Movie Review

Rating :

Verdict : Zila Ghaziabad is one film which tries hard to be a masala entertainer but falls flat on its face.

Mass entertainers have become an integral part and parcel of Bollywood currently and this trend has become more popular thanks to Salman Khan’s string of blockbusters in this genre. Cashing in on this craze, Sanjay Dutt, Vivek Oberoi and Arshad Warsi have come together for the Anand Kumar directed ‘Zilla Ghaziabad’. This film is based on real life stories of some brutal gang wars that took place in the crime-prone areas of Uttar Pradesh and so let’s see how the movie fares.

 Story :-

 A full-on action tale, the story is set on the backdrop of Ghaziabad and two gangs led by Vanedkar (paresh rawal) and Jimmy (Ravi Kissen) respectively. Vanedkar’s key henchman Parkash (arshad) changes sides and goes to Jimmy’s gang. Meanwhile Dharamveer (vivek oberoi) who leads a regular life is drawn into a blood battle when his elder brother (chandrachur) is killed by Parkash. To put an end to all this, the government sends a tough cop Pritam Singh (sanjay dutt). What happens after that forms the rest of the story.

Positive Points:-

The basic story line of the movie is average and is gripping only in bits and pieces. Vivek Oberoi plays his part well and looks good as the honest and sophisticate gangster while Arshad Warsi looks apt and plays his role with sincerity. Arshad speaks the local dialect really well and is specially good in the confrontational scenes with Sanjay Dutt.

Charmee Kaur does a decent job and looks beautiful as the simple Indian girl while Ravi Kishen impresses in the role of Rashid. Zarina Wahab’s character is sketchy and she flits in and out of the screenplay. The first half of the movie is decent and makes a breezy watch.

Negative Points:-

The trailers project Sanjay Dutt to be major star of the film but surprisingly he makes his entry only in the second half. Sanjay Dutt has done many bad films in his career and Zilla Ghaziabad would surely make it to the top of that infamous list. The super fit Sanjay Dutt looks out of shape and hardly makes an impact in the film. Zilla Ghaziabad does not have anything to keep you hooked to the proceedings and is quite predictable right from first scene.

There are lot of the so called Dabangg moments such as the fights sequences, dances and the production design that immediately remind you of Dabangg. There are many over the top sequences as well as many illogical scenes that seem to have been added later.

Characterization is vague where the characters lack enthusiasm or motivation. The whole set up and the basic plot seems shaky and has not been handled well at all. The second half of the movie is quite a pain to sit through and becomes totally routine. Too much violence for unknown reasons is what the film showcases throughout

Technical Aspects:-

As Zilla Ghaziabad is supposedly an action entertainer we have all the fight sequences shot in an over the top manner. You can see all the lead stars pulling off action scenes that are quite funny and unbelievable. Songs of the movie are just about OK esp., the title song. Both the item songs are good and have also been shot well while the dialogues have an Uttar Pradesh nativity and have been handled well. The whole look of the movie is decent and showcases the Ghaziabad town well.

The screenplay of the movie is a big drawback. Many scenes have been misplaced and also seem to have been rushed. The editing is OK and so is the back ground score. Director Anand Kumar makes a mockery of the whole film as he completely loses the plot and fails to register even a single scene in the whole film. Neither does he create any hype with the gang wars nor he tie it up in a justifiable manner.