Ali Abbas Zafar's '70s set coal mafia film debuted its trailer with Hindi blockbuster Dhoom 3 and it was, honestly, probably my favorite part of the whole experience. The film stars youngsters Ranveer Singh (Band Baaja Baarat, Ram-Leela) and Arjun Kapoor (Ishaqzaade) as Bala and Bikram, a pair of no-good hoodlums who move from the slums of Calcutta (Kolkata these days) to the penthouse via less than legal means. Singh has proven himself a very capable performer through his roles in BBB and one of 2013's most acclaimed Hindi films, Lootera. Kapoor has a less impressive CV, with Ishaqzaade opening to middling reviews, and not even opening at all outside of India and the Middle East. (The film is now available to stream on Netflix in the US).
Providing some additional sex appeal from the XX side of the chromosomal tracks is Priyanka Chopra, in her first full-fledged Hindi film role since the dual commercial disasters of Zanjeer and Krrish 3. Priyanka has been on screen a lot over the last year, mostly in small chunks, which seems to be her most effective form. Having her return to the lead is a risky thing, she seems to have her head in the clouds after a leading role in Disney Animation's Planes last year and a blossoming pop music career. Two of her highest profile performances have been item numbers in Sanjay Gupta's Shooutout at Wadala and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram-Leela, not usually the sort of thing a star of her stature will do.
Gunday looks like a lot of fun and the trailer also reveals the presence of one of India's most respected actors, Irrfan Khan, who has found more fame in the West than perhaps any other Indian performer. The story seems to stem from similar source material as Anurag Kashyap's acclaimed Gangs of Wasseypur, which also featured a saga about the coal mafia, so I'm eager to see the other side of this coin. The trailer makes Gunday look like a lot of fun, it opens February 14th, worldwide.
*A note from the writer: Gunday, while a potentially awesome title for an '80s style action blowout, is actually the plural form of the pan-Indian term "gunda," meaning thug or hoodlum and it refers to the two leads of the film.