Reviewing Gurgaon – Not Just another NCR Riches Story or Culture Bashing

Being new to Amazon Prime, we have been somewhat selective in choosing movies, as if the membership is going to hold us guilty for watching too many. We are slowly evolving into a couple that can watch TV for longer duration, happily seated together, almost stuck like a plug in the socket. For some reason, I want to watch more horror flicks and thrillers and the Wife wants more Rom-coms. I am discovering a new side to me where I can actually see and appreciate some seriously feminist-ridden stuff. However, this is not the case with Gurgaon—this is not a thriller or a romantic comedy in any way. This movie uses a sadistic plot to say something in the most subtle, almost passive way. It is a cinematic commentary on what transpires among the lives of those who have suddenly found riches around the suburbs of a cosmopolitan, people who knew how to grab, kill and conquer but seem clueless when it comes to fully utilizing what they have gathered.

Gurgaon is dark in every sense. No music really, no songs and no background extras. The movie seems to have been made on a tight budget but the casting is rather good. You don’t feel like watching a movie where finding producers was probably a big challenge. Gurgaon does away with all the gimmicks and pulls-out zero stunts. Every ghastly murder and kidnapping is served to you without any sprinkling of the good or what moral science teaches us. Gurgaon, the movie, does not present an opinion. It merely provides a glimpse into something that was inspired by true events. Familial bonds and friendships are put to the test and paths cross in the most horrible manner among the women-hating clans in the movie.

It is about unadulterated, unapologetic love for the Land that prevails over everything. I must say the performance of Akshay Oberoi as the cold-blooded Nikki was a huge surprise. His eyes say more than his mouth – that seems to be stitched in silence. The susceptible Godfather-like persona of Pankaj Tripathi was not surprising – he has it in him to do even better and with every movie, his own benchmarks are being bettered.

See Gurgaon for its inability to shake-off the twisted characters. Nearly everyone is guilty, some in a very direct manner, others who continue to influence and shield the filthiness. While some people might say it is about how families and relationships are breaking apart, I would say Gurgaon is about our biggest handicap—the inability to keep a lid on our greed!