Fox Star Studios India Pvt. Ltd. and Mangal Murti Films Pvt. Ltd.’s Guddu Rangeela (UA) is the story of two young men, Guddu and Rangeela, who have been wronged by the local MLA and the khap panchayat. Guddu (Amit Sadh) and Rangeela (Arshad Warsi) are bosom pals who leak information about rich people to thieves who then steal money and jewellery from those identified by the duo. Guddu and Rangeela earn by way of commission from the thieves.
One day, Guddu and Rangeela are approched by Bangali (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), a paid stooge of local MLA Billu (Ronit Roy), to kidnap Baby (Aditi Rao Hydari). Baby is the sister-in-law of MLA Billu. The duo is promised a handsome amount of money for the job, which is why they undertake it. Soon, the money they are going to get for the kidnapping is raised from some lakh rupees to several crores.
As the drama unfolds, it is revealed that Baby is out to avenge her sister’s murder at the hands of Billu. She has incriminating evidence against him, which could easily jeopardise his political career. The idea is to ask Billu to pay up not for securing the release of Baby but for hushing up the incriminating proof Baby has against him. For Rangeela, the kidnapping turns out to be a personal vendetta because Billu had shot his newly-wed wife, Babli (Shriswara), as she belonged to a different caste. Billu is the moral custodian of the village and religiously carries out and executes the orders of the khap panchayat insofar as they relate to dissuading inter-caste marriages. Rangeela had also been shot at by Billu but he had escaped. He had assumed that his wife, Babli, had been killed.
Who finally wins the cat-and-mouse game? Is Billu victorious or do Guddu and Rangeela emerge the winners? Does Billu realise that his own man, Bangali, was responsible for Baby’s kidnapping? Does Baby succeed in scaring the daylights out of Billu with the evidence she has?
Subhash Kapoor has written a story which exposes the atrocities perpetrated by khap panchayats on people going in for inter-caste marriages. His screenplay is engaing only in parts as layer after layer unfolds, but it never really arrests the viewer’s attention enough to make him wait for more with bated breath. Also, the characters of Guddu and Rangeela are not half as endearing and lovable as they ought to have been. Again, the track of Baby’s relationship with Billu has been explained in a hurry and in a half-baked manner. Once all the tracks are revealed, the film degenerates into a routine vendetta drama. Actually, there are so many tracks in the film – of Billu’s ruthlessness, of khap panchayats being against inter-caste marriages, of Guddu and Rangeela’s antics, of Rangeela’s inter-caste marriage with Babli, of Baby’s incriminating evidence against Billu, of Bangali betraying Billu, of Guddu’s romance with Baby, of Guddu, Rangeela, Baby and Babli’s revenge against Billu – that writer Subhash Kapoor does justice to none fully.
The first half moves at a leisurely pace till a little before interval when the drama becomes interesting and racy. The second half is faster but it is often predictable too. Some light moments are entertaining but they are not enough to keep the audience involved and engaged throughout. Yet another drawback is that the title, publicity materials and promotion of the film have prompted the public to assume that it is a comedy film but it actually turns out to be an action-filled vendetta film. Subhash Kapoor’s dialogues are good and inspired but not consistently so.
Arshad Warsi does justice to his role but how one wishes, his character had been more lovable. Amit Sadh is fair as Guddu but he looks too unkempt for a hero. Aditi Rao Hydari looks pretty and acts fairly well in the limited role she has. Ronit Roy breathes fire into the character of Billu, making him (Billu) believable and terrifying. Shriswara is okay as Babli. Dibyendu Bhattacharya leaves a mark in the role of Bangali. Virendra Saxena makes his presence felt. Brijendra Kala is effective. Rajeev Gupta provides laughter as Gulab Singh. Achint Kaur has her moments. Amit Sial is natural as police inspector Ajay Singh. Sandeep Goyat (as Billu’s younger brother), Amit Rastogi (as party president), Vishal O. Sharma (as Pujari), Arun Verma (as Amichand), Ashok Sharma (as Babli’s father), Manoj Bakshi, Dhirendra Gupta and Shamji (all three as khap heads), Dawood Sheikh, Vishal Dhindra, Maan Singh and Vijender Kumar (all four as Billu’s men), Tarun Kumar, Devender Choudhary, Ramesh Goel, Rakesh Bidua and master Mausam Dubey lend fair support.
Subhash Kapoor’s direction is quite nice but he doesn’t seem to be too inspired. Amit Trivedi’s music is good but not outstanding. ‘Kal raat Mata ka mujhe e-mail aaya hai’ is the best song, followed by ‘Suiyaan suiyaan’ and the title track. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics are mass-appealing. Choreography (by Howard Rosemeyer and Sada Yadav (‘Mata ka e-mail’ song only)) is fairly nice. Hitesh Sonik’s background music is alright. James Fowlds’ cinematography is appropriate. Pradyumna Kumar Swain (PK)’s action scenes are effective. Suman Roy Mahapatra’s production design and Pallavi Bagga’s art direction are very good. Arindam S. Ghatak’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Guddu Rangeela does not offer the desired entertainment and will, therefore, remain a dull fare at the ticket windows.