Movie: Gang
Rating: 2.75/5
Banner: Studio Green
Cast: Suriya, Keerthy Suresh, Ramya Krishna, Karthik, Sudhakar, Brahmanandam, Tambi Ramaiah, RJ Balaji, Vinodhini and others
Dialogues: Shashank Vennelakanti
Music: Anirudh Ravichander
Cinematography: Dinesh Krishnan
Editing: Sreekar Prasad
Art: DRK Kiran
Action: Dileep Subbarayan
Producer: Gnanavel Raja
Written and directed by: Vignesh Sivn
Release date: Jan 12, 2018
Recent Suriya's movies didn't create much impact at Telugu box-office except for his "Singam" series. He seems to have realized that he now needs to touch different stories, which is why he chose to work with director Vignesh Sivn. Hence, his latest "Gang" is here.
Let's find out its merits and demerits.
Story:
Uttam (Suriya) along with Jhansi Rani aka Bujjamma (Ramya Krishna) forms a gang that poses as Special Investigation Team of CBI and conducts raids on corrupt leaders and businessmen. Their heist plan works well twice but later CBI comes to know of their acts and sets a trap for them.
Can this gang succeed in their next final mission?
Artistes’ Performances:
Suriya is a proven actor who can do justice to any kind of role. For this character, he has turned very lean and looks much younger than his age. His comic banter with Ramya Krishna is hilarious. For the first time, he has also dubbed his voice, which sounds good mostly.
Suriya's cheerful acting and Ramya Krishna's superb performance have added lot of sheen to this story. When real CBI catches Ramya Krishna, she gives the best performance. She is also quite natural in this.
Heroine Keerthy Suresh doesn't have much role but she is okay.
Among other actors, senior artiste Karthik is terrific. Rest of the cast are Tamil actors, they are not that effective.
Technical Excellence:
Movie has good technical values. The director has created '80s look and feel with his choice of locations and perfect art work. Cinematography is decent.
The dialogues written by Shashank Vennelakanti are amusing. Editing is neat.
Highlights:
Storyline
First half
Suriya and Ramya Krishna
Drawback:
Weak second half
Non effective climax
Analysis:
'Gang' is based on Akshay Kumar starrer 'Special 26', which is regarded as one of the best thrillers to come out in Bollywood in recent times.
'Gang' is not an exact remake of 'Special 26', director Vignesh Sivn has localised the content to suit the tastes of south Indian audiences and also to make it appealing to Suriya's fans.
The film is all about a gang that poses as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers to loot money from the big sharks.
The gang mainly consists of Suriya, Ramya Krishna, Suriya's friends.
Like in Bollywood version, the film's events happen in 1987. The setting is Karaikudi in Tamilnadu. "Gang" doesn't turn serious at any time; it is packaged with fun elements.
The director has done most changes in the first part and some characters. He has introduced Ramya Krishna’s character here, which was originally played by actor Anupam Kher. By bringing Ramya Krishna on board, the director has also used lot of comedy.
He made her a mother of seven children and married to a guy who is paralysed (played by Sudhakar) and derived lot of fun from her characterisation. The director has also used an emotional flashback to Suriya's story.
By and large, the first half of the movie is fun and has its uniqueness compared to the original.
The problem lies in the second half, as the film's core content is diluted. Also, it is overtly commercialised here. The first two raids that the gang do are effectively shot (one raid is done in Hyderabad).
However, the final jewellery showroom loot is crucial to the movie and it needed suspense and nail-biting moments. Here, the director faltered on his grip. Thus it has dampened the impact.
As a stand-alone film, 'Gang" works to the maximum thanks to the fun factor and terrific performances by Suriya (he is at best and he looks so slim and handsome) and Ramya Krishna. The director has also changed the role of heroine. He has made her a trickster like the hero unlike in the original where hero's love interest is a teacher.
"Gang" is fun heist thriller with decent direction and narration. It is a lot better movie than the other Sankranthi releases.
Bottom-line: Better Than The Rest
