Guns and Gulaabs Review: Rajkummar Rao Outshines All in Raj & DK's Netflix Series Co-starring Dulquer Salmaan and Adarsh Gourav (LatestLY Exclusive)

Guns and Gulaabs Review: There are two things I want to say about Raj & DK's new series Guns & Gulaabs, streaming now on Netflix, on the onset. Firstly, I am glad that the director duo managed to give their new show a proper conclusion, unlike the seasons of The Family Man (the first season anyway) and Farzi. Secondly, I would say that the law of averages seems to be biting on the heels of the directors, because while there is plenty to like about Guns & Gulaabs, especially the performances, the show doesn't have the same verve as the previous mentioned series, despite the more rounded conclusion. Adarsh Gourav Reveals How He Prepped for His Role in Guns & Gulaabs.

Set in the early 1990s in a crime-infested town called Gulaabganj, Guns & Gulaabs begins with a chase and a murder, witnessed by a school-going teen. The victim is Babu Tiger, the loyal lieutenant of Ganchi (Satish Kaushik), the owner of the largest illegal opium trade in town. The assailant is Char-Cut Atmaram (Gulshan Devaiah), a contract killer from Mumbai, hired by Ganchi's former protégé turned competitor/enemy Nabeed. Babu Tiger's death is a major setback for Ganchi, who is about to make the biggest opium deal with a gang from Bengal.

Babu Tiger has a son, Tipu (Rajkummar Rao), who wants nothing to do with his father's violent legacy. He is content owning a vehicle repair shop and trying to woo Chandralekha (TJ Bhanu), the local English teacher. However, by the end of the first episode, his legacy comes calling and Tipu becomes infamous as Spanner Tipu, also catching the attention of Atmaram.

There is also Arjun Varma (Dulquer Salmaan), the newly transferred narcotics officer, whose show of honesty leaves Ganchi and even his superior worried. However, Arjun has a few dark secrets of his own hidden behind his clean family image.

Also in the mix is Jugnu aka Chotta Ganchi aka Junior (Adarsh Gourav), who wants to live up to his father's humongous expectations. But when the opportunity arises, his impulsive nature and lack of experience become a major challenge for him.

Watch the Trailer of Guns & Gulaabs:

By now, you should have complete faith in Raj & DK to deliver an entertaining palette of black comedy and crime with a distinctive visual style. Guns & Gulaabs has all of the filmmakers' signature ingredients, including their quirky humor and characters, surprising twists, and explosive violence. At least, these ingredients work so well in the first few episodes. While terrorism was the backdrop in The Family Man and counterfeiting in Farzi, here the opium trade provides the distinct flavour for the proceedings. The directors, along with co-writer Suman Kumar, do a commendable job of intertwining the arcs of all the main characters against this backdrop. Sumit Arora's dialogues are another major asset for the show, and he works his magic through them. Guns & Gulaabs not only does justice to its period setting with its color palette, production design, and makeup, but it also works well as a tribute to the cinema of that era.

And for a change, the subplot involving the teenagers was not annoying. I was actually looking forward to seeing what Gangu (Tanishq Chaudhary) and Nanu (Krish Rao) were up to, and how the show handled Nanu's love for Jyotsna (Suhani Sethi) and Gangu's one-sided crush on his teacher.

However, Guns & Gulaabs does not always hit the mark. The series begins to drag when a certain main character is confined to a hospital room and out of action, prompting another main character to take charge.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Jugnu's storyline of wanting to live up to his father's legacy but not being given the opportunity to do so had a lot of potential that was not always realized, especially when the other two, or rather three, storylines took precedence. His character's bizarre transformation towards the end also feels half-baked.

Another character who is not fully developed is Chandralekha. For all their strengths, Raj & DK's one major flaw is their inability to write a female character who is appealing to the audience. Lekha ma'am came close to overcoming this flaw, but her character ended up confusing me by the end. At one point, she is attracted to Tipu after he murders two men, even though she had previously rejected him for not living up to her expectations. Even Tipu is perplexed by her attraction after her bloody act, but this is not properly explored and Lekha transforms into this conscientious, mature mentor who is oblivious to her own dark side.

The nearly cinematic final episode, which runs for nearly an hour and a half, is definitely a highlight of the show, which is treated as a film in itself, even with its intermission. The back-and-forth between timelines makes for a riveting watch, but once the gimmick is over, the finale struggles to give Guns & Gulaabs a strong ending.

As for the performances, Guns & Gulaabs is stacked with some wonderful performances, even from the newcomers. However, the one actor who stands out is Rajkummar Rao. The National Award-winning actor is simply charming as the mechanic torn between love and a sense of vengeance. It helps that he has the most consistently written character of the whole lot, and the actor does complete justice to his part. While I am not exactly a fan of how his story arc goes, Adarsh Gourav is nevertheless very convincing in pulling off the arrogance of Jr Ganchi.

Gulshan Devaiah, as always, is a scene-stealer. Even though he appears in short bursts, he continues to steal the show with his vicious performance and Khalnayak look. The late Satish Kaushik was wonderful as the formidable Ganchi (I also loved that 'Calendar' Easter egg for him in the closing credits of the first episode), but unfortunately his role is not very substantial. TJ Bhanu is another fine actress to watch out for. Vipin Sharma, Varun Badola, Pooja Gor, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Manuj Sharma and Rajatava Dutta all do their parts well. The actors who play the teenagers are all good.

So what about Dulquer Salmaan, who makes his OTT debut with the show? Unfortunately, his was the one performance I had an issue with. It's not that Dulquer wasn't good in the show, but there were some aspects that made his Arjun Varma stand out like a sore thumb. Dulquer looks too young to play a father of a teenage girl and plays the character too straight to fit into the world created by Raj and DK, despite the greys in his character.

Final Thoughts

Of all the shows made by Raj and DK, Guns & Gulaabs is their weakest offering. However, this does not mean that it is bad. The Netflix series offers bursts of enjoyable dark humor, exciting action sequences, and performances. However, the show loses its footing in the middle as it tries to balance all the arcs, and some of the principal characters do not get the proper treatment they deserve. Guns & Gulaabs is streaming on Netflix.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 22, 2023 06:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).