Gangster Review

Mahesh Bhatt's penchant for taking contemporary issues works for the second time in a row, and much better than it did the last time round with Kalyug, for which he developed the notorious hotel Internet porn racket. For Gangster, the Bhatts and Anurag Basu have borrowed the germ of the film's premise   from Abu Salem and Monica Bedi's life, and it works in a big way. Romance, Drama and a wicked twist in an engrossing tale  are the key parts of a hugely satisfying whole that is Gangster.

The film, well shot and edited,  and  directed with panache by Anurag Basu, also showcases a precociously confident new talent, Kangana, in the lead.   In fact, while in the film she plays the nervous consort of deadly gangster Shiny Ahuja, in performance, she towers over both, the average Emran Hashmi, and the powerful Shiny Ahuja.

But first things first.

The film opens to a literal hammershot with  a startling and dramatically filmed shootout in a high rise building. Simran (Kangana) is shot at by a man shot at thrice, and before long, two stretchers are wheeled into an operation theatre. One bears Simran, and the other, the man who was shot.

The opening sequence is an intriguing peg, and from there, with its smooth and intriguing narrative technique of flashbacks intercut with the present, the story of Gangster unfolds in flashback.

Gangster, the first Indian feature film shot in beautiful autumnal Seoul, is about Simran, a young bar dancer whose life is changed when a dangerous criminal Daya (Shiny Ahuja in a powerful performance) on the run from pursuing cops, barges into her home. Simran protects him from the pursuing cops, and even tells him he can stay there for a day till the cops leave the area. Daya, a man of few words, is intrigued by her simplicity and lack of fear, and is clearly drawn to her in a primeval way. He leaves without a word, but returns a week later to ask for her. And follows her to her place of work - a 'ladies'bar, which he starts frequenting every day, just sitting there, gazing upon her, without speaking a word. One night, as drunken customers try to grab Simran, Daya explodes, beats them senseless, then grabs her hand and pulls her out of the bar and into his life. And Simran, who, like most other young women, had always been dreaming of   a family and a home of her own, believes that finally, through Daya, her dreams are coming true.

But that is not to be. Life with Daya, the gangster, has been a never ending lurching, hurtling escape dash from cops .

Simran is living in a Seoul suburb, while Daya is in Mauritius. She's living on the edge emotionally, and finds refuge either in alcohol, or in the songs and tender affection of Akash, a singer at an Indian restaurant in Seoul. As they are drawn closer, one night, Simran, now in love with Akash, blurts out her entire story of life with Daya. And of the adopted child they lost to the cops who came shooting for them one day. She also tells him of the way Daya pulled a gun on his mentor and father figure ( Gulshan Grover in small but brilliant performance) for her sake. Akash - and the audience - learn that nothing can come between Simran and Daya's love for her. And soon, Akash nearly loses his life when in a startling scene, Daya finds out about Simran's affair with him, nearly killing   Akash in a fit of uncontrollable rage.

Desperate, Daya pleads with Simran for one last chance to prove that his love for her is strong enough to make him give up crime for ever. He vows to make an honest living, and starts an honest life. The terrible Daya is now reduced to sweeping floors and toiling at fish markets, holding his cap out for payment in coins. But he is close to Simran and very happy.   Simran, still terri