~~~GUNDAY-REVIEWS AND BOXOFFICE ~~~~~ - Page 7

The stage has been set, red carpet rolled out and trumpets ready to be blown. Gunday' is arriving amidst good buzz and hype which means if the content is good, sky is the limit for this Aditya Chopra production. The promo has clearly been one of the most liked on this side of the year, the songs are popular too, the jodi' of Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor is looking good, Priyanka Chopra is adding a huge weight to the affairs while Irrfan Khan's presence is only making the film look better. With the entire packaging right, Ali Abbas Zafar has a job in hand which is simple - Deliver a good film'!

With good excitement amongst the audience, the film should open quite well at the box office, both at the multiplexes and the single screens. Releasing at a good screen count, an average opening around the 60% mark is on the cards with mass belt multiplexes and single screens expected to cross the 80% mark, which should be good enough to result in a very healthy total. Unless the film is a letdown (which doesn't seem to be the case), the weekend should only gain further momentum, which anything in the upwards of 40 crore is a good possibility.

The film is already being looked at as a 100 crore success in the offering and with the advantage of solo release as well as Valentine's Day occasion, Gunday' has in it to score well. As things stand today, this could well be the first bonafide hit of 2014.

Film: Gunday, 153 minutes.

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Irrfan Khan

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Remember the '90s hit TV series Baywatch, in which lifeguards running on a beach with gleaming bodies were captured to perfection? It was a celebration of sculpted torsos and was mockingly called Babewatch', or Boywatch' (depending on which side you leaned towards). Saving lives at sea was almost an afterthought.

Gunday, led by Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, is Bollywood's scruffier version of Baywatch. And boy, can Bikram and Bala run. Instead of pristine sandy beaches shown in the American show, the Gunday men are soot-kissed and are seen dodging bullets in Kolkata's coal mines.

Set in the 1970s, these two rebels have been given a raw deal in life. Like many children born during the India-Bangladesh crisis, they became instant refugees and society rejects. So what do they do next? They become petty coal thieves and amass a vast business empire by killing and looting.

We are constantly reminded that they are outlaws who are as thick as thieves. Nobody can come between them, that is " until their eyes latch on to bodacious cabaret dancer Nandita (Priyanka Chopra). So far, so good. But what's disappointing is that director Ali Abbas Zafar borrows that time-worn cliche and forgets to add his own spin to it. Don't be surprised if you are left asking: Is there a famine of beautiful girls in Kolkata? The two could get any girl under the sun but they behave like kids fighting over a new toy. The reason for their obsession " which threatens to break their childhood bond " lacks conviction. The dialogue spoken by a breathless Bikram as he courts Nandita: "It's the first time that my calloused, tainted hands are touching an innocent girl," is unintentionally hilarious. Perhaps that can be forgiven as Gunday is an ode to bombastic 1970s cinema that rides on the steam of heroic men who can deliver punchy one-liners.

Of the two boys, it's Singh who shines like a diamond. His act is comparatively polished, while Kapoor comes across as a petulant boy who needs some sense to be shaken into him. Chopra can work a sari like nobody else and tries to pump some pizzazz into a predictable role. Be sure to watch out for Irrfan Khan as a conniving, ruthless cop. He belongs to the subtle school of acting and we wish that our boys (who refuse to grow up into men) had taken a few pointers from him.

If you dig those loud '70s capers, Gunday is right up your street.

Gunday movie review - Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh impresses