Movie Review

Rating :

Verdict : Full of Action packed and energetic, can be watched

After the much acclaimed 2007 gangster thriller, Shootout At Lokhandwala, director Sanjay Gupta is back with ‘Shootout At Wadala’. The movie has Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Tusshar Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Manoj Bajpayee, Sonu Sood and Mahesh Manjerekar in the lead roles. This movie is loosely based on Hussain Zaidi’s book, Dongri to Dubai, which explains the story behind Mumbai Police’s first ever registered encounter of gangster Manya Surve.

Story :-

The movie starts off with the story of a bright college student, Manohar Surve aka Manya Surve (John Abraham), who is madly in love with his girlfriend Vidya (Knagna Ranuat). They to marry each other soon after they get their college degrees. But their world collapses when Manya is sent into life custody over a murder that he has not committed.

While in jail, he meets Sheikh Munir (Tusshar Kapoor) who makes him strong and both escape from the bars to form their own gang. This new gang poses a serious threat to the gang of Zubair Imtiyaz Haskar (Manoj Bajpayee) and Dilawar Imtiyaz Haskar (Sonu Soon). A fierce turf war breaks out between the two gangs.

On the other hand, there is ACP Ishaque Bagwan (Anil Kapoor), who pledges to erase the mafiaraj in Mumbai. He vows to kill Dilawar as well as Manya.

Will Manya succeed in becoming the biggest mafia Don of Mumbai, or will he be stopped by Zubair? What happens to ACP Bagwan’s plans? This forms the rest of the story.

Positive Points :-

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta’s forte is action and with his latest venture, he proves this yet again. The action scenes have been shot well and they are on par with the sequences seen in ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’.

Speaking of performances, John Abraham has managed to give his image a makeover. The actor is nothing less than remarkable in the role of a grave gangster. His acting is intense and absolutely engaging. The terror that was created by Maya Bhai (Vivek Oberoi) will be re-created by Manya Bhai through his one.

Tusshar portrays the role of Manya’s good friend decently. Anil Kapoor is a class actor who can hold his own in any role. In ‘Shootout At Wadala’ too, Anil delivers an electrifying performance.

Kangna Ranaut gives an appealing performance in few of the scenes. Manoj Bajpayee is engaging as usual. Special mention goes to Sonu Sood. The actor’s appeal is unmatched in the movie and he succeeds in creating an aura for himself. Rest of the cast comprising of Ronit Roy, Mahesh Manjerekar, Jackie Shroff and Siddhant Kapoor give good performances.

Negative Points :-

Shooutout At Wadala has nothing in common with ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’. Even though Sanjay Gupta has done a decent job with this one, he fails to re-create the magic of the previous version.

Tusshar is a talented actor, but he is not given much screen presence to show it off. Kangna Ranaut’s dialogue delivery is plain bizarre, just as in her other films.

The movie’s length is too long. The proceedings become tedious after a while.

The romantic scenes between John and Kangna lack emotional depth and fail to draw the viewers in.

Technical Aspects :-

The music of this film keeps the viewers occupied. O Laila, featuring Sunny Leone and Ala Re Ala starring Sophie Choudry are the best of the lot. Priyanka Chopra’s Babli Badmaash doesn’t leave quite an impact. The dialogues are not very impressive.

Sanjay Gupta has done a decent job in the direction department. Cinematography by Sameer Arya and Sanjay F. Gupta is top notch. Editing by Bunty Nagi is A-class. The screenplay is just about OK.