Since its inception, Bollywood has been creating action flicks. While most audiences love action flicks that revolve around a hero, a villain and a victorious ending for the lead couple, some find it intriguing to watch when the tables turn on the hero. Movies like Ram Gopal Varma’s 1998 blockbuster Satya and 2002's Company show us the dark side to be the ‘hero' “ or 'anti-hero in their cases. Recently, we've seen Bollywood producing more gangster oriented films because of the audience interest. While Hollywood films like the Francis Ford Coppola directed Godfather and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs have dominated our weekend binges since forever, Bollywood movies like Vaastav: The Reality staring Sanjay Dutt and D-Day staring Arjun Rampal and Irfan Khan have sparked audience interests to learn about the vast world of guns and trade in India itself.
While most movies showcase the ugly side of the underworld, recent and upcoming releases like Raees staring Shah Rukh Khan and Haseena staring Shraddha Kapoor promise to show us the other side of the gangster world, perhaps, even an even innocent side. Today, we’ve asked a few readers their views on Bollywood directors who showcase the gangster world in a new light and with a different perspective.
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According to me, not all underworld lords are bad at heart. I’m not claiming that they’re good people or what they’re doing is the right thing “ by this I mean the assassinations and the illegal activities. However, movies like Raees show that some of them do have a heart and care for the people around them and look out for others. Even previous movies like Munna Bhai MBBS for example, show that though he is a gangster, he also has a big and a good heart, and that he cared for the ones he loved. I believe the same applies to female gangster leads also.
Yash Gosalia, Margao
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Movies involving gangster storylines really impress me. I’ve grown up watching Hollywood gangster movies like the Godfather series and Goodfellas, therefore I do believe that gangster storylines have great buildups and dialogues. So yes, portraying them in the new light and having the female take the gangster lead is definitely quite new and refreshing “ in both Hollywood as well as Bollywood.
Shawn Fernandes, Margao
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Bollywood has been creating such gangster movies since a long time. Movies like Don have really fascinated me. I also believe that these movies make us more open-minded. We need to get out of the so-called Indian mind set of how one female can’t take the lead in a movie. I believe that a female is capable of doing so much in movies and yet sometimes, she isn’t as appreciate as her male counterpart. For me, nothing changes when I see a female take up the gangster’s role and as far as the underworld life is concerned I do believe that there are many more areas where we can focus and have more great movies made.
Hafiz Hemani, Panaji
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I usually believed that Bollywood movies were always where the good guy defeats the bad guy, gets the girl in the end and lives happily ever after. However, I believe that it’s good that Bollywood is evolving. The new scripts are so much better and it’s impressive to see leading actors ready to play the bad guy. As far as it goes, actresses playing the gangster “ I would love to see more of that in Bollywood as, observed from watching Hollywood films, some actresses’ best roles in movies and TV shows came when they played villains.
Valsyn Conceiçâo, Margao
