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Gunda (film)
Encyclopedia
Gunda is an Indian
low budget movie released in 1998. Directed by Kanti Shah
, it stars Mithun Chakraborty
, Mukesh Rishi
and Shakti Kapoor
. It was produced by Anil Shah, written by Bashir Babbar, and the musical score was provided by Anand Raj Anand. Since its release, it has attained a cult following
amongst pan-Indian audiences due to its low production values, cheesy dialogues, over-the-top acting and "so bad that it's good" qualities.
The movie opens with a scene wherein two corrupt politicians hire two different crime lords viz. Lambu Aatta and Bulla to kill each other. Lambu Aatta kills one of the accomplices of Bulla and initiates the war, later Bulla settles the score by killing Lambu Aata's brother. Lambu Aatta bounces back by killing Bulla's sister. Bulla is ultimately able to kill Lambu Aatta and win the war. Now the undisputed leader of the underworld
, Bulla is hired by a corrupt politician
Bachubhai Bhigona (Deepak Shirke) to murder his rival. Bulla sends his right hand man Kala Shetty (Rami Reddy) to do the job. Shetty successfully commits the murder in front of several gawking policemen, but as soon as he is able to outrun the police
he is caught and turned over to the authorities by Shankar (Mithun Chakraborty
). Here we are introduced to the protagonist who works as a coolie
in a shipyard, and other time at airport
! He lives in relative comfort with his policeman father, his sister, Geeta, and a pet monkey called Tinku. Shankar also has a girlfriend named Ganga, who wants to get married to him as soon as possible but Shankar has bigger things to worry about.
Shankar further enrages Bulla by entering a fighting competition organized by Bulla at the shipyard. Shankar does not enter to win money or fame for himself, but only to win the money so that some other labourer can marry off his daughter. He manages to defeat Bulla's prize fighter by simply twisting his hand for a few seconds.
The animosity is raised a few notches when Shankar's father is beaten up by Bulla's goons when his father tries to stop the goons from collecting money from shopkeepers. Shankar reaches the scene and beats Bulla's men to pulp. Weapons are no use against Shankar, who can jump 10 feet in the air and fell the 250 pound goons with a single punch. However, he is forced to expend a bit more energy against the leader of the goons.
As revenge, one of Bulla's henchmen, Natte (shortie), abducts Shankar's sister, and molests her. However, she is saved by Gulshan, and she falls in love with Gulshan. This turns out to be a scheme by Bulla, as Gulshan marries Geeta and then hands her over to Chuttiya for his pleasure. Bulla gives Chuttiya 'Vitamin Sex' (a likely reference to Viagra, obtained from London
, for him to overcome his impotency. However, Geeta dies while being raped by Chuttiya, and he disposes of the body in a jungle. Shankar's monkey, Tinku sees this and leads Shankar to Bulla's bungalow. Shankar chases Chuttiya to Bulla's doorstep, where he is confronted by Bulla and his henchmen Ibu Hatela (Harish Patel
), Pote (Mohan Joshi) and Inspector Kale. Shankar swears revenge on them and then goes his way.
When he learns of his daughter's death, Shankar's father goes mad with grief and threatens Inspector Kale who he blames for being a henchman for Bulla the gangster. After a brief struggle the inspector chokes the old man to death. Shankar meets Bulla and his henchmen and promises them that he will kill all of them in 10 days. On his way back, Shankar finds an abandoned baby girl child, and adopts despite all the retributory violence that he is embroiled in.
Shankar then goes on a rampage
and starts killing all of Bulla's accomplices one by one, starting with Gulshan. Next Shankar finds Ibu Hatela attempting to rape
a girl, and beheads him too. However, when he tries to assassinate the politician Bachubhai Bhigona, a sniper
from another car kills Bhigona. Shankar is caught and charged for the murder, and is sentenced to a life term in prison, all on the same day. Shankar escapes prison the same night, and goes after Inspector Kale. Kale arrives with a contingent of about twenty white cars, none of which have drivers. Shankar is then ambushed by several Kung-fu trained goons with knives, submachine guns and grenades. To no one's surprise, Shankar thrashes them and kills Kale.
After this, Shankar goes after Chikna, who is employed by Bulla to lure village girls to the city and then force them into prostitution
. In the iconic fight that follows, cots are shown hanging from the roof at several heights, and Shankar piledrives goons into them one by one, while prostitutes swing on the cots and stare in awe and amazement. Before killing Chikna, Shankar learns that the baby girl he adopted was in fact Bulla's illegitimate child, born from Haseena.
While Shankar hunts for Pote, Chuttiya and Bulla on the other hand kill his girlfriend Ganga. After killing Pote, Shankar goes to kill Chuttiya. Chuttiya then informs Shankar that he is an impotent & it was his elder brother Bulla who gave him vitamin sex which put him into a frenzy & made him violently rape Shankar's sister. Thus, to take revenge, Shankar castrates Chuttiya & says that this is what he deserves.
In the climatic scene, Bulla and Shankar have a showdown in the shipyard-airport complex. Bulla is backed up by several dozen auto-rickshaws that run helter-skelter and attack Shankar. Shankar is well prepared for this, and he takes out a rocket-propelled grenade launcher from the boot of his car and takes down the auto-rickshaws.
The action quickly switches to a coal mine, where Bulla tries to use the adopted baby which he thinks is Shankar's daughter to gain leverage in the fight. Soon Bulla realizes that the baby is his own, he still uses the baby as a shield, Shankar rescues the girl with the help of his monkey
, Tinku, and finally kills Bulla.
states "The Mithun Chakarborthy-starrer has gained a surprising amount of cult popularity over the last year and a half or so, with several adulatory reviews and even fan-sites cropping up. But when we first saw Gunda, back in 2005, a full seven years after its unheralded release in 1998, it was the first any of us had heard of the film or its prolific director, Kanti Shah." Mayank Shekhar of the Mumbai Mirror
says that "Gladwell hasn’t seen Gunda (probably, neither have you). He must. He’d be glad. In my living memory, I have yet to notice a more startling revelation of the mysterious ‘tipping point’ anywhere of my social circle. Over the past few months, about four unrelated sources from three parts of the world have asked me if I’d seen Kanti Shah’s Gunda.""Watch Gunda, so that you can say to your grandkids that you were part of the generation that saw it first" says Kamayani Sharma of The ILIKE Times."
from college girls who were appalled by the excessive violence, sex and obscenity in the film. The film had earlier been rejected by the Central Board for Film Certification due to use of filthy language and obscenity, it was later passed with an A certificate after the film makers made changes to the film. It was alleged that the version running in theaters prior to the withdrawal was the unedited print.The cases filed from Mumbai and Bangalore have since been withdrawn and the movie has also been cleared
The movie came in highlights after writer and columnist Chetan Bhagat
in his Times of India column claimed that contemporary movies have better content than films like Gunda. This drew protests typically on blogs and twitter amongst Gunda fans. One of the flaws in Bhagat's column as pointed out by a blogger was that Gunda was released in 1998 whereas Chetan Bhagat quoted it to be a movie of the 80's. Gunda fans have strongly reacted against Bhagat's comments, asking him to leave writing books, in the style of a clichéd Hindi movie script.
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
low budget movie released in 1998. Directed by Kanti Shah
Kanti Shah
Kanti Shah is a director and producer of Ballu-grade, Kaanteez-grade and Buddhi-grade Hindi movies. He is best known for the direction of the "so bad it's good" cult film Gunda in 1998...
, it stars Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty is an Indian film actor, social activist, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigaya , for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor....
, Mukesh Rishi
Mukesh Rishi
Mukesh Rishi is an Indian film actor who works in Bollywood and Tollywood and Canada. Coming from a brahmin family in Jammu, Mukesh was the first person in his family to try his luck in the world of cinema...
and Shakti Kapoor
Shakti Kapoor
Shakti Kapoor is an Indian Bollywood actor. He is notably known for playing vulgar comic and villainous roles. He is known for acting alongside comedian Kader Khan as his sidekick along with Asrani in over 100 films.-Early life:...
. It was produced by Anil Shah, written by Bashir Babbar, and the musical score was provided by Anand Raj Anand. Since its release, it has attained a cult following
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
amongst pan-Indian audiences due to its low production values, cheesy dialogues, over-the-top acting and "so bad that it's good" qualities.
Plot
Gunda tells the story of an honest man who becomes the target of a vicious gang lord, after inadvertently interfering in a mission. This leads to a cycle of retributive violence, as the young man seeks vengeance for death of father, sister and fiancee.The movie opens with a scene wherein two corrupt politicians hire two different crime lords viz. Lambu Aatta and Bulla to kill each other. Lambu Aatta kills one of the accomplices of Bulla and initiates the war, later Bulla settles the score by killing Lambu Aata's brother. Lambu Aatta bounces back by killing Bulla's sister. Bulla is ultimately able to kill Lambu Aatta and win the war. Now the undisputed leader of the underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
, Bulla is hired by a corrupt politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
Bachubhai Bhigona (Deepak Shirke) to murder his rival. Bulla sends his right hand man Kala Shetty (Rami Reddy) to do the job. Shetty successfully commits the murder in front of several gawking policemen, but as soon as he is able to outrun the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
he is caught and turned over to the authorities by Shankar (Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty is an Indian film actor, social activist, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigaya , for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor....
). Here we are introduced to the protagonist who works as a coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
in a shipyard, and other time at airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
! He lives in relative comfort with his policeman father, his sister, Geeta, and a pet monkey called Tinku. Shankar also has a girlfriend named Ganga, who wants to get married to him as soon as possible but Shankar has bigger things to worry about.
Shankar further enrages Bulla by entering a fighting competition organized by Bulla at the shipyard. Shankar does not enter to win money or fame for himself, but only to win the money so that some other labourer can marry off his daughter. He manages to defeat Bulla's prize fighter by simply twisting his hand for a few seconds.
The animosity is raised a few notches when Shankar's father is beaten up by Bulla's goons when his father tries to stop the goons from collecting money from shopkeepers. Shankar reaches the scene and beats Bulla's men to pulp. Weapons are no use against Shankar, who can jump 10 feet in the air and fell the 250 pound goons with a single punch. However, he is forced to expend a bit more energy against the leader of the goons.
As revenge, one of Bulla's henchmen, Natte (shortie), abducts Shankar's sister, and molests her. However, she is saved by Gulshan, and she falls in love with Gulshan. This turns out to be a scheme by Bulla, as Gulshan marries Geeta and then hands her over to Chuttiya for his pleasure. Bulla gives Chuttiya 'Vitamin Sex' (a likely reference to Viagra, obtained from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, for him to overcome his impotency. However, Geeta dies while being raped by Chuttiya, and he disposes of the body in a jungle. Shankar's monkey, Tinku sees this and leads Shankar to Bulla's bungalow. Shankar chases Chuttiya to Bulla's doorstep, where he is confronted by Bulla and his henchmen Ibu Hatela (Harish Patel
Harish Patel
Harish is an Indian actor. He has a relative called Himesh Patel, he is Tamwar in EastEnders. Although mainly associated with the stage, he has also appeared in comedy films and on television. He began performing at the age of seven, when he played both male and female parts in the Hindu epic...
), Pote (Mohan Joshi) and Inspector Kale. Shankar swears revenge on them and then goes his way.
When he learns of his daughter's death, Shankar's father goes mad with grief and threatens Inspector Kale who he blames for being a henchman for Bulla the gangster. After a brief struggle the inspector chokes the old man to death. Shankar meets Bulla and his henchmen and promises them that he will kill all of them in 10 days. On his way back, Shankar finds an abandoned baby girl child, and adopts despite all the retributory violence that he is embroiled in.
Shankar then goes on a rampage
Rampage
Rampage may refer to:* Rampage , an American rapper* Dodge Rampage, a subcompact, unibody pickup truck* Rampage , a video game series....
and starts killing all of Bulla's accomplices one by one, starting with Gulshan. Next Shankar finds Ibu Hatela attempting to rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
a girl, and beheads him too. However, when he tries to assassinate the politician Bachubhai Bhigona, a sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
from another car kills Bhigona. Shankar is caught and charged for the murder, and is sentenced to a life term in prison, all on the same day. Shankar escapes prison the same night, and goes after Inspector Kale. Kale arrives with a contingent of about twenty white cars, none of which have drivers. Shankar is then ambushed by several Kung-fu trained goons with knives, submachine guns and grenades. To no one's surprise, Shankar thrashes them and kills Kale.
After this, Shankar goes after Chikna, who is employed by Bulla to lure village girls to the city and then force them into prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. In the iconic fight that follows, cots are shown hanging from the roof at several heights, and Shankar piledrives goons into them one by one, while prostitutes swing on the cots and stare in awe and amazement. Before killing Chikna, Shankar learns that the baby girl he adopted was in fact Bulla's illegitimate child, born from Haseena.
While Shankar hunts for Pote, Chuttiya and Bulla on the other hand kill his girlfriend Ganga. After killing Pote, Shankar goes to kill Chuttiya. Chuttiya then informs Shankar that he is an impotent & it was his elder brother Bulla who gave him vitamin sex which put him into a frenzy & made him violently rape Shankar's sister. Thus, to take revenge, Shankar castrates Chuttiya & says that this is what he deserves.
In the climatic scene, Bulla and Shankar have a showdown in the shipyard-airport complex. Bulla is backed up by several dozen auto-rickshaws that run helter-skelter and attack Shankar. Shankar is well prepared for this, and he takes out a rocket-propelled grenade launcher from the boot of his car and takes down the auto-rickshaws.
The action quickly switches to a coal mine, where Bulla tries to use the adopted baby which he thinks is Shankar's daughter to gain leverage in the fight. Soon Bulla realizes that the baby is his own, he still uses the baby as a shield, Shankar rescues the girl with the help of his monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
, Tinku, and finally kills Bulla.
Cast
- Mithun ChakrabortyMithun ChakrabortyMithun Chakraborty is an Indian film actor, social activist, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigaya , for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor....
as Shankar - Mukesh RishiMukesh RishiMukesh Rishi is an Indian film actor who works in Bollywood and Tollywood and Canada. Coming from a brahmin family in Jammu, Mukesh was the first person in his family to try his luck in the world of cinema...
as Bulla - Ishrat Ali as Lambu Atta
- Shakti KapoorShakti KapoorShakti Kapoor is an Indian Bollywood actor. He is notably known for playing vulgar comic and villainous roles. He is known for acting alongside comedian Kader Khan as his sidekick along with Asrani in over 100 films.-Early life:...
as Chuttiya - Rami ReddyRami Reddy (actor)Rami Reddy was an Indian film actor in Telugu Cinema. He also tried as director and producer but was not successful. He is known for his negative roles, character roles and comedy timing. He was a well known villain and he had his own inimitable style with typical Telangana dialect...
as Kala Shetty - Harish PatelHarish PatelHarish is an Indian actor. He has a relative called Himesh Patel, he is Tamwar in EastEnders. Although mainly associated with the stage, he has also appeared in comedy films and on television. He began performing at the age of seven, when he played both male and female parts in the Hindu epic...
as Ibu Hatela - Mohan Joshi as Pote
- Deepak Shirke as politician Bachubhai Bhigona
Reviews
Ravi Balakrishnan of The Economic TimesThe Economic Times
The Economic Times is an English-language Indian daily newspaper published by the Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.. The Economic Times was started in 1961. It is the most popular and widely read financial daily in India, read by more than 8 lakh people...
states "The Mithun Chakarborthy-starrer has gained a surprising amount of cult popularity over the last year and a half or so, with several adulatory reviews and even fan-sites cropping up. But when we first saw Gunda, back in 2005, a full seven years after its unheralded release in 1998, it was the first any of us had heard of the film or its prolific director, Kanti Shah." Mayank Shekhar of the Mumbai Mirror
Mumbai Mirror
Mumbai Mirror is a largest compact newspaper in the city of Mumbai with a daily circulation of over 600,000 copies. Its first issue was published on May 30, 2005 by the Times Group, the publishers of The Times of India newspaper....
says that "Gladwell hasn’t seen Gunda (probably, neither have you). He must. He’d be glad. In my living memory, I have yet to notice a more startling revelation of the mysterious ‘tipping point’ anywhere of my social circle. Over the past few months, about four unrelated sources from three parts of the world have asked me if I’d seen Kanti Shah’s Gunda.""Watch Gunda, so that you can say to your grandkids that you were part of the generation that saw it first" says Kamayani Sharma of The ILIKE Times."
Business
The movie has broke many records at the box office. According to the latest reports the gross box collections for the movie are estimated to be around Rs.30.6 crore (306 million).Controversy
On its release in 1998, the film had to be withdrawn from theaters due to complaints received by the Central Board of Film CertificationCentral Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification is a Government of India regulatory body and censorship board of India controlled by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It reviews, rates and censors motion pictures, television shows, television ads, and promotional material...
from college girls who were appalled by the excessive violence, sex and obscenity in the film. The film had earlier been rejected by the Central Board for Film Certification due to use of filthy language and obscenity, it was later passed with an A certificate after the film makers made changes to the film. It was alleged that the version running in theaters prior to the withdrawal was the unedited print.The cases filed from Mumbai and Bangalore have since been withdrawn and the movie has also been cleared
The movie came in highlights after writer and columnist Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat , is an Indian author, columnist, and speaker. Bhagat is the author of five bestselling novels, Five Point Someone , One Night @ the Call Center , The 3 Mistakes of My Life , 2 States & Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition...
in his Times of India column claimed that contemporary movies have better content than films like Gunda. This drew protests typically on blogs and twitter amongst Gunda fans. One of the flaws in Bhagat's column as pointed out by a blogger was that Gunda was released in 1998 whereas Chetan Bhagat quoted it to be a movie of the 80's. Gunda fans have strongly reacted against Bhagat's comments, asking him to leave writing books, in the style of a clichéd Hindi movie script.