Gulabi Gang Movie Reviews

Gulabi Gang is a fascinating and arresting account of an extraordinary activist who leads the meteoric rise of her organization. You must treat yourself to this one!

The purpose of making this documentary is surely to create awareness. The makers have done their job well. Now it’s up to us to spread the word and recommend this film. Whatever you may be doing this weekend, take out sometime to watch Gulabi Gang. Watch it, because it’s important!

Jain carries me with her daunting journey that I will hold on to for many years probably. The instances were revol...

Gulabi Gang is a fascinating portrait of the power of one. The documentary, Gulabi Gang is a record of an extraordinary women’s movement started by the extraordinary Sampat Pal Devi in Uttar Pradesh in 2006.

…it is a sincere attempt to highlight the bravery and guts of a woman, who took action, in spite of the extremely adverse circumstances that she was brought up in. In a world where women are burnt and killed so casually, and where complaints by a woman are not even considered by cops, it is truly amazing to see the gumption and confidence with which Pal and her gang go about their duties.

I doubt you will see a more important film this year. Gulabi Gang is an ideology, a searing exercise in awareness, which is why you must make this your mandatory watch this weekend.

There’s no attempt to glorify or even to gloss over the efforts of Sampat Pal. The documentary dosen’t shy away from showing contradictions and confusions among Gulabi Gang’s members. The powerful visuals don’t falsify Pal’s heroism and her grit. The interpretations of this movies could be many, but the fact that Jain allows her viewers the liberty to see Pal as the emergence of a parallel force-to bring about the much needed change- is not purely and necessarily circumstantial, but is indeed thought provoking.

The film is genuinely entertaining, shot through with wry humour and an unblinkered view of life in rural India…

…is well-intentioned with several powerful moments, especially towards the second half. The game of power and politics is well captured too. Additionally, the bravura performances of Madhuri and Juhi add immense weightage to the film. Watch it!

Director Soumik Sen’s casting coup has not been wasted, we must say. Yes, the film is based on the life based on the life of activist Sampat Pal and there is a particular scene in the movie, which is based on true events. We wish he had acknowledged Pal’s movement in some manner or the other. That way, the film would have stayed away from the unnecessary controversies. That apart, Sen surely deserves a pat on his back for choosing a subject of serious concern.

Gulaab Gang Movie Review: 3/5 Stars. What’s Good: The aura of women empowerment, Juhi's startling performance an...

Fearless Rajjo runs a martial academy for rural women. What happens when she faces ruthless politician Madam ji?

The 1.5 hour film is an important document. Because women, usually classified with the ‘other’ backward classes, and ‘dabey-kuchley varg’, are for burning, and raping, and humiliating. Because anyone who takes up cudgels on their behalf is to be acknowledged and praised.

…may not be a typical film meant to taste success at the Box Office. The film does speak about issues that need urgent attention, but may not be enough to draw people to the theatres. But Juhi Chawla’s performance in the film isn’t worth a miss. So watch it for her.

Visually the film is seductive – pink saris in sepia dehaat — but its message is scary. While I had severe problems with its glorification of vigilante justice, there were a few moments when I was both thrilled and moved. I am ashamed.

The confrontations between Rajjo and Sumitra Devi should have been impactful, with the resounding echo when two strong personalities clash. Sadly, they don’t. These are major drawbacks that bring down a potentially good film.

The film has a seen-that feel. Haven’t there been enough films about rape, corruption, poverty and drama with villains, cops and politicians. Except that this time, it is a woman unleashing the hell and another women slicing and dicing the culprits. The song and dance in a film like this, was it really necessary? It could have become a memorable film like Mirchi and Mrityudand but in trying to be commercial, the film loses it’s flavour.

One doesn’t know whether to call it a flaw, but the film’s antagonist is far stronger than its protagonist. The character is superbly etched even if bordering on caricature, has the best dialogue and is incredibly performed by Juhi Chawla. Of course, since she is a politician, every other dialogue begins with Politics mein…. But Chawla makes this character the most entertaining and immersing part of the movie.

For a real dose of women empowerment, watch Gulabi Gang, a terrific documentary on Sampat Pal, which is still running in select theaters.

The film’s much-touted feminism seems especially counterfeit when a ruffian is forced by members of the gang to drape a sari and perform an impromptu dance, the implication being that, for a man, there can be no humiliation worse than that. Women who weave their own pink saris and are determined to put all pigs in their place, even if they are in the make-believe world of Gulaab Gang, should be the last people to enforce a stereotype that Hindi films have perpetuated for decades.

This venture by Soumik Sen is a damp squib. If you want to know anything about Pal or the Gulabi gang, check out Nishtha Jain’s documentary that released recently.

Gulaab Gang might look like a feminist film but unfortunately, it is anything but one…Debutant director Soumik Sen would have been better off making a masala film where a male hero beats up dozens of villain?s cronies and everyone goes home happy. That way, there wouldn’t be any false expectations. This one is as fake as a pink elephant.

If you must watch this film, watch it for Juhi Chawla’s inspired performance; it’s the only bright spot in Gulaab Gang. Muddled and forgettable.

…is a half baked attempt to present a gritty action drama. A movie which wastes potential of two brilliant actresses.

From its opening frame you discover that in its supposed feminist garb, ‘Gulab Gang’ is actually the old-style good vs evil story, styled in the tired way these films have been for the longest time. Its chief baddie is, ta da, a woman.

Much was expected from this GULAAB GANG, but it falls flat right from the beginning. Poor writing and weak screenplay let the film down terribly. Add to it some over-the-top acting. All these are major hurdles that never allow the film a decent, seamless flow.

It may seem like a good idea on paper – former stars locking horns, one of them performing somersaults, and a superficial angle about women’s rights thrown in, but its execution makes Gulaab Gang a difficult film to sit through. Unless you fancy the idea of watching Dixit play Salman Khan and Chawla channel Prakash Raj, you’ll find Gulaab Gang a crashing bore.

The film, which I strongly recommend that you watch, is a testament to their courageous work and the difference they have made. Jain’s film is a deeply affecting work that reminds us of the vulnerability of women in rural India, and shines a light on the efforts of this group to protect, educate, and empower their gender against cruel husbands, corrupt politicians, and an orthodox, regressive mindset.

Gulabi Gang looks into the women’s movement, in one of the most rural parts of the country, with microscopic detail. These women are old, poor and from backward castes, who are shunned by the society and humiliated, raped and murdered by their own fathers, brothers and husbands. Born out of the atrocities is this gang, whose courage and resilience is worth documenting. Nishtha Jain deserves a standing ovation for her work but for that she first needs an audience. Go for it!

Gulabi Gang is a documentary that you should watch with Google at hand. It’s not comprehensive because Jain doesn’t delve into either Pal’s own history or the beginnings of Gulabi Gang. Neither does it provide a particularly in-depth understand of Bundelkhand’s social hierarchies. The villages in the documentary could have been in any part of north or central India. But Gulabi Gang does an offer a glimpse into why Pal, with her ego and her confidence, is such a hero to those who commit to the pink sari: she’s one of the few women who are committed to fighting for other women and the oppressed.

At 97 minutes the film is powerful, engrossing and completely captivating. And it’s all because the central character is so completely assured of her ability to get women to become more proactive in their own defense. It’s inspiring and truthful and even manages to question Sampat Pal’s own beliefs on testy matters that involve her family members. Sampat pal of course, comes out smelling like roses and why not? She is after all the queen of the Pink Brigade!

Jain largely focuses on the case of a teenaged woman whose in-laws and husband claim set herself on fire. But Pal, certain that the husband killed her, decides to poke around…Also, not all the women of the Gulabi Gang share Pal’s emancipatory ideals. It’s these contradictions that make the gang a fascinating, many layered phenomenon, one that a Bollywood movie would no doubt iron out into a flat piece of fiction.

Sampat Pal needlessly fought for a stay. She needn’t have worried. This Gulaab Gang has nothing to do with her pioneering efforts against domestic violence. The film is a pure masala entertainer. It’s another action film following the same tired patterns. The only difference is that instead of the hero and villain being men, it has women squaring off each other.

Although Sen steers away from turning it into a documentary, he liberally borrows real-life references from their pink revolution and guns for box-office glory without ever acknowledging their movement. Even though ‘Gulaab Gang’ has so much going for it, it fails to win our applause.

By the time the end rolls around, the film has descended into chaos and is impossible to take seriously. Sincere efforts from the entire cast can’t save this well-intentioned venture from its own mediocrity. Meanwhile, I’m going to pretend that Juhi Chawla never did this film so as to keep the sanctity of my childhood crush intact.

…is too dull, dry and boring to entertain. It will be anything but in the pink of health at the ticket windows. It will flop miserably at the box-office.

This is one of those films that thinks it achieves a higher purpose and stands for oppressed women everywhere. But it’s the complete opposite. What’s more, it isn’t even entertaining cinema.

Of all the tributes to Sampat Pal’s debatable feminist politics, this one is the narrowest, and the silliest.

While the film is largely entertaining, I wish the director had not bowed down to the pressure of turning Gulaab Gang into a typical Bollywood masala film. There’s a song at every juncture — there’s a song about women weaving pink saris and there’s song about women celebrating the Indian festival Holi. And remember, these are women with troubled pasts and who have been denied basic rights such as education and shelter. Their merrymaking amidst such grimness is unrealistic.