I guess gone are the days of **"Who Dunnit". **Here comes a movie, which focuses on **"How dunnit".
Johnny Gaddar **is a welcome change. Making a thriller is always a difficult task. Firstly, you need a good subject. Then you need to maintain the pace, have sequences which are interesting and absorb the viewers. More importantly, you do not divert from the theme and keep the audience glued to the screen till the finale. Many filmmakers falter and are unable to pull off thrillers.
**But Sriram Raghavan succeeds in almost all the fronts and delivers..
The movie starts off on a rainy night. One of the protagonists is driving through, almost empty, Mumbai Roads.** He stops his car at the gate of a House. He heads to the garage and is about to open the shutters, **when someone pumps bullets into him from Behind. Who was the killer and who is the victim?? **I guess, this is the only suspese element(and a vital one as well) in the movie..
The screen goes all red and we have the titles of the movie rolling out in 70’s style.....
Johnny Gaddar is about **Vikram(Neil), Prakash(Vinay Pathak), Shardul(Zakir Hussain), Seshadri(Dharam Paaji) and Shiva(Daya Shetty).
**They are all partners in a Club(which houses gambling, poker games etc)..The property of the Club belongs to Prakash, but the club is run jointly by all five(profit/loss of the club being shared).
Vikram has an affair with **Mini(Rimi), ** who is married to shardul. Mini is not happy with shardul and wants to spend her life with Vikram. They plan fleeing to Canada, when they are financially well off.
One day Seshadri gets a call from **Kalyan(Govind Namdeo), **who is a cop in Bangalore. Kalyan, during raids, has seized two boxes of **french furniture :)) (Drugs). **One box he plans to disclose to the government and the other he plans to sell to Seshadri and Co. for 2.5 crores. The **"furniture"** is worth, atleast, **5 crores.** And all the partners would get a cool 50 lacs of profit on their investment of 50 lacs. But the deal has to be struck within 3 days.
Now its upto the gang to shell 50 lacs each and seal the deal. Except Prakash, all the partners somehow arrange the money. Shardul offers to pay for Prakash. But Prakash refuses, because of his differences with him. Shardul always had an eye on Prakash’s property.
Prakash convinces his wife**(Ashwini Kalsekar)** for the money, by mortgaging her Beauty Parlour.
Somehow the money is arranged and it is decided that Shiva would go to Bangalore to close the deal. Shiva is a strong and hefty guy, hence the justified choice. He would travel to bangalore by train. Prakash is supposed to make all the travel arrangements and drop Shiva to the station on the D day.
The **arrangements are perfect, untill a devilish thought comes in Vikram’s mind.** He plans, to get the entire booty(2.5 crs) and flee with Mini to Canada.
**On the day of Shiva’s departure, somehow Shardul and Praksh get stuck. And Seshadri decides to esc*rt Shiva to the station(Vikram is not aware of the latest developments, as he is busy creating his alibi).** On their way, they visit Shiva’s mother in a hospital. She is suffering from **Alzheimer’s disease(aree wahi jo Amitabh Bachchan ko BLACK mein hua tha). :)) **Shiva bids good bye to his mother and his girlfriend, **Vaijyanthi**(donno who is the actress). Vaijyanthi is the nurse, who takes care of his mother at the hospital..
Unaware of what is awaiting for him, Shiva boards the train bound to Bangalore...
**
And thus begins our Gaddar’s game of betrayal and double-cross..**
The planning, execution and the conclusion is best seen on the screen. The various challenges Vikram encounters, the planned and the unplanned incidents are sure to hold your attention. **The bottom line is "Ek gunah ko chupane ke chakkar mein aadmi sau gunah aur karta hai"
**
There are lot of interesting sequences in the film:-
1. Between Neil and Dharam Paaji at the later’s house after Shiva’s death.
2. Govind Namdeo coming down to Mumbai to nab the cuprit.
3. Sequences involving Govind, Neil and Rimi.
4. Vinay Pathak’s killing.
5. The truth dawing on Zakir.
6. And the Climax(powerful and justified).
**Now the performances.....**
Debutante **Neil Mukesh, **is clearly the soul of JG. The story revolves around him and he plays the part with such ease and confidence, that sometimes you wonder, if this is his first film as a main lead. Mukesh is talented, no doubt. Hope he makes good choices in future. Maybe now he has to look for Commercially viable projects as well. There is no stopping this guy, given he makes the right choices. He has the looks, talent and an amazing screen presence ....
Being a fan of **Dharam Paaji, **I was little upset over his limited screen time. Still, being a veteran he is, his performance is very good. And leaves his impression.
**Zakir Hussain **, plays the mean and complex Shardul very effectively. He is brilliant and stands quiet tall in the presence of other talented actors.
**Vinay Pathak** - He has proved umpteen times by now. He is a very competent actor. Just look at the various roles he has played. In JG, he is excellent. It is time the big filmmakers noticed this bundle of talent. There is definitely more to him.
**Rimi** has nothing much to do in this film. Her role is not meaty. Still the actress shows brilliance in her scenes.
**Ashwini Kalsekar **is good. Her chemistry with Vinay is neat. **Govind Namdeo** Springs a surprise. He looks cunning, calculative and no-nonsense cop to the hilt. **Daya Shetty **is hardly there for 5 minutes. But his part is crucial, he does very well in his given screen time.
Other actors, may have a miniscule roles(Vaijyanthi, Shiva’s mother etc), but they are well written. And the actors perform very naturally.
**Sriram** delivers what he promised. Maybe, JG is not a BO hit, but this is one of the best thrillers to have hit the Indian Screen. Sriram is highly inspired by Vijay Anand, James Hadley Chase and he doesnt hide this. He pays his tribute to the old classics. Even if he has lifted one or two ideas from old AB starrer Parwana, you wouldnt mind. Because Sriram makes JG into an altogether different experience.
His direction is highly effective. First, **Ek Hasina thi, now JG...wat next Sriram, we r waiting.
**Screenplay is tight. Dialogues are good and reflect the mood of the movie.
Thouh JG is a songless film(except a 2 - 3 min song in Climax), Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy come up with a different and catchy score. Hope the makers could have accommodated couple of songs, to adapt in the film. It wouldn’t have done any harm.
**Background score is good. All other technical aspects are great and only assist the film in being an extraordinary experience...
Highly recommended.. If missed, catch on DVD!!! This Gaddar is worth the money :)**