Gunday isn’t unwatchable, but it’s certainly a case of potential squandered. The film has an authentic look and feel of 70s Calcutta, some robust cinematography, and a few good tunes. It’s also got two live-wire leading men whose on-screen chemistry sadly isn’t mined for enough laughs. Watching it is a lot like eating the same thing for dinner four times in a week.

‘Gunday’ is as generic as its name suggests: even that old phrase ‘luchchhe- lafangey’ had more character. In the name of plot, we get a mash-up of many popular blockbusters, several of them belonging to Yashraj, the producers of this one. In the name of acting, we get pumped up beefcake and one number plumped-lip eye candy. There are a few solid supporting acts, and they are the ones that keep you watching, but they get buried in the sludge. What you get is what you’ve been getting. Over and over again.

Director Ali Abbas Zafar has directed a monstrous film, one with a repellent 70s-set storyline that makes no sense whatsoever, and a cast who should all hang their heads and offer up a minute’s silence for assaulting their respective filmographies.

For all its swagger and insolence, the script is full of silly loopholes, annoying clichés and glaring superficiality.

No matter how hard director Zafar tries to create an action hero that speaks Amitabh Bachchan/Anil Kapoor/Raaj Kumar, he fails to substantiate it with charisma that goes beyond surface value.

It really is difficult to keep a two-and-a-half-hour film from losing its wheels when its engine room is bereft of the propellant of genuine inspiration.
Gunday is like the dusty minefields it is set in. Its loud explosions deliver loads of coal, but no trace of any diamonds.

It is certainly not the ideal date film on this Valentine’s Day weekend.

There are some poignant moments in the friendship between the two heroes – and that’s the crux of the film. This is what you call in movie terminology a guy’s film – loads of action, attitude and masala. Abbas is superb when it comes to projecting heroism of his lead protagonists.

It helps that in the midst of all the intense action and drama, Gunday doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s unpretentious in its aim to appease at all costs and be an entertainer with doses of action, drama, romance, humour and yes, bromance.

It attempts to pay a tribute to vintage films right from Sholay, Kaala Pathaar, Deewar and there’s also Mr. India playing in a theatre where a fight sequence is choreographed (the only admirable scene). The rest is so very mind numbing and the finale which has a Salman type lets-take off-our-shirts-and fight is in super slow motion. Actually a lot of the film is in slo-mo, had it been shot it normal speed, the duration would reduce considerably.

Gunday is an action film. Naturally it has a certain element of frivolity. But it could’ve been more. The scenes needed more gravitas. The telling of the tale needed more spirit. When Bala’s and Bikram’s worlds collide the proceedings become dramatic. But the drama is all mechanical and not emotional enough. It needed to stop and allow the audience to empathise with the protagonists.

Gunday attempts to bring back that time, that bravado and a whole mish-mash of action sequences from films such as Deewar and the like. Unfortunately, everything rings as false as the mile-long eyelashes of the cabaret dancer Nandita, played by Priyanka Chopra.

Gunday is one of those films that make you wonder why it was made at all. The action is plain and pretty much boring. The performances are overtly stylish and overbearing. The dialogue delivery by one and all is too focussed on making an impact without having any support from the dialogue itself.

The writing is so predictable that even if you haven’t seen the trailer you can tell what’s going to happen next.

Film rides largely on the camaraderie between the two main leads, and while the actors do put in all they can into their roles, there’s little that oiled physiques, buttoned-down shirts and pectoral muscles can achieve without a decent script or good direction. Gunday has neither.

Most landmarks of Hindi cinema have invariably been buddy flicks. Though not always blessed with technical bravado, their hearts have been in the right place. Gunday fails to fulfill that basic aspect- leaving you mildly enraged with the hope of what could have been, especially given the inexhaustible resources at hand.