Gumraah headlined by handsome Aditya Roy Kapur as the lead, in a double role, promises to be a thriller but is anything but thrilling

Nonika Singh

Few whodunits reveal the identity of the murderer in the very first scene and hope to retain viewers’ interest. Or, to put it differently, few directors have the acumen and the courage to do so. On the face of it, Gumraah’s premise, two men with identical looks, both murder suspects is intriguing.

For a few minutes the debutant director Vardhan Ketkar does keep you invested. But just when you expect this thriller to be an edge-of-the-seat experience or biting police procedural, the film digresses. We move back into another timeline, few months back. In short, it takes a diversion that is more like a dreary distraction.

Casting a handsome hero Aditya Roy Kapur as the lead, that too in double role one guesses has its own set of perils. There has to be romance (Vedika Pinto is the love interest) some gaana shaana, even though music with a clutch of music composers is not the highpoint here, and loads of action too.

As a rule thrillers thrive upon the cat and mouse game and keeping one step ahead of its audiences. Only here the narrative moves one step forward and several steps in other directions. Thus even if you think you are Sherlock Holmes, your sleuthing skills will come to naught. Not because the director and writer have woven an intricate mesmerising maze and you are simply stumped. Rather, the storyline at hand is so convoluted that any attempts at hazarding a guess will only lead you to a blank wall. First half in which the storyline builds up the arc of suspects Arjun Bhatnagar and Ronnie Surve (both Aditya Roy Kapur) is almost a drag. One is an IIT engineer, who runs a construction company and has a lavish lifestyle. The other knows sections of laws like the back of his hand, is a goon of sorts who is hard-pressed for money. Neither of their stories have any sting or panache. Though Aditya as Ronnie tries to throw in some swag he can’t quite whip up the charm he is known for.

Film picks up some momentum post interval. The ticklish question that they threw at us pre-interval, who among the two is the real killer, begins to acquire some edge. But guess what, once again we are led down another path of flashback, this time right into their childhood years. A bad marriage, mother’s love, sibling bond, psychotic behaviour and more drama surfaces sans dramatic tension. Though the climax packs a somewhat palatable surprise, if not a punch, it’s a classic case of too little too late. For Gumraah literally leads you astray. It promises to be a thriller but offers no chills or thrills. The only consistent point here is; like many Bollywood films of today this too is a remake (of Tamil film Thadam) and yet another sad reminder of why Bollywood is failing. A pity for this one stars good looking Aditya Roy Kapoor, who has only recently and suitably impressed us in the web series The Night Manager. Not that he is bad here. He does get the contrary inflections of his twin part one suave the other rough right. But since a hero must find justification even for his villainy yet another unimaginable and yawn-inducing twist concerning the murdered man is manufactured. Mrunal Thakur as Inspector Shivani Mathur holds her ground but not the film. In times when OTT has far better offerings, don’t be waylaid by Gumraah. Easily skippable.