A tribute to the greatest cult classic ever made in India
‘Daud’, ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ , ‘Andaaz Apna Apna’ and a few other gems have been the favourite cult films of sensible cinema lovers across the country over the past two decades. But the film which remains a ‘cult classic’ in the truest sense and has surpassed borders to entertain film buffs in Belgium, Paris, New York and other international destinations remains largely unknown to the common junta. Some call it the desi version of ‘Plan 9 from Outer Space’ , while others consider it a notch above ‘Sholay’. But the verdict is unanimous ; this film has never failed to entertain the viewer. Even after multiple viewings (I have seen it around 12 times by now). With an IMDB rating of 9.4 (604 votes) and a following of over 2000 members (Orkut), this film poses a serious challenge to any ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ , ‘DDLJ’ , ‘Lagaan’ or ‘Sholay’ (IMDB rating – 6.4!)
The film I am talking about is Kanti Shah’s 1998 B- grade revenge saga , ‘GUNDA’ . ‘Gunda what!?’ you ask? Starring our very own Mithun Da (in top form!) , the film is a tale of love , betrayal, rape, prostitution and vengeance. Here’s what fans of Gunda wrote about the film on IMDB and ORKUT :
“Man…Words are not enough to describe “Gunda”…This movie is guaranteed to have a profound impact on the viewers.Watch this for its full entertainment value…You won’t regret it.”
“Truly a cinematic masterpiece, gunda propels the viewer through a world of pony tailed gender confused rapists, villains spouting rhyme, prostitutes suspended in mid air and heroines with fluctuating vital statistics.Don’t miss it for the world!”
“This movie is greater than the lotr trilogy or the matrix.This movie should have been nominated for Oscars from Indian side and i am pretty sure that its a worthy contender of the appreciation it deserves. All IN All this movie is worth going as the GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE in the annals of film history. ”
“Mithun’s tryst with greatness. The defining moment of Indian Cinema. A legend, Gunda will stay in your memory till your moment of reckoning.”
“This is pure genius. Kanti Shah has joined the league of other greats like Mendeleev (who classified the elements) & Linnaeus (who classfied living organisms).”
“It’s a phenomenon. It’s Impossible to create such a masterpiece again.”
The reason why ‘Gunda’ becomes an unforgettable experience after just one viewing is the array of distinct and mesmerizing characters like Bulla , Pote, Chutiya , Ibu Hatela , Lucky Chikna , Lambu Aata and Kala Shetty. Even a two minute cameo by Ishrat Ali becomes legendary in this masterpiece. The other reason for the Gunda hysteria is the powerful dialogues written in a poetic meter with cleverly chosen words.
Here are a few of the most famous dialogues from the film :
‘Mera naam hai lamboo hatela.
Maa meri chudail ki beti.
Baap shaitan ka chela.
Khayega kela???’
‘Naam hai mera pote,
jo apne baap kay bhe nahi hotay’
‘Mera naam hai Bulla, Rakhta hoon hamesha Khulla ‘
‘Munni ? Meri behan Munni ??
Accga toh tu mar gayi ??
Lambu ne tujhe lambaa kar diya ??
Maachis ki teeli ko khambaa kar diya ??
Arre maine toh tere liye kitne ladke dekhe the ..
Jo tujhe accha lagta wahin tera pati banta ..
Magar tu toh katailaa gurdaa .. yaani ki .. murda ho gayi .. ??’
‘Arey tune kanti shah ki LOHA nahi dekhi, jiska dialouge he CHATRI HOTI HAI KHOLNE KAY LIYE, CHADHAR HOTI HAI ODHNE KAY LIYE AUR LADKI HOT HAI CHEDNE KAY LIYE’
I know all this may sound bizarre at first, but no, this is not another ‘Kya Kool Hai Hum’. This is a most cleverly crafted film and an ideal watch when depressed, tired or in the mood to experience a laugh riot with a gang of friends. Watch it to believe it! I suggest you track down a VCD of the film for best results. For those living out of India, watch it here : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3923767355169636477
P.S. : If you like this one, do watch Kanti Shah’s other masterstrokes , ‘Loha’ and ‘Free Entry’ on google video as well.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Dhath teri ki…but…What a refreshing change here..Gunda…Lol!!!
“‘Mera naam hai Bulla, Rakhta hoon hamesha Khulla ‘”=))
I am sure Chaitnaya you will find tons of more Gundas or no? One classic and ever ripped off movie, but a full to time pass for its trying to make everything believble is a “cult” from Telugu cinema…starring very own son of NTR…Balakrishna’s “Vijayendra Verma”. Laugh riot..shuuru se khatam tak( no pun here..you sick minds)
=))=))
Yes OM, there are many more Gundas I have seen. Actually there is an underground cult meeting which takes place in Mumbai where clippings from ‘gems’ of hindi cinema are shown. This event is sponsored by Johnny Lever,Sunidhi Chauhan and Sudesh Bhonsale. These clippings are so funny that there is actually a danger of you dying out of laughing! These clippings are mainly from the bad and low budget films of Dev Anand,Manoj Kumar and others. What makes it hilarious is the commentary by the host (I forgot his name) and the entire experience of watching it 300 people which sets the whole ‘mahaul’ (atmosphere). I have never laughed as much as at this screening. It is attended by film and television personalities with a sense of humour like Satish Shah and Sumeet raghavan. Before the great Indian laughter challenge happened, Sunil Pal and Raju shrivastav used to perform here and would have everyone in splits. I just cant describe the whole do in words. It’s way too funny! Out of the world! It’s all thanks to Mr.Nishikant Kamat who introduced me to this event.
Is ‘Vijayendra Verma’ the one where Ballaya is a military officer?
Ohh Wow an undeground cult meeting huh!!! That sounds awesome. i had heard about it a looong time back …but always thought it was a rumour. If i am not mistaken Sajid Khan used to host these kinda screenings in his house about 8-10 years back.
You are right VV is where Ballaya is a Military officer who jumps from one cliff to enter Pakistan and Jumps back from the same cliff on the other side to enter India. he can Stop trains by chanting a “mantra” or push a chair back by clapping his thighs. He can do a “wheely” while running parallel to a moving train and jump on it or he can make a heroine wet by just mouthing 12-13 mins dialogues non-stop. You gotta show this movie in your Underground meetings yaar!!
“CHATRI HOTI HAI KHOLNE KAY LIYE, CHADHAR HOTI HAI ODHNE KAY LIYE AUR LADKI HOT HAI CHEDNE KAY LIYE”
inshaallah!! priceless!!! < ):)
“Lambu ne tujhe lambaa kar diya ??
Maachis ki teeli ko khambaa kar diya ??”
=))=))=))=))=))=))
Hindi seems to be Kanti Shah’s *fecund* language. :x
full marks to u Chaitanya ..
its the one film which making heavy waves these days in all college campuses… movie is watchable on google videos …. here is the link man..
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3923767355169636477
only first 10 mins of the movie can give u an strange sense of screenplay writer….
but all n all its a gr8 hit for all the guys when ever they are frustrated….
:d
/:)
am i the only one not to have even heard of this movie :-?
nah sanny, i haven’t heard about ‘Gunda’ either.
maybe it didn’t see a release in UK around that time, or maybe just a quiet one.
if you guys do orkutting u’ll see massive fans there….it has got 2032fans…
but yeah its true its a C or wtever D grade Kanti shah’s flick…i think kanti is famous for his mithun master low boudget movies..isnt…!!!
each n every char’ in it..seems to get a strange poetric touch…. as per Chaitanya ….
but i believe PFC is made to discuss some serious stuff ..its not for the movies like gunda…wt say oz.
>>but i believe PFC is made to discuss some serious stuff
I believed PFC was a blog to discuss passion for cinema, meaning all kinds not just specific topics. Chaitanya seems passionate about this movie so it’s a harmless post no?
OH MY GOD!! someone actually wrote about Gunda!! that’s one movie i never thought would be mentioned on PFC, but here we are…long live PFC
nice post Chaitanya!
After all it’s all about sharing the passion , isn’t it? If hollywood can talk proudly about Ed Wood, why can’t we talk about Kanti Shah huh?:d;)
true..kanti shah has given so many movies like gunda…where a flashback starts from inside a flashback…. and at some point u get lost the count of flashbacks…
:d
@ Push…”but i believe PFC is made to discuss some serious stuff ..its not for the movies like gunda
yeah man.. OM… it really happens am ot trying to be funny.. there is movie called DADA of MITHUN ..and u know wt/./// u eventually lost the counts of flashback./.. and so lost the store line despite it being very old one..GHISSI PIITTI…. :d
Havent heard abt ‘Gunda’ but there was one movie which comes close to this – Rajkumar Kohli’s Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani. Any takers…???
Cobain, after all kanti shah films, Jaani Dushman is the second best film for all such Bad , B-grade film lovers. They absolutely love JD. But it’s nowhere even close to GUNDA!!
wow! I actually went through this post many times, but I never had the pleasure of actually seeing GUNDA! i am seeing it now, it has been just 9 minutes and i have lost it!!!
nanhe munhe bachche ki nunni….bulla…bulla ki behan..to tu mar gayi!!….=))
all laws of cinema defied…subreferencing(tune kanti shah ki HIIT film LOHA nahi dekhi?!!!), intertextual symbolism, splicing, placing, emotional outbursts, character intro’s bulging with indulgence, rhyming rhythm and metre, overt use of RAPE, MAA, BEHAN, BETI, BADAN, CHADDI, JAWAANI, ….almost a neo-encyclopaedia of cinema.
saande ka tel….haa haa…mere ko apna bhadwaa banaa le, tere ko aids se bachaane ke liye nirodh ban jaaonnga, mera chhel chhal ke chhakka banaa de(sorry for the outburst, I am actually playing this film n typing this, cant see it unfortunately , am at work)
Thanks a ton for introducing me to this cult. i feel now i was living in ignorance, celebrating the likes of Clerk and B(Grade)Subhash.
Sajid khan used to regularly showcase such Greats in his program Dekhne mein kya harz hai, where i was first heard the word ‘ham’ and have used it to the hilt till date. there used to be another amazing show, called “dekh tamasha dekh”, which used to play such underground cults with dubbed lines.
the one who takes the cake in Gunda is Ishrat Ali. he made me take a 2 minutes laughing break while i was writing this :d (watch him react to BULLA KI BEHAN and the subsequent scene)
sorry, that was Kehne mein kya harz hai.
Now the magic is spreading… I am happy someone actually watched the film on my insistence…. And now Tushar knows what I am talking about!;) Enjoy!!!! I hope more people discover this secret therapy tp happiness soon..
it’s PFC catchup time.. and what better way to start out than with a laughter-induced B/C-grade film.. thank you chaitanya for this one! am watching it as i type this
push, there’s definitely no barriers on PFC when it comes to cinema.. A, B, C, D-grade cinema.. are all welcome here as long as its cinema.. not all types of cinema may entertain everyone, but there are hidden gems like gunda that do need to be talked about. after all, let’s not forget mr.sam raimi and his “evil dead” roots! B and C-films have a market of their own all over the world (more so here in the US) and one would be surprised as to how prolific they are!!
this film is a CLASSIC .. everyone must watch it
The greatest stress buster ever!!! I wated Thoda Magic, Jyada Tragic on pirated DVD, and had to watch this one to watch something ‘better’.
Just watched it two weeks back and have been laughing ever since. I even laugh in my sleep. This has to be the greatest cult classic movie ever made, period. Nothing comes close. I also used to enjoy the Mithun movies, the dev anand and manoj kumar movies but Gunda is the best. Another great movie is “Allah meherban to gadha pehlwan”, that one has to be watched to be believed.