Johnny Gaddar — A Satisfying Thriller with 70s Filmmaking and 2000s Nostalgia

They don’t make such movies anymore

Photo source: Prime Video movie poster

Last year, during our conversation, my wife told me that she hadn’t watched many movies in the mid-2000s as she was busy preparing for board exams and competitive exams. I made a list of my favorite films that were released in those years, to rewatch with her.

This was the list:

1. Khakee (done, she said ‘not bad’)
2. Aankhen (done, she enjoyed it)
3. Taxi No. 9211 (done, she enjoyed it)
4. Shootout at Lokhandwaala (done, she quit before the intermission)
5. Johnny Gaddar (done, she enjoyed it)
6. Company (refuses to watch it, despite my tireless efforts to persuade her to watch it, but may not enjoy it as she didn’t enjoy Shootout at Lokhandwaala)

We watched Johnny Gaddar in two parts on YouTube after wrapping up our work for the day. She has been a fan of Sriram Raghavan (and of Varun Dhawan) since Badlapur, so she was excited to watch his directorial debut. This film was also the debut of Neil Nitin Mukesh and Zakir Hussain, whom she had watched in other movies.

Johnny Gaddar and Aankhen were the two movies I desperately wanted her to watch, as these are some of the best thrillers Bollywood has made. Andhadhun was also good, and I was mind-blown while watching it. I considered it Raghavan’s best work to date. But many on social media considered it overrated, and Johnny Gaddar as underrated, and his best work. I watched it again and agreed with them. Andhadhun loses steam in the second half, whereas Johnny Gaddar is surprisingly consistent, both in tone and pacing, throughout its runtime. The twists in both movies are interesting, but Johnny Gaddar’s screenplay is more grounded and realistic, hence the twists feel more credible. I think the 70s style of filmmaking and the nostalgia of the 2000s also made it more favorable for me to rewatch it.

There is not a single unnecessary scene in the movie. The movie spends some time initially introducing us to the characters and their dynamics, and then the thrill begins. The tone and pacing are masterfully controlled and are consistent throughout. We can guess the eventual outcome, but the movie ensures the journey is engaging. The title reveals the true intention of our lead character, but some twists are genuinely surprising. Each murder is an interesting subplot in itself, particularly how the truth/secret gets revealed in each case. I remembered almost the whole movie, and on re-watch, I could appreciate the foreshadowing and how everything builds up to the climax and provides an interesting end. No other director, not even Raghavan himself, could recreate a masterfully crafted thriller that may not be edge-of-the-seat but will keep you glued to your seat and delightfully so.

With the romance genre being revived in Bollywood by movies like Metro In Dino and Aap Jaisa Koi, I look forward to the same for the thriller genre. Hopefully, an original screenplay brings that revival, not a sequel to an existing masterpiece thriller like Aankhen or Johnny Gaddaar. A worthy sequel to a masterpiece thriller, such as Drishyam, is a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon. Bollywood may not be able to do it, as they have a tendency and a legacy to ruin remakes and sequels.

Would like to acknowledge the charming performance of Dharmendra in Johnny Gaddar. His performance in Life in a Metro is also endearing, which I also re-watched recently (and made my wife re-watch it). More on that in one of my upcoming posts.