has given a better performance than Ranbir Kapoor!! His looks, his acting, and his reaction-everything was perfect and first rate! Kudos to Neil and Sriram for having faith on a debutant and placing the entire movie on his shoulders! Great work!
Dharmendra was there only in the first half but though, he leaves a big mark! At the intermission point, his acting was fabulous! Rimi Sen didn’t have much to do but helped in lending able support.
Zakhir Hussain was okay in the first half but did a great job in the second half. Zakhir has always been a great actor and had given superb performances in the past in movies like Sarkar, Darwaza Bandh Rakho, The Killer etc. Vinay Pathak was as usual mind-blowing! If there is anyone who deserves the Face of the Year Award, then it is Vinay Pathak!
Daya Shetty was terrific, even though, in a short role. Daya Shetty, who is doing a great job in the TV show CID since years, does a fabulous job in the movie. I hope we can see him more in movies from now on.
Ashwini Kaleskar also does a great job. She shocks in the climax! Govind Namdeo was quite funny! Look out for the scene where he meows like a cat!! Others were okay.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music suited the movie and was great. The songs which stand out are the title track and ‘Move Your Body’. The latter was not present in the movie and should had been placed during the end, when the credits roll.
C K Murleedharan’s cinematography was flawless. Dialogues were highly interesting. Editing was perfect.
Sriram Raghavan’s direction was just amazing! His control over the entire movies left me spellbound! I wish he directs more and more movies in his own style and that Anubhav Sinha takes filmmaking lessons from him!!!
Some of the best scenes of the movie:
1. The scene where Vikram dances in his house
2. Vikram preparing for carrying out his plan
3. The coin toss scene!
4. The ‘Bangalore Express’ sequence
5. The scene at Dharmendra’s house and intermission point
6. Vikram hiding the loot in his house
7. Kalyan turning up at Vikram’s house suddenly
8. The fake money sequence
9. The climax
On the whole, Johnny Gaddaar ranks as the finest thriller of 2007! It deserves the same amount of appreciation and applause as received by movies like Chak De! India, Black Friday, Taare Zameen Par etc. Because of releasing at the wrong time, many moviegoers were not able to watch it (including me!). But now it is out on VCDs/DVDs. So do watch it! It’s a great timepass entertainer that will surely make your day!
My rating- ½
(PLZZ RATE MY REVIEW AND ADD A COMMENT)