Twists, turns, suspense, and drama are necessary elements of a fascinating crime drama, and Gumraah offers many of these elements that interestingly unfold throughout the story.
Vardhan Ketkar’s version of the 2019 Tamil film Thadam expertly holds your attention from the first scene, in which a murder is committed, until the conclusion, in which the mystery is solved. The investigation officer Shivani Mathur (Mrunal Thakur), who must distinguish between the genuine perpetrator and two suspects who have identical features, Arjun Saigal and Ronnie, adds intrigue to the mystery. (Aditya Roy Kapur).
Writers Aseem Arora and Magizh Thirumeni’s screenplay and Ketkar’s taut direction ensure the story moves along quickly for most part, even when the narrative goes into flashbacks. It does lose some pace intermittently, in the first part mainly as the story builds up, but there are twists waiting to pick things up again. The evidence pointing towards both the guys equally, is well done. The movie does not use tropes of double role fares, in that, it does not overdo the mistaken identity conundrum. Despite being a straightforward story, the plot twists are engrossing, and the story becomes better with a refreshing backstory.
The film is based on real-life incidents, which makes it more curious. Thus, even if the story seems a bit farfetched, the examples given in the end will convince you.
Ketan Sodha’s background score adds to the thrill, and the soundtrack has hummable tunes. Mithoon’s Allah De Bande and Abhijit Vaghani’s title track especially stand out.
Aditya Roy Kapur’s characters are as different as chalk and cheese, and he shines in both. He plays the nattily-dressed professional with as much elan as the streetsmart crook, Ronnie. The actor delivers snarky lines with as much coolth as he does stunts and emotes. His scenes with Chaddi (Deepak Kalra) elicit laughter. Mrunal as the no-nonsense, smart and diligent cop stands her ground, as does Ronit Roy as her conniving boss, ACP Dhiren Yadav. Vedika Pinto plays Arjun’s girlfriend and performs well despite a limited screen time.
An engaging plot, twists and turns and good storytelling make Gumraah worth a visit to the theatre. The motive behind the murder may not come as a big surprise but the suspense will keep you intrigued until the end.
