Opening Doorz

By Martin D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | July 27, 2018

Rating: 1 / 5

The essence: There’s nothing of note here, even performance-wise from any actor. Director Tigmanshu Dhulia makes a mess of this flick without patching in on anything from the first and SBAG Returns. Moreover, Raj Babbar who was Ranjana’s (Soha Ali Khan) father in the last film makes way for Zakir Hussain to play his role.

 “I want to go to India”, “I want to go to India”, says Uday (Sanjay Dutt) in such a hurry that you worry he will be in India without getting onto a flight! Never has Baba given such a kick-ass, listless performance with boredom writ large on his face. In the hope that he might just perk up and give a Vaastav-like performance, director Tigmanshu Dhulia pampers him with a background score designed especially for him after he completes his scene. The soundtrack goes like this: “He’s the baba, He’s the baba,” sung hurriedly. But when even that doesn’t help wake up Baba, Tigmanshu dumps that tool after just three scenes: The remainder of Dutt’s scenes are delivered without the specially-designed soundtrack! Even Dutt’s character sketch is listless. By the way, when he said he wants to go to India, he was in England.

Pandering to an actor, losing sight of your craft, is bound to end in disaster.

Welcome to Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3. There’s nothing of note here, even performance-wise from any actor. Tigmanshu makes a mess of this flick without patching in on anything from the first and SBAG Returns. Moreover, Raj Babbar who was Ranjana’s (Soha Ali Khan) father in the last film makes way for Zakir Hussain to play his role.

Every scene is devoid of emotion and lacks the finesse and panache of SBAG. The second instalment though not all that slick, did connect to the first: here, the only connect is Madhavi (Mahie Gill) and Aditya Pratap Singh (Jimmy Sheirgill).

Knowing now that this franchise can go on and on, Tigmanshu, like the last time, leaves room for Part 4. That’s the only smart move in this film which disappoints big time.

Saheb got off his wheel chair in SBAG Returns, there was another murder for which he was framed and he is now out of jail but Ranjana is shot in the head. Madhavi and Saheb now try and make their relationship work.

But there’s also the Baba!

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster (September 30, 2011)
It’s a game of chess played between two shrewd opponents. Each move is countered by either a pawn or check-mated with a Bishop. The King makes his calculated move while the Queen can go kaboom. Right from the first scene, you know you are settling in for something special from Tigmanshu Dhulia. And the director doesn’t disappoint.

The tone, tenor, background score and plot. Yes plot, moves smoothly. Like a game of chess, it engages the viewer, making you think or rather keeps you guessing of what to expect next. There’s no genius in this work of art. It’s simply a genius displaying his craft. You often hear people saying, keep it simple. But in reality, it’s not that simple to keep it simple. Simply said, it can be kept simple only if you know the terrain you are venturing into and Tigmanshu Dhulia began as a casting director.

He casts his keen eye detailing every actor assigned to the role. No overacting. Just simple following of orders from the director who knows exactly or how much he wants from the character. Each frame is a joy and he never indulges in falling in love with his work. The length is perfect, editing crisp, dialogues razor sharp and interspersing of scenes between dialogues to give you a complete picture, a revelation.

There’s crime, love, deceit, power and evil machinations. No one is innocent and you don’t know which character to root for. This is the film’s USP apart from the kick-ass acting from the entire cast.

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns (March 8, 2013)
A year-and-a-half later, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns.

The setting is the same; the principal characters are intact while a few new ones make it on the story board.

There’s Inderjeet Singh (Irrfan Khan) and Ranjana (Soha Ali Khan) who are the two new pivotal characters that form the nucleus of the plot along with Madhavi (Mahie Gill) and Aditya Pratap Singh (Jimmy Sheirgill). There’s also Birendra Pratap (Raj Babbar) playing Soha Ali Khan’s father.

The first half is quite tedious with Tigmanshu Dhulia having to start all over again. While Jimmy and Mahie’s role and intent have been established, the director labours to set the plot with the introduction of the above-mentioned three new characters. He takes time to get there and that is what drags the film a bit in the first half.

Part I was a thriller, a magnificent plot essayed brilliantly by all actors and Tigmanshu had given no chance for the audience to squirm in their seats. It was brilliance from ‘Take One’.

What really puts this one on the wrong foot in the beginning is the fact that Irrfan’s character was nowhere in the picture in the first part. Now, this has a two-fold explanation.

One, Tigmanshu could not have envisaged a phenomenal critical approval of Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and secondly, and more importantly, he would never have had thought of a sequel whilst making the first.

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3
Baba is felled by bullets, Saheb survives, Madhavi is back to breaking the trust!

CREDITS
Producer: Rahul Mitra, Tigmanshu Dhulia
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Star Cast: Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Sanjay Dutt