On November 30, 2016, our Civilization of India class watched the modern Bollywood Film Gulaab Gang. Cinema is a vibrant medium, telling India’s story while captivating the culture and current issues of the time. Commonly known as Masala Films, Bollywood movies are a mixture of action, comedy, and romance dating back to before the 19th century. Their plots tend to be melodramatic while employing formulaic ingredients such as love triangles, corrupt politicians, conniving villains, star crossed lovers, and more (BBC). These generic themes and elements of Bollywood films are explored within Gulaab Gang.
Gulaab Gang, set in the village of Madhopur, is an underdog action film about a group of female vigilantes draped in pink saris that advocate for issues such as domestic violence, rape, and education. The Gulaab Gang is an organized gang of girls that fight against villainous husbands, cops and politicians. Rajjo, their leader, runs a school for girls that alternates as a shelter for battered and abandoned women and is a strong advocate of violence as an instrument of justice. The plot thickens when Rajjo fights to take down Sumitra, a power-hungry corrupt politician, by taking part in the local elections. In the end, Sumitra and Rajjo are are both jailed, but Rajjo achieves her ultimate dream of establishing a school for underprivileged girls.
When Soumik Sen’s Gulaab Gang was released on March 7, 2014, it received mixed reviews from critics. Though I was originally uncertain about the overdramatic violence scenes, Danny Bowes comments that, “getting to see her [Rajjo] wreaking havoc in the kind of wild action sequences usually reserved for the thick-mustached, bare-chested, and male is a particular joy.” Additionally, Sumitra takes part in a “role usually reserved for men in popular film” (Bowes). Females are not stereotypically depicted as fighters within Bollywood films. Both Sumitra and Rajjo fill roles that are typically for men—the hero and the villain. The fight scenes depict empowering roles for the female leads, and thus the film’s melodramatic nature should be appraised as it adds to the films alienation to male dominated roles.
On the other hand, Rajeev Masand rated Gulaab Gang a 1.5/5 with final comments “muddled and forgettable.” Masand comments that, “it’s particularly hard to take Rajjo seriously when she breaks into choreographed dance sequences each time the women are taking a break from beating up some offender.” Typically, Bollywood films are musicals and are expected to contain catchy music in the form of song and dance numbers woven into the script. Indian filmmakers use songs and music as a mode of articulation within their films. Songs typically comment on a particular scene of a movie and are either worked into the plot or are an externalization of a character’s thought. Though in-keeping with typical elements of Bollywood films, the dance sequences within Gulaab Gang are unsuitable and irrelevant to the plot, even serving as a distraction at times.
Overall, as Deepanjana Pal comments, “every stereotype that you can think of is present in Gulaab Gang: the evil stepmother, the weak father, the wastrel son, the toxic widow, the feisty tomboy, the meek woman with hidden reserves of strength, the corrupt policemen, the outnumbered honest policeman, the obsequious secretary, the spineless bureaucrat.” Though at times predictable and detached, Gulaab Gang was a worthy introduction to Bollywood movies and portrayed typical elements of Indian films perfectly. The film could have been curtailed but was nevertheless an enjoyable watch.

Rajjo with Gulaab Gang

“Bollywood Cinema: 10 Lesser-known Facts.” BBC News. BBC News, 04 May 2013. Web.04  Dec. 2016.

Bowes, Danny. “Gulaab Gang Movie Review & Film Summary.” RogerEbert. RogerEbert,07 Mar. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.

Masad, Rajeev. “Gulaab Gang Review: The Film Is Muddled and Forgettable.”             News18.News18, 7 Mar. 2014. Web. 4 Dec. 2016.

Pal, Deepanjana. “Gulaab Gang Review: Madhuri Does a Rajini, and She’s Not Half         Bad.” Firstpost. Firstpost, 09 Mar. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.