Gardish Explained

Gardish
Director:Priyadarshan
Story:Lohithadas
Screenplay:Priyadarshan
Starring:Shammi Kapoor
Jackie Shroff
Amrish Puri
Aishwarya
Farida Jalal
Dimple Kapadia
Producer:R. Mohan
Music:Original songs:
R. D. Burman
Background score:
S. P. Venkatesh
Cinematography:Santosh Sivan
Studio:Shogun Films
Distributor:Eros Entertainment
Runtime:171 minutes
Country:India
Language:Hindi

Gardish is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language action crime film written and directed by Priyadarshan, starring Shammi Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Aishwarya, Dimple Kapadia and Amrish Puri. It is a remake of the 1989 Malayalam film Kireedam.[1] The film won two Filmfare AwardsBest Art Direction (Sabu Cyril) and Best Action (Thyagarajan), and was nominated for Best Actor (Shroff), Best Supporting Actor (Amrish Puri), and Best Supporting Actress (Kapadia).[2] It marks the debut of actor Mukesh Rishi as an antagonist and Aishwarya's Bollywood debut.

Story

Naive and easily impressionable Vidya Bhalla would like her husband to be a dashing hero, one who is not afraid of anybody, one who can easily jump into a fire to rescue someone, one who is strong and romantic. She sees all of these qualities in Shiva Sathe, the son of Constable Purushottam Sathe, whose only dream is to see Shiva become a Police Inspector. Vidya informs her father, Prithviraj Bhalla, that she has found her dream man; the Bhallas and the Sathes meet and get the couple formally engaged.

Then Purushottam arrests the son of a MLA and as a result he is transferred to the notorious Kala Chowki Police Station in Bombay. Upon arrival, he finds out that the Inspector in charge of the Police Station, Saini, has been severely beaten-up by don Billa Jilani and is hospitalized. Purushottam arranges for his entire family to relocate.

The story takes a new twist. Shiva's brother-in-law approaches Prithviraj and informs him that Shiva has become an underworld don, after beating-up Billa Jilani, and now takes haftas and bribes. Prithviraj finds that Shiva has become a ruffian, and been arrested a number of times, much to the chagrin of his father. Prithviraj breaks off the alliance and informs Purushottam. Shortly thereafter, another fight breaks out and this time Shiva is arrested, held in a cell for several days, beaten up by his father and subsequently bailed out by a woman named Shanti. Eventually, Shiva kills Billa. The film ends with Purushottam declaring to Inspector Saini, that Shiva cannot be recommended to be an inspector, since in the eyes of the law he is a criminal. Shiva's photo is shown on the criminal's display board and credits roll.

Music

Score

The film score was composed by S. P. Venkatesh.

Songs

The original songs featured in the film were composed by R. D. Burman along with lyricist, Javed Akhtar.

Song Singer
"Hum Na Samjhe"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
"Ae Mere Deewanon"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Asha Bhosle
"Yeh Mera Dil To Pagal Hai"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Asha Bhosle
"Rang Rangeeli Raat Gaaye"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Asha Bhosle
"Tum Jo Mile"Asha Bhosle, Sreekumar
"Badal Jo Barse"Asha Bhosle

Critical reception

Mukul Kesavan from the magazine Manushi lauded Gardish as "a powerful, affecting film"[3] The Indian Express praised the film's "script, vivid characters and powerful dialogues" and noted the actors' performances.[4] Anurag Mathur of The Sunday Telegraph was critical of the film, dismissing it as "not even a film, but a series of action sequences strung together by guest appearances", although he singled out Kapadia for "excelling" in her part.[5] India Today wrote, "Perhaps the best film to be churned out by the Hindi film factory this year. Jackie plays a would-be-inspector unwittingly embroiled in the world of crime. Puri is his helpless havildar father. The direction is deft and cinematography fabulous. Puri, after a long stint at uninteresting villain roles, gets to show his mettle. But the film belongs to the dazed and confused Jackie, who has done full justice to the role."[6]

References

  1. News: 12 May 2007 . Priyan's remake Darshan . . live . 3 March 2021 . 2 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201202230534/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/priyans-remake-darshan/articleshow/2036196.cms .
  2. Book: Ausaja, S. M. M. . Bollywood in posters . 2009 . Om Books International . 978-8187108559 . Noida . 1993 . 24 November 2017 . 6 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200806001502/https://books.google.com/books?id=vXLFDAAAQBAJ . live .
  3. News: Kesavan . Mukul . Mukul Kesavan . September–October 1993 . Gardish . 36 . . 78 . 29 May 2020.
  4. News: PR . 1 October 1993 . Keeps you seat-bound . . 21 April 2020 . 8 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200608084530/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19931001&printsec=frontpage&hl=en . live .
  5. News: Mathur . Anurag . 3–9 October 1993 . Boring, but... . en . 76 . . . 7 June 2020.
  6. Web site: Latest movie releases. India Today. 30 September 1993. 17 December 2023. 17 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231217182228/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/your-week/story/19930930-latest-movie-releases-812059-1993-09-29. live.