Young love, gunslinging, and the players of an opium ring open the first episode of the Indian comedy-crime-thriller, Guns & Gulaabs. The show alternates between scenes of serious crime, gruesome murder, love confessions, and comedic bits, which all blend surprisingly well. It also employs various quirks, including movie soundtrack references and fast-paced action scenes, that strengthen its 90s worldbuilding. And the multiple storylines quickly allude to each other in the first two episodes, allowing them all to progress without any lag. With its deft balance of crime and comedy, Guns & Gulaabs begins with a bang and a chuckle that’s hard to turn away from.
The charm of the 90s and the misfits that land themselves in a world of crime, still keeping their love and innocence intact. Where will their paths lead them?
An Indian black comedy crime thriller that centres on an opium drug deal that leads various people down paths of violence, with a little humour and love on the way.
Rajkummar Rao as Paana "Spanner" Tipu supplies the best comedic timing out of everyone. He draws out an inappropriate laugh when he's fake crying at his father's funeral and a genuine guffaw when he sings abrasively to help the young schoolboy write a love letter for him. Even his calm recollection of murdering two men (who disrespect his deceased father) is delivered with a humourous cadence that makes you miss him when he's off-screen. Thankfully, his main role ensures we'll have more laughs to come.
It's quite the dilemma when the love of your life tells you that you have no ambition but then flirts after you've murdered two men.
