THE UNDERRATED JOHNNY

FILM: Johnny Gaddar (2007)
CAST: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Dharmendra, Rimi Sen
DIRECTOR: Sriram Raghavan




Rene Brabazon Raymond wrote many outstanding thriller novels and his writing life which ranges from the 1930s to the mid 1980s has captured the changing thrills of the American society. His books were bestsellers in Asia, Africa, France and Italy and many of his books were made into movies. Few have heard of Raymond, but many have read his works under the pseudonym he chose: James Hadley Chase! Johnny Gaddar is a tribute to this legendary writer. Raghavan also pays tribute to the Vijay Anand thrillers. My favourite has to be Guide. but Raghavan chose Johnny Mera Naam. Johnny Gaddar has to be one of the most underrated movies of 2007. Initially damned by critics coupled by blank theatres, this classic did not get its due.

The story is intelligent and complex and carved out of simple locations and characters. The movie deals with a caper gang which involves itself in making gray deals with an honest and old criminal Sheshadri (Dharmendra) heading the gang. Shardul (Zakir Hussain) and Prakash(Vinay Pathak) are the two other members of the gang apart from Shiva(Daya Shetty) and Vikram(Neil Nitin Mukesh). A commisioner Kalyan (Govind Namdeo, brilliant) offers Sheshadri a deal with which the caper gang can make a big killing. But Vikram the trusted one has other plans and he goes on to eliminate his fellow members to try and eat up all the food himself.

With brilliant performances by almost everyone, Johnny Gaddar is an intelligent, fast paced, interesting and an edge of the seat experience. Probably the best performance of Dharmendra and a perfect debut start for Mukesh, makes this flick unforgettable. The movie has a closed end, yet I heard that a sequel is being made with the name Johnny Tokyo. The successful creation of brand Johnny is completely credited to Raghavan's intelligent direction. No doubt, we want more of this Johnny!!