“Family Of Thakurganj” Review: Yet Another Pale Gangster Drama Set In The Hindi Hinterland

Making an engaging and thoroughly entertaining gangster drama is nothing less than setting the Thames on fire. You need an impeccable combination of so many things to pull off a gangster film, especially if it is set in the Hindi heartland of the country.

Filmmaker Manoj K. Jha has attempted to create a new gangster world in his latest film Family of Thakurganj. Let’s find out how convincing his world and its inhabitants are.

What Family of Thakurganj Is All about?

Set in a small town of Uttar Pradesh, Family of Thakurganj revolves around two brothers Nunnu (Jimmy Sheirgill) and Munnu (Nandish Sandhu) who have different ideologies. Nannu is a small-time gangster who works for Baba Bhandari (Saurabh Shukla). Their arch-rival is Badri Pathak (Mukesh Tiwari).

His wife Sharbati (Mahie Gill) and mother (Supriya Pilgaonkar) have no problem with his lifestyle. However, his law-abiding younger brother Munnu, who runs a small coaching class to earn his livelihood, disapproves of his brother’s ways that can invite trouble anytime. How the two brothers overcome a set of obstacles to save their family from ruins is what forms the crux of the story.

Is It Worth Your Time & Money?

As I said before that making an engaging gangster drama is not an easy task. Your one mistake can spoil all your hard work in a flash. The same happens with filmmaker Manoj K. Jha’s Family of Thakurganj. There are a plethora of things gone horribly wrong.

A good story forms the basis of any film, be it in any genre. That is something no storyteller can compromise with. But here, the story is the weakest point of the film.

Family of Thakurganj does not seem to have anything of its own. Everything that you see in the film seems borrowed from a series of gangster films that have inundated Bollywood in the past few years. There is no sign of cohesive writing. Some dialogues are witty, but that is not enough to save the film from going downwards. The screenplay has no sparkle.

Performances from seasoned actors like Saurabh Shukla, Jimmy Sheirgill and Mahie Gill are the only saving grace of the film. But there are also issues that cannot be overlooked. No matter how much you try Jimmy Sheirgill and Mahie Gill’s characters and even their performances remind you of their acts in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s gangster franchise Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. Saurabh Shukla’s act as Baba Bhandari is menacing at times. Nandish Sandhu and Supriya Pilgaonkar don’t get well fleshed out parts to play.

Talking about the technical department, the editing, camerawork, production values could have been better. There are scenes which do not add much to the narrative and seem forces. They could have been easily chopped off. Music is also not something to write about. In a nutshell, Family of Thakurganj is not inviting enough to pay a visit to.

Final Verdict

Barring impressive performances from seasoned actors, Family of Thakurganj has nothing new in-store. You can wait for its digital premiere if rustic gangster dramas are your thing. I am going with 2 stars. 1.5 of it goes to performances.

Movie Credits

Banner: Lovely World Entertainment
Director: Manoj K. Jha
Cast: Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Saurabh Shukla, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Nandish Sandhu, etc.
Runtime: 127 Minutes
STARBIZ Rating: 2 Stars

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