Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3~ Royalty versus Baba!

Director/ Writer- Tigmanshu Dhulia

Cast- Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Shergill, Mahi Gill, Chitrangada Singh

Best  Dialogues –

Saheb-  "I believe only three things can change our lives, dreams, suffering and love. Pareshaniyon se main nikalke aaya hoon, sapna main dekh raha hoon, aur pyar mujhe aksar ho jaata hai."

Biwi- "Sari galat adaten to apne lagayi, baki tabah hone mai is haveli ne sath diya. Yaha bure kaam karne ki lat lag jati hai."


Gangster- "Mere baare mein joh bhi suna hoga bura hi suna hoga, lekin main itna bura nahi hoon ki mere bagal mein khade hone se koi badnaam ho jaaye."

Gangster's Mistress- "Jab naam ke alawa kuch bacha na ho to naam ko bacha bacha ke chalna chahiye." 

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster franchise is a  story about a royal family of U.P. where Jimmy Sheirgill is Raja Aditya Pratap Singh and Mahi Gill is his wife, Rani Madhavi Devi. 

The first two parts were high-octane drama full of plot twists, volatile characters, good dialogues and sizzling chemistry between the lead pairs. Actors Randeep Hooda and Irrfan Khan had played gangsters in the previous films.

Tigmanshu Dhulia decided to add a star like Sanjay Dutt to add glamour to the film but guess his plan backfired. 

The story is supposed to be a saga of deceit, lust, ambition and revenge where the Biwi uses the Gangster to defeat the Saheb but ends up as a life saga of the gangster.  

The film starts with Sanjay Dutt as Uday Pratap Singh, a banished prince, who has made a fortune in London by playing Russian Roulette. A lot of time is wasted in establishing Sanjay Dutt's character, telling about his anger, his girlfriend, his family members which has no relevance to the story. The Baba theme track that accompanies Sanjay Dutt every time he says a winning dialogue, “He’s the baba.. dekho dekho dekho aya tera baap”, is the only memorable thing about the gangster's character.

Chitrangada Singh plays the role of a dancer and Uday Pratap's mistress. Neither she looks like a villager nor her accent helps her in fitting in the character. Her love scenes with Uday are boring as the character of the Gangster was supposed to be a raunchy man who loses his heart at every pretty face. To see the gangster settle into an easy romantic relation was a big turnoff. When the evil Biwi tries to flirt with him, an uncomfortable gangster tells her that there was no need of doing all this. It was like we went to watch "Jism" and ended up watching "Hum saath saath hai"!

  

Jimmy Sheirgill and Mahi Gill, who were instrumental in bringing success to the previous films get less chance to show their talent. Their scenes are poorly written and they end up looking like side character's in the gangster's story.

The film is full of character artists like Kabir Bedi, Nafisa Ali, Zakir Hussain, Deepak Tijori, Soha Ali Khan, Deepraj Rana who have nothing to do. Except few dialogues here and there and some fiery exchanges between Saheb and Biwi there is nothing entertaining in the film.

The climax was highly disappointing and though it hinted at a sequel I hope there is no 4th part.

The film was made at a budget of 20 Crore and has managed to earn just 3.8 Crore in 2 days which is less than what the first part made in 2011. The film is a disaster and will end up earning less than 10 Crore at the Box-Office.

In a line, the series was supposed to be a tale of power games, lust and deceit but the director's obsession with the gangster has lead to the death of this franchise.

Avoidable.

Review of Sahib Biwi Gangster Returns

Release date – 8'th March 2013

One Line which describes the film – Anything is fair in love and war . 


Best  Dialogues –

Saheb-  “ Wo hamari sarkari biwi hai, sarkar to hai , par kisi kaam ki nahi ”

Biwi- “ Hume mard hi kyun milte hai... Shayar kyun nahi milte ! ” 

Gangster-  “ Hamari gali pe bhi taali padti hai ” 

Genre –  Drama / Thriller
 
Story - Tigmanshu Dhulia , Sanjay Chauhan

Music – Sandeep Chowta

Producer -  Tigmanshu Dhulia , Rahul Mittra , Nitin Tej Ahuja

Direction - Tigmanshu Dhulia

Cast - Jimmy Shergill , Mahie Gill , Irrfan Khan , Soha Ali Khan 

Budget – 7 crores 

The sequel is shot in the same haveli  in Deogarh which witnessed the  love, lust ,bloodshed and betrayal in the first part . Saheb  is in a wheel-chair and still making money by settling other people’s scores .He has started believing that the haveli  controls the lives and minds of its inhabitants . The paths of the Gangster,  Saheb and   Biwi cross when Saheb’s step-mother, plants the idea of an heir and a second wife in Saheb's mind.

The lead characters are introduced in the same fashion as in the first part .If the earlier one was a  fast and raunchy bedroom drama with sharp minded scheming characters who weave a web of relationships,  this one moves out of  the bedroom and focuses on  the political issue of division of the state .
Though the film is an extravagant and grander version of the one we watched two years ago, it is slow with  confused characters who keep falling in and out of love without any strong reasons or motives .  Every character is grey, they have their own selfish motives, their own insecurities and their own internal conflicts to resolve.The saving grace of the film lies in it's powerful dialogues and great acting .

Irrfan Khan 's character starts off nice. There's a scene where he interviews a politician who is busy watching porn on his laptop .But as the film progresses he is shown to be losing his focus . The climax makes you ponder on  what Irrfan was set to accomplish and what he achieves finally.

Jimmy Shergill as Saheb is flawless and spellbinding . His character has the maximum no. of shades . From the man who hates his wife , to a man who can go to any lengths to get the woman he wants  ,to settling scores with those who crossed his way, he is just perfect . His dialogue  “jante ho mard itni galiyan kyun dete hain…kyunki woh rote kum hain”  is followed by claps and whistles from the audience.

Mahie Gill is perfect as the seductive and lusty Biwi .  Her drunken enactments and dialogue delivery is flawless . Despite the history she shares with Saheb she still has feelings for him which may be shown in Part3.

Soha Ali has given a good performance ,though her character lacks the spice to stay in the third and maybe the finale of this saga.
  

The song ' Bas chhal, kapat, prapanchh hai , Har swaarth ka yeh munch hai'   reminds us of the song 'Arambh hai prachand ' from  Gulaal (2009) 

In a line though the story doesn't end here , it's excellent dialogues manage to create enough curiosity for Part 3.

Must watch for Jimmy Shergill 's fans and people who liked the first part .    

Rank - 5 (Out of the 18 films I have seen in 2013)

Gangs Of Wasseypur- 2 DoubleTrouble

Words which describe the film – Guns & Abuses

Best Dialogue – 
Ramadhir Singh- “Maine Faizal ke dada ko mara,baap ko mara , bhai ko mara ,phir bhi main zinda hoon ,Kyon? Kyonki main CINEMA nahi dekhta   

Genre- Crime / Action

Director-  Anurag Kashyap

Writer – Zeishan Quadri

Producer – Anurag Kashyap Viacom 18 Motion Pictures

Music Director -  Sneha Khanwalkar 

Cast – Nawazuddin Siddiqui , Huma Qureshi ,Tigmanshu Dhulia ,Zeishan Quadri

Budget – 20crores (approximately,including marketing) 

The film starts with the funeral of Sardar Khan and the orchestra singer singing "Yaad teri aayegi, mujhko bada sataegi" .Though we missed  Manoj Bajpai  's powerful acting in the 2'nd part , Nawazuddin Siddiqui has given an equally powerful performance showing a range of expressions.

Following Sardar’s demise and a series of unfortunate events , Faizal, a  charasi , who doesn't care for ruling Wasseypur or taking revenge is jolted out of his stoned apathy by his scornful mother who wants his son to avenge the death of her husband and son . 

Faizal's character has a number of shades which were missing in Sardar Khan's character. He is ruthless and can even shoot one of his gang members just to prove a point. But on the other side he loves his wife and is loyal to her. He seeks her support when he is feeling low in jail and asks her to sing the song "Moora" which inspires him to be strong.

Jo bhi wrongwa hai usey,

Set right-wa karo ji,Naahin loojiye ji hope,Thoda fightwa karo ji... 

When he breaks his leg he tries to keep himself from crying by putting his hand over his mouth which shows that despite his cruel image he is not immune to pain.We can feel his rage when Sultan shoots his mother .

In the end he confesses to his wife that he never wanted to inherit his father's legacy of revenge .We felt sad for him when he says "Baba ke paas mauka tha  wasseypur wapas na ane ka par wo aye aur sab phanste chale gaye "  

This film shows the impact of bollywood on the life of the main characters .

Ramadhir Singh says - "Jab tak Hindustan mein cinema bante rahenge, public bewkoof banti rahegi ,sabke dilmag main apni kahani chal rahi hai aur sab apni kahani ke hero hai "

Faizal's illegitimate brother Definite, played by the film's writer Zeishan Quadri  is a fatally fearless opportunist and a Salman Khan  fan who believes  this epic Maine Pyar Kiya  dialogue "ek ladka aur ek ladki kabhi dost nahi ho sakte"

There were  some failed attempts at comedy  when Definite bursts into Samshad Alam's home to shoot him but his gun fails to load or when Definite and another goon are following  Sultan and reporting about his every move with dialogues like , ‘Kela khareed raha hai. Pet kharab hai shayad?” 
Faizal and Mohsina 's love story also contributed to some lighter moments in the film . They share a love which most of the time they express without saying anything to each other.When Faizal is released from jail Mohsina is there waiting for him with their Aviators  reminding us of the first part of the film when their love story started.

Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia ) is a pale shadow of his character in the first part when he tries to make peace with Faizal and says "Main tumhare abba aur bhai ko maarna nahi chahta tha , par main unhe na marta to wo mujhe maar dete " .

The film mainly revolves around Faizal ,Ramadhir Singh ,Sultan and Definite. Other characters like Perpendicular ,Tangent don't play any role in the main story though their stories do add some confusion and lengthens the film. Faizal's character along with taking revenge keeps getting involved in many other activities like iron trading, auctions,politics which also has no relation with the film's main revenge story. If first part had people taking out their swords to kill each other this part has everyone having  guns which they use without any second thoughts. Everyone is out to beat the other either by fair or fowl means. There are no family values with a brother shooting his own sister in the forehead or a mother inspiring his own son to go against his step-brother. 

In a line after watching the film I felt like Gandhiji's follower who after being slapped with endless violence and abuses in the first part offers the other cheek for more .
The full 5 hr 30 min film has some 30 minutes of good scenes for which it is not advisable to watch it in theater. 
For information on Gangs Of Wasseypur - 1 read this related post   http://riyareviews.blogspot.in/2012/07/gangs-of-wasseypur-is-not-everyones-cup.html  

Gangs Of Wasseypur is not everyone's cup of tea

Gangs of Wasseypur is an epic two part mafia drama about deep-rooted family rivalries. Vengeance, blind ambition and greed oil the wheels of a long-running blood feud between competing godfathers in the  mining towns of Wasseypur and Dhanbad.

 The film opens with a teasing flash-forward to the end of the story, when a gang armed  with bombs and machine guns blast their way into their enemy’s house .

In the first half , the early history of Faizal’s family is told, beginning with the rise of his grandfather Shahid Khan in the days when coal mines represented wealth and power. Shahid Khan  (Jaideep Ahlawat), who is eventually murdered by the young owner of the coal mines, Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia)  , setting off a power struggle between the two clans that lasts till the final reel.

Shahid’s hot-blooded son Sardar (Manoj Bajpai ) shaves his head, vowing not to grow his hair until he exacts revenge for his father’s death. His passion for two women Nagma (Richa Chadda) and Durga (Reemma Sen)gives him a human side and consists of the most entertaining and lighter side of the film.   Sardar’s violent nature makes him the godfather, a role he keeps until betrayed at a gas station.

In the second part  Faizal (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a hash smoking pothead, climbs the ladder to power after taking revenge from those who betrayed his father. His romancing Mohsina (Huma Qureshi) is one of the film’s non-violent high points. Addicted to romantic movies,  Mohsina wears the same Ray Bans as Faizal, by which they recognize they are soul mates.

The film's music is one of it's important strengths.  Sneha Khanwalkar  (earlier worked on Love Sex aur Dhokha and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!  )  did a lot of research  into the music . The music is rooted in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Sneha went to the smaller villages in Bihar and found real singers. The track Keh Ke Loonga has become synonymous with Gangs of Wasseypur.  The experimental folk music suits the story and is soothing without taking our mind from the main storyline .

Is  the film really a Hit as advertised by the media and  film producers ? 

The publicity team of 'Gangs of Wasseypur'  left no stone unturned in promoting the film, especially through the social networking sites.The film was screened and appreciated at prestigious film festivals across the globe, so the Indian audiences were excited  for its release. However, the response to the film is not as overwhelming as expected.

First part of GOW was produced with the budget of 9.4 cr nett along with a 7 crore -8crore promotion and advertising cost taking the total budget to 17 to 18 crores.

  

Film has earned  around 27 crore .That means film will have a distributor share of 12 crore and producers will get 14-15 cr from theaters. Film earned 6 cr from satellite rights and other streams. This will make full recovery in the region of 19-20 cr. This means a thin profit of 3-4 crores. If a film earns such a slim profit even after huge promotions then it should be termed as a disappointment.  ( Paan Singh Tomar (film) , Vicky Donor , Hate Story ) all had lower promotion budget in comparison to GOW but earned more ) .

 The combined budget of both the parts is Rs.18.5 crores but expenditure on marketing takes the budget to around Rs.36 crores -40 crores, thus making it  the first big budget film by Anurag Kashyap. Anurag Kashyap has produced the film with Viacom18 as co-producer.

With The Dirty Picture stopped from being screened on the prime time, buyers of satellite rights have become cautious about buying  A grade films like Gangs of Wasseypur .    

The Second part is scheduled to release a week before Ek Tha Tiger. So, its Second Week and Lifetime Collections would be largely affected.

Reasons why Gangs of Wasseypur  didn’t click with the audience –

1.The  historical references and the details of how the coal mafia works though were informative but they also made the film slow and gave  a documentary feel to the film.

 2. The screenwriter  attempted to embed the tale in a historical and political context but  it failed to leave an impact  amid all the mayhem.

  

3. The first half of the film was entertaining but it started getting on the nerves after the 10 minute journey of slaughterhouse and hanging carcasses.

  

 4. Extensive use of coarse abuses  kept the family audience away from the film.

5. The highlights of Part 1 were Manoj Bajpayee's acting and Anurag Kashyap's story telling. But in the second part there is no Manoj and we already know the storyline .

6.Those who didn’t watch part 1 will surely  give the second part a miss and half of the audience who saw part 1 and were tortured by the bloodshed and unnecessary violence( like me)  will surely avoid it .

Anurag Kashyap  has  never followed a fixed path and is known for dark themes .But the one thing he must understand about cinema is that something should be left to the imagination of the viewers. Killing people in every scene with swords, bullets or bombs is not the kind of entertainment an average movie goer expects. Violence can be conveyed through words too.