Shootout At Wadala

Shootout At Wadala is an interesting content spoiled by cliché style of scripting and unnecessary addition of commercial masala. The movie based on real characters just doesn’t have much realism to make us feel for the characters or at least think from their perspective.  With stylish cinematography and powerful supporting cast, it’s an average action thriller that has its moments.

The story here is based on the first ever registered encounter of Mumbai Police. In a flash back – parallel narrative, the movie traverses through the lives of gangster Manya Surve and ACP Afaaque Baaghran. How a studious and calm Surve became a gangster and how a determined Afaaque started the cleaning process is basically the film all about.

When you are making films on characters that actually existed, the dramatization has a certain limit. In the case of Shootout at Wadala, what I felt missing is the less charm in the story they narrated. The makers have repeated those old gangster scenarios and sadly that wasn’t enough to make a deadly impact. Sanjay Gupta, has once again showed his love for gun powder and the Quentin Tarantino influence in him with all those brutal shots.

On screen, John Abraham is quite good as the gangster Surve. He could have performed the innocent phase in a better way and some dedication to shrink himself in that phase would have made the transformation look deadly. Anil Kapoor is spot on as the ACP.  Kangana Ranaut is there in a convincing role and there are quite a few steamy scenes. Tusshar Kapoor gets to do the role of Munir in his home production. Manoj Bajpai and Sonu Sood were really good as the brothers and Ronit Roy also performs well as Inspector Tambat.

In the making, Sanjay Gupta has made this in his signature rough style with those grey tone and slow motions. The “300” style zoom in zoom out slow-motion camera work is quite catchy. The stunts are cool with the support of edits and cinematography. The music section wasn’t up to the standard and the art also showed hiccups. In a movie set in the 80’s, I think I saw a bike with alloy wheels (quite sure it’s a new one). The dialogs are kind of cool and the screenplay as I said moves through a predictable pattern. Those three item numbers really spoiled the movie’s feel.

Overall, Shootout at Wadala is an average film with some impressive performances and stylish frames. I am giving this one a 2.5/5. The roughness in the making may annoy a particular percentage of viewers. Watch it only if you are a diehard fan of bloodshed gangster stories.