Review of Gangster (2014) by Rajesh M — 19 Apr 2014

The Plot:

Gangster is an action crime thriller movie directed by Aashiq Abu which revolves around Akbar Ali (Mammootty), an underworld don. The movie kickstarts with narration along with the pictorial illustrations introducing the characters / the story. Akbar Ali is the son of Mumbai underworld don Illyas Khan. Illyas and family members except Akbar are wiped out by his arch rival Don Philip. Akbar is saved by Hajjikka (T.G. Ravi), Illyas' right hand. The grown up Akbar at the age of sixteen wreaks vengeance and finishes Don Philip. For another ten years, no one heard of Akbar. Later he returns as a gold smuggler and chooses to settle down at Mangalore. Akbar enters into a sort of peace treaty with two other dons in the city - Uncle Sam (John Paul) and Mani Menon (Kunchan). Everything seems fine until Anto Pandhare (Sekhar Menon), nephew of Uncle Sam, enters the scene. Anto, a drug addict and sexually obsessed /dysfunctional guy, is a chemist who runs a pharmaceutical company and uses it as a cover for his crime business. Akbar doesn't buy in the idea of Anto and the conflict starts. Rest of the movie is about the conflict amongst Akbar, Anto, Uncle Sam, Mani Menon. What happens next...??? Does Akbar survive or Anto wins...??? Very much predictable plot...

Director and Writer:

Ashique Abu, the Director, could not create any magic through Gangster. Even the script by Ahmed Sidhique, Abhilash Kumar is very weak. Overall a shallow outcome.

Cast and their Performance:

What to talk about cast. We have one of the best actor Mammootty as the lead man, but no special performance from him. It is a disappointment to watch Mammootty in movies where his acting caliber gets wasted. Yes, Mammootty looks stylish.

Nyla Usha (Sana Ibrahim) as Akbar's wife had nothing much to do.

Aparna Gopinath (Lilly) is noticeable.

Other cast members T.G. Ravi (Hajikka), Sekhar Menon (Anto), Kunchan (Mani Menon), Hareesh Peradi (Michael), John Paul (Uncle Sam), Dileesh Pothan (Vidhura) are ok.

Cinematography:

Alby has given good shots of Mumbai, Mangalore, and Ajmer.

Music:

Music by Deepak Dev is not catchy, but yes the background music is good.

Moments to watch out for:

Nothing... (probably the pictorial illustrations in the beginning of the movie).

Thumbs up:

Watch this movie only if you are a die-hard fan of Mammootty (still, you might get bored).

Thumbs down:

A lot of moments...

One-Liner:

Gangster... A big disappointment ... !!!