Nobody owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death. A murder mystery made its theatrical release on April 7, 2023. Titled “Gumraah” and translated as “Mislead”, this crime-thriller stars Aditya Roy Kapur as the prime murder suspect. Not one, but there are two Aditya Roy Kapurs in this crime drama. Both are suspects. You have to watch till the end to find out which one of these Aditya Roy Kapurs is the actual murderer!

Excuse my joking nature! Sub-inspector Shivani Mathur (Mrunal Thakur) is investigating a man’s murder and while doing so, she comes across two exact look-alike suspects, Arjun Sehgal and Sooraj Rana (Aditya Roy Kapur in a dual role). She is convinced that Sooraj is the murderer while her boss, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dhiren Yadav (Ronit Roy) thinks Arjun is the one who has committed the murder. So, let the drama unfold till you get to know who the real murderer is!

Gumraah (2023) Official Trailer:

The Good:

Hardcore Action Sequences!

The action and fight sequences in Gumraah were thrilling to watch. Intense one-on-one combats coupled with loud gun action steal the show! Lately, I have seen Aditya Roy Kapur behaving like Sunny Deol on the big screens. He was once a romantic hero and from that he transitioned into a hardcore action hero who roars and bashes up villains. Such hardcore action scenes do not suit his image because he may behave like Sunny Deol on-screen but is nowhere near Sunny Deol in terms of physicality. But still, the guy is trying, and that’s what earns him some respect.

Average Performances

The performances of the actors in Gumraah are not bad, but just about average. Aditya Roy’s acting and dialogue delivery are average throughout the movie. After giving super-flops like “Rashtra Kavach Om”, his image sure has deteriorated. The main supporting actors, Mrunal Thakur, and Ronit Roy, carried out their roles as the two police officers well. However, the characters of these two cops, as per the script’s demand, are direly unidimensional with fixed expressions which can at times bore the audiences. Of course, there are many other actors and actresses who had brief appearances throughout the drama.

The Bad:

The Plot And Screenplay

Gumraah is the official remake of the 2019 Tamil-language crime thriller Thadam. As Bollywood is following the trend of copying South Indian films and remaking them in Hindi, this wouldn’t do them any good. You need to know what you are making and whether you will get any benefit after making it.

The plot and screenplay of Gumraah are such that they will not engage the audience. The excitement just does not build up! Firstly, Aditya Roy Kapur can be the “talk of the town” among women. But as for us men, we are least bothered to see him or his time-pass activities on the screens. And even we are least bothered to know which one of the Aditya Roy Kapurs has committed the murder. Be it Aditya Roy No. 1 or Aditya Roy No. 2, in the end, it will be Aditya Roy only who will be tagged as a criminal!

So the thing is when you know that it is Aditya Roy only who will be convicted at the end, then the story becomes very much uninteresting. Not just predictable, but it can bore you as well. The two look-alikes appear so much similar that the sympathy of the audience does not build up for any of them. No doubt, this may be the reason why this film has underperformed at the box office. The credits for this disastrous adapted screenplay go to Aseem Arora.

A Romantic Track Featuring Aditya Roy Kapur And Vedika Pinto From Gumraah (2023)

Low-Grade Camerawork And Sloppy Editing

The visuals and camerawork by Vinnet Malhotra in Gumraah are low-quality. For instance, many scenes were shady. These scenes, which involved police interrogation in cells and some of Aditya Roy’s weird stunts, were mostly shot during the night. Some of these scenes were difficult to comprehend due to their fast-paced nature and dull and dark cinematography. I also feel that the editing of this film was done abruptly by Sahil Nayar just to make it fast-paced within a run duration of 2 hours and 10 minutes. In fact, he ended up making the drama superfast with abrupt scenes here and there due to which it lost its thrill.

The Verdict:

Gumraah has been directed by Vardhan Ketkar. Ketkar brother, please shower some mercy on the poor audiences. Even one Aditya Roy Kapur is intolerable, and you have shown two of them! And God knows how you came up with the idea of remaking Thadam in Hindi and that too with Aditya Roy Kapur. Thadam was a blockbuster because of its charismatic South Indian cast and the classy directional style in which South Indian films are made, which Bollywood will never be able to copy. So, a blockbuster in South India may turn out to be a disaster if it is remade in Hindi with improper casting and direction.

Also, this is the first time I am seeing Mrunal Thakur in a serious role as a police officer. I am used to seeing her in romantic roles and item number songs only. But this film didn’t turn out well for her in spite of her serious acting. Gumraah also showcases how abusive Indian policemen can be. People who are committing crimes in India may not be as lucky as Aditya Roy Kapur. Instead of a gorgeous lady police officer like Mrunal Thakur, one may end up getting arrested by a fat slob of an abusive policeman who himself may look like some child molester. So, don’t get too inspired by this movie. And you should not be because in certain scenes, Aditya Roy Kapur is hung from the ceiling and beaten up black and blue by policemen inside a cell.

Gumraah for sure is a crime-thriller but watching this movie is a crime in itself! By the way, the story revolves around murdering for revenge. One of the Aditya Roys had murdered the man due to some past enmity with him which you will find out after watching the movie.