Review - Johnny Gaddar
28th September 2007 | posted in Hindi Movies, Reviews, meetu | | 16303 viewsLooks like youre new here. You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Alternate Names: JG, Johnny Gadar, Johny Gaddar, Johny Gadar
| Rating: | Watch for sure - preferably in theatre |
Gripping entertainment
It was refreshing to use my brain while watching a movie and finding out that the moviemakers have also done the same while making it. Not flawless, but completely entertaining, Johnny Gaddar is a must watch!
Story - brilliant, colors - vibrant, camerawork - creative, sound - unobtrusive, editing - slick, entire team - smart! Sorry, director saahab, I have run out of adjectives, so choose a superlative for yourself and I’ll agree.
What do I say? Where do I start? I must admit, it is the most difficult to write about a suspense thriller “without giving the movie away”. Any specifics that I would like to talk about will contribute to you knowing a bit about the movie. And that would be a crime in this genre. So, here is my attempt at being as unambiguous as possible.
This movie will be talked about a lot for the stylish homage the director pays to the people/styles of movie-making that have inspired him. And for a good reason too. The beauty with which the tributes have been interwoven with the narrative is not something one should write or read about. It has to be watched and applauded. Watch out for the way the subtle tribute to Anand has blended with and become a part of the story.
Acting - one of the departments missing from the list above - is not at its best. Dharmendra deserved far fewer lines considering his dialogue delivery was rather monotonous. Neil Nitin Mukesh is quite flat in some scenes, but overall, he has grasped and enacted the nuances of his character really well. For me, Vinay Pathak was the show stealer. In general, the versatility of this actor is just incredible!
Dialogues - my disappointment with this area might have more to do with the expectations set by the first 15-20 minutes of the movie. The general mysterious tone set in the beginning is missing at certain points later on. Especially, in the climax, keeping the dialogue enigmatic would have had much more impact. But, I am sure it was a balance the director must have struggled with - leave it to the audience to decipher or spoon-feed them.
What impressed me the most was how much I enjoyed the movie despite being a little dissatisfied with the two main departments of the movie - the two most visible ones. Though acting and dialogues are not necessarily the selling points of a movie in this genre. Just goes to show what a long way treatment of material can take a movie.
Click here to read what I scribbled on my notepad while watching this movie (what worked and what didn’t for me). Might contain spoilers!
Click here to see what 27 other reviewers/viewers think. Average rating 4.8 / 5.0: 25 thumbs up, 2 so-so, 0 thumbs down.
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| Rating: | Watch for sure - preferably in theatre |
Detailed Ratings (out of 5):


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