Guns & Gulaabs (Webseries) Review- Hindi (2023)

Series: Guns & Gulaabs (2023)

Director: Raj & DK

Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Rajkumar Rao, Aadarsh Gaurav, TJ Bhanu & Others

Screenplay: Kunal Mehta

Music: Aman Panth

Number Of Episodes: 07

Streaming Platform: Netflix

Languages: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam & English 

Release Date: 18/08/2023

Censor: U/A (Foul language, Adultery)

1.5/5

What's The Whole Point In The Entire Tangled Thriller ?

01. What's Raj & DK's- G&Gs (Guns & Gulaabs) about?

The successful & sensational duo Raj & DK come up with a brand new comedy thriller but which I think will'nt go for long run. G&Gs is a chaotic comedy thriller set up in a small village- Gulaabgunj somewhere in North India which is known for production & trading of 'Opium' (A dried latex kind narcotic that comes from a Poppy plant seeds). 

The story is very very simple, but the directors choose to tell it in a complex & a nasty manner. If you expect something like Farzi or Family Man, then for sure this' a disappointment. 

02. Brief of G&Gs.

The story opens with introductions & embracements set up in 90's & almost giving us a typical retro vibe. The village Gulaabgunj has many activities that are gushing within, there are corrupt cops, bloody goons, innocent citizens, greedy govt officials, politicians, small-scale rowdies who work for money, liars, truth exposers, ladies, teenage school going students & almost everyone. Gaanchi (Sathish Kaushik) is the one who manages an illegal Opium trade in the village & there are Bengal traders who invade or trade on Opium in any cosy manner. There is Paana Tippu (Rajkumar Rao) who's a small mechanic & all the action starts when he kills two of the goons with a spanner. He's in love with a school teacher Chandralekha (TJ Bhanu) who too has a powerful character written. Then there's Chaarcut Aatmaram (Gulshan Devaiah) who's anything, say murderer, goon or a baffoon for sake of money. Then there is Chota Gaanchi (Aadarsh Gaurav) who pretends to be more than his father, but actually is'nt & there is a whole different story of him. At last we have married Arjun Varma (Dulquer Salmaan) who has a lovely wife, kid & appears to be sincere police officer but actually isn't & has a complete different story, pasts, secrets which even have shades of grey too. Rest is something that you have to watch to know, but I cannot bring back that hours that you would waste in knowing what is the actual point of G&Gs.

03. What actually goes well with G&Gs?

I can barely count on my fingers about what actually goes well in this series. The series is straight away on a single point with no extrodinary or bumper twists- it is all about a mafia behind Opium in which every other person wants to find their own benefit. We have goons trying to steal the Opium (ofcourse that's what they do), we have government officials/policemen doing the same & at last we have innocents Paana Tippu kind persons who also is unknowingly back of the trade. There are so many characters but their one & only goal is trading on the 'Blackgold'- Opium. We all might have heard about mafia scandals & their mode of operations right, like we are familiar with the gold scams, coal scams, liquor scams etc right? This is something very similar to that- it is an Opium scam, Raj & DK will take you all along the scam thoroughly from in to out, with pin & needle.

The setting up of 90's backdrop, either the costumes or the usage of old cassettes, songs will bring back the flavour of typical 90's which almost every recent film is trying to do, but this series writes that flavour pellucid enough on each of the frame. The way a typical scandal or scam is carried out is brilliantly executed. Characterization is a very big plus to the series.

04. What went wrong with G&Gs?

Probably everything! Yes, everything! Right from the beginning the series starts on a very dull note & ends on a disastrous note. The wit & comedy punch works, but not fully! The writing is very very weak & characters just fade away in the boredom of the screenplay. Dialouges do no justice at all, every phrase is there for sake of length, nothing really appeals. At a juncture, you all will be like- "Iss saari kahani ka point kya hai?" & that loop ends us making it a disaster.

If you love to watch, or if you ever dream of wanting to know what would happen when police, mafia gang, gangsters, citizens, innocents & entire village is into a scandal like this, the one shown in the series & if at all if you're suprised by already known or predictable twists & outcomes, then this is for you.

05. Performances & characters.

Dulquer Salmaan as Arjun Varma is beyond perfection like always, but doesn't he deserve a better Raj & DK flick like Faarzi or something? He's into the skin, but the writing is so bad that there isn't one highlighter in the entire series. DQ dubs in 5 languages, surprisingly in English too! Now-a-days actors don't even have time for selfies for their fans & here is this Mr. Sincere dubbing in more than 4 languages for a same film, & we cannot stop praising his efforts & dedication! 🤌🙏 Rajkumar Rao as Tippu & Aadarsh as Chota Gaanchi, TJ Bhanu as school teacher are the other characters that need to be lauded. Rest every other performance was also fine.

06. Technical Departments & flaws.

Music & BGM could have been a bit more interesting. Editing & screenplay terribly fail. Cinematography is just ok. The feeling of series being a just below average flick is because of the slow pace & tempo & also the motto in the series, because it's just a documentary on a scandal & there's no point at all. In the entire series there isn't one point where the gun powder catches fire or the gunshot triggers nor there aren't any gulaabs that bloom. So, after entire series, there is a feeling of void & incompleteness. The dialouges, for god sake! What are they even? So many cuss words will never bring in a raw or rustic feel just like that, I hate the thought of team who would have dreamt that they would draw in attention of younger generation with those unnecessary cuss words, which actually lack sense & feel. 

07. Finally!

I'll not vote for this! It's a big disappointment in all aspects. Not even a single episode creates a room for enthusiasm. Entirely the series is weak on writing & execution. The series isn't even on a road for sake of vibe or aura, it's a whole lot of unwanted mixes & hashes put together & forces audience to feel the vibe. So, I absolutely didn't like it, neither will reccommend to watch. So, if you wanna watch it for DQ or Raj-DK, then you can sacrifice your limitations, time & then watch it. From my side, it's just a boring- null / void comedy-thriller series.