Ghanchakkar

About the film

Ghanchakkar (transl. Crazy) is a 2013 Indian heist black comedy-drama film directed by Raj Kumar Gupta and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur from UTV Motion Pictures. The film stars Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan in the lead roles. The theatrical trailer debuted on 28 June 2013. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

'Sanju' (Emraan Hashmi) is an expert- master safe cracker who maintains a casual lifestyle with his wife Neetu (Vidya Balan).

He meets two criminals, Pandit and Idris and they offer him a chance to assist a bank robbery. If the heist is successful, they will ensure that he never has to worry about money again, so he accepts the offer.

The three thieves make off with 30 crore inr.

Production

The entire movie was filmed in Mumbai, featuring locations such as Dadar Parsi Colony, Mumbai local trains and stations like Goregaon and Ghatkopar, the Eastern Express Highway, and Essel Studio.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Ghanchakkar was composed by Amit Trivedi. The lyrics were written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.

Promotion

Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan worked hard to bring the film to a wider audience. The on-screen couple appeared on various television shows, including Dance India Dance, Chidiyaghar, India's Dancing Superstar and Comedy Nights with Kapil.

Reception

Raja Sen of Rediff.com said that the film "stops being funny somewhere through the second half". The critic continued: "Vidya Balan, in particular, deserves to be singled out for applause simply because of her willingness as a leading lady to take on a role this farcical. One time watch only for Vidya Balan." He gave the film only 2 out of a possible 5 stars.

However, Mohammad Kamran Jawaid from the Dawn newspaper gave Ghanchakkar a positive review, stating that Vidya Balan "gets the short end of the stick" and is "a few hundred miles away from any original appeal". He notes that the film's "big reveal" is hardly a revelation. And as frightening as the hoodlums want themselves to appear, their sense of menace never surfaces the way it ought to. Also, their good-cop, bad-cop attitude gets old fast, and we never get to know much about them. However, these minor grumbles are just that – minor grumbles".

A reviewer for The Times of India gave the movie, a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and wrote "Of the talent-Emraan gets his bewildered expression correct. And for fear of losing it, he keeps it going for the most part. Vidya provides a few laughs trying to ape the Punjabi stereotype. However, her act doesn't qualify for the real thing."

Key details