Gumrah
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Roshni (Sridevi) is the only child of Sharda Chhadha (Reema Lagoo). Her father, Prakash Chhadha (Anupam Kher), left before she was born and she has no knowledge of where he went. Roshni is introduced to Rahul Malhotra (Rahul Roy) and they share a mutual attraction. When he learns that she is an aspiring singer, he assists in her career so she becomes popular. She has a devoted fan named Jaggannath alias Jaggu (Sanjay Dutt), who is a petty thief. He is in love with her but she rejects him. During a trip she and Rahul had taken to Hong Kong, she is arrested for trafficking cocaine and Rahul disappears. Jaggu brings an attorney, but she is quickly found guilty and sentenced to death. Jaggu visits the prison and runs afoul of two guards, themselves lovers, who beat him in front of Roshni. The attorney works to help them escape. A fight ensues between Roshni and the female guard in which the latter is killed. The warden intervenes and is killed by Jaggu. They escape and return to India. At the airport Prakash is questioned by the police and Roshni learns that he is her father, and that he had fled the country years earlier when he has been wrongfully accused of treason. Later at Rahul's house, Rahul admits that he had been dealing with drugs that resulted in Roshni's arrest. She slaps him for deceiving her and ends their relationship. With Prakash's blessings, Roshni and Jaggu get married.

Review: Bankok Hilton. This Bhatt movie is like most Bhatt movies a remake of an foreign film. In this case a remake of the Australian Nicole Kidman mini series BANKOK HILTON with Sridevi in Nicole Kidman's role. The story is about a girl (Sridevi) who wants to go to another country to fins her father (Anupam Kher). when she leaves her boyfriend (Rahul Roy) puts drugs in her baggage and she gets caught and sent to jail. A local goon then tries to save her (Sanjay Dutt) along with her father who at first denied having a daughter. When the movie was planned Rahul Roy was to star in a negative role (he was a hero at the time) much publicity was given to that and Sanjay Dutt was to appear in a 15 minute special appearance. When the movie finally releases Rahul Roy had no career, his mentor Mahesh Bhatt who launched him in Aashiqui had edited his role to a 15 minute role and Sanjay Dutt (who had become very hot) his role was stretched to the main role as was done with Amitabh Bachchan in Insaaniyat (but that is another story).. Sridevi's Bangkok Hilton. Mahesh Bhatt made 'Gumrah' by shamelessly ripping-off the mini-series 'Bangkok Hilton'. It pretty much is a scene by scene copy with some sequences from the series left out while others being indianized. The typically indianized sequences were very cheesy (with the exceptions of those between Sridevi and Reema Lagoo). Yes, there are songs and they're mostly dreadful, especially the ones primarily visualized on Sanjay Dutt. The whole love angle between Dutt and Sridevi is very Bollywoodish. Yet, I must say that the suspense is mostly well maintained (as I had watched 'Gumrah' before 'Bangkok Hilton') and the prison atmosphere looks very realistic (even though it's almost a complete imprint of the set in 'Bangkok Hilton'). The final chase sequence was also quite fun to watch.While Sanjay Dutt storyline does appear forced and exaggerated, the actor provides fine comic relief and has great chemistry with his female lead. Anupam Kher and Reema Lagoo are very good. Soni Razdan is superb in a small role. Rahul Roy brings wooden acting to a whole new level.What makes 'Gumrah' worth the watch is Sridevi's tour de force performance. Not only does she look authentic but playing Roshni from the shy, talented and vulnerable young lady to a tough prisoner, Sridevi makes it look so easy to do. She gives the Roshni an identity of her own which makes her very different from Nicole Kidman's Katrina Stanton. She easily dominates the movie.'Gumrah' is Sridevi's film.. A Heart Touching Story.. Roshni(Sridevi) is a popular singer who has got a fan in Jaggu (Sanjay Dutt) who is mad about her. And what does Jaggu do ? He is a black ticketer. Roshni lives with her mother played by Reema Lagoo. Roshni in one of her programmes meets Rahul (Rahul Roy) who feels Roshni can become a better singer and he helps her become a household name soon. Both of them fall for each other. Though Jaggu is madly in love with him, she ignores him all the while. Rahul takes her in a trip to Mauritius where she was supposed to perform. Before the trip started, Rahul hides some drugs in her wallet in order to smuggle them outside. The drugs were caught by police and before Roshni realizes Rahul vanishes from the scene. Now Roshni is in big trouble as she is arrested by police on possession of drugs.Jaggu then comes to her help with a lawyer, but then they are unable to do much as Roshni is caught red-handed. As per the law of the country, the sentence for the same crime is death.Then there is another story of Roshni about her absconding father who she feels stays in Mauritius. Will she found her? Will she get out of the Jail at last? Will she found the love of her life?. Bangkok Hilton. Mahesh Bhatt made a career remaking Hollywood films yet making good films, GUMRAH is a remake of miniseries BANGKOK HILTON which was later remade in EK HASEENA THI(2004). Strangely when the film was started Rahul Roy who Bhatt discovered with AASHIQUI(1990) and then made films like JUNOON, PHIR TERI KAHAANI YAAD AAYE was the lead and Sanjay Dutt had a cameo however due to Rahul Roy's fading career Bhatt reportedly made his role a 15 minute role and extended Sanju's role. The film brought Sanju and Sridevi together for the first time. The movie starts well, the first half is a bit slow, the romance between Sanju and Sridevi too is filmy but the twist at the airport is well handled however Bhatt doesn't bother to show Rahul's character and it appears sketchy and disappears conveniently, there are too many action scenes of Sanjay Dutt thrown in, however the jail scenes are well handled, though the escape does seem convenient and also the endDirection is decent though the writing could be better Music by LP is good however 1 song was chopped off which had Rahul RoySanjay Dutt does his role well, Sridevi is the life of the film and she scores as usual, Rahul Roy has a short role but he ruins it with his non acting and his dialogue delivery Anupam Kher as always excels in Bhatt films, Reema Lagoo, Anang Desai are okay in brief roles, Soni Razdan(Bhatt's wife) is good, Laxmikant Berde is as usual, rest are okay