Ghayal Once Again review :
A multi zillionaire biz tycoon living in an Antilia like structure controls the whole of Mumbai which looks more like Manhattan (thanks to the CGI effect). Really, Mr. Zillionaire has dozens of suit boot cronies on his payroll who can get any phone call tapped and send him live audio feed, track any Tom, Dick and Harry on GPS or just randomly cause mayhem in a partly constructed city mall. Still, life's not good for the tycoon who is grappling with parental issues. His Harvard returned lad has turned wayward snorting coke and yelling louder than Sunny Deol did in the prequel of this film.
Undoubtedly, Ghayal Once Again, the sequel to the classic actioner 'Ghayal' (1990) has arrived atleast a decade or two late. So what! Der aaye duroost aaye, you may say...No such luck dearies. The screenplay of this two hour action se bharaa hua drama is laden with loopholes bigger than potholes in aamchi Mumbai. How else can you explain an industrialist literally owning the media, judiciary and bureaucracy..Quite dreary!!
Anyways, cut to the kahaani..Ajay Mehra (Sunny Deol) has come a long way from his "Main tera khoon pee jaoongaa" days. He now heads a newspaper called 'Satyakam' (in a nod to dad Dharmendra's classic) and is a crusader of sorts nailing rival rape-happy media baron (Harsh Chhaya) and doing general Robinhood (Hollywood-wala not Pandeyji) style kaam.
Next, a couple of college kids inadvertently film a murder of an RTI activist (Om Puri in a cameo as Joe D'Souza from the prequel ) and are mercilessly chased and battered across malls and streets by the aforementioned Tycoonji's goons. No prize for guessing who comes to their rescue! It sets the platform for action...more action...and still more action.
Admittedly, the action stunts are top class; particularly a chase in the mall and the train fight sequence between Sunny Deol and a firangi suit booted goon are superbly executed. Also, on the positive is Sunny Deol owning the film completely and looking completely believable beating up a dozen bozos with his bare fists. Narendra Jha is striking as Raj Bansal, the main antagonist though he's nowhere close to Balwant Rai played by the legendary Amrish Puri. Out of the college kiddo quartet, only Shivam Patil leaves a mark.
A few scenes are truly memorable - Raj Bansal lamenting his failure as a parent to his wife (Tisca Chopra looking gorgeous) brings out the human side of the villain quite effectively. Ditto his confrontation with his druggie son. For rest of the time, Ghayal Once Again is plain dhishoom dhishoom maar dhaad.
Watch it for the sheer nostalgia of 90's bollywood and ofcourse, for Sunny Paaji putting his "dhai kilo ka haath" to action after a long time!!
Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni
A multi zillionaire biz tycoon living in an Antilia like structure controls the whole of Mumbai which looks more like Manhattan (thanks to the CGI effect). Really, Mr. Zillionaire has dozens of suit boot cronies on his payroll who can get any phone call tapped and send him live audio feed, track any Tom, Dick and Harry on GPS or just randomly cause mayhem in a partly constructed city mall. Still, life's not good for the tycoon who is grappling with parental issues. His Harvard returned lad has turned wayward snorting coke and yelling louder than Sunny Deol did in the prequel of this film.
Undoubtedly, Ghayal Once Again, the sequel to the classic actioner 'Ghayal' (1990) has arrived atleast a decade or two late. So what! Der aaye duroost aaye, you may say...No such luck dearies. The screenplay of this two hour action se bharaa hua drama is laden with loopholes bigger than potholes in aamchi Mumbai. How else can you explain an industrialist literally owning the media, judiciary and bureaucracy..Quite dreary!!
Anyways, cut to the kahaani..Ajay Mehra (Sunny Deol) has come a long way from his "Main tera khoon pee jaoongaa" days. He now heads a newspaper called 'Satyakam' (in a nod to dad Dharmendra's classic) and is a crusader of sorts nailing rival rape-happy media baron (Harsh Chhaya) and doing general Robinhood (Hollywood-wala not Pandeyji) style kaam.
Next, a couple of college kids inadvertently film a murder of an RTI activist (Om Puri in a cameo as Joe D'Souza from the prequel ) and are mercilessly chased and battered across malls and streets by the aforementioned Tycoonji's goons. No prize for guessing who comes to their rescue! It sets the platform for action...more action...and still more action.
Admittedly, the action stunts are top class; particularly a chase in the mall and the train fight sequence between Sunny Deol and a firangi suit booted goon are superbly executed. Also, on the positive is Sunny Deol owning the film completely and looking completely believable beating up a dozen bozos with his bare fists. Narendra Jha is striking as Raj Bansal, the main antagonist though he's nowhere close to Balwant Rai played by the legendary Amrish Puri. Out of the college kiddo quartet, only Shivam Patil leaves a mark.
A few scenes are truly memorable - Raj Bansal lamenting his failure as a parent to his wife (Tisca Chopra looking gorgeous) brings out the human side of the villain quite effectively. Ditto his confrontation with his druggie son. For rest of the time, Ghayal Once Again is plain dhishoom dhishoom maar dhaad.
Watch it for the sheer nostalgia of 90's bollywood and ofcourse, for Sunny Paaji putting his "dhai kilo ka haath" to action after a long time!!
Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni