Guns & Gulaabs – Episode 2 Recap & Review

Chapter 2: Everything I Do… I Do It For You

Episode 2 of Guns & Gulaabs starts with Tipu telling his friend that he’s killed 2 men with his spanner as they try to get rid of one of the dead bodies. His friend Suneel yells at him for turning into his father but still helps him out, throwing the body and bike off a cliff.

Since the other dead body was left in the middle of the street, Tipu and his friend are not able to hide it away. The people that Tipu killed are involved with 4-Cut Aatmaram.

Yamini and Arjun catch up after a long time. Arjun wonders why she’s back in his life when it was her who left him all those years ago. Yamini gives Arjun a phone number and asks him to call to find out.

Meanwhile, Tipu goes up to a temple to pray for his sins to be washed. The priest sells him a thread that will keep him safe and asks him to hide out for a few days.

At the same time, Ganchi shows up at the Narcotics Bureau with Mahinder to meet Arjun. Ganchi tries to claim authority over Gulaabganj and insinuates that Arjun pair up with him and work just like SP Mishra. Arjun believes that he’s an advocate of simple living and he doesn’t want to complicate his life. He also adds that he prioritised his work over his relationship and never mixed the two, implying that a deal with him was impossible.

Tipu shows up at Ganchi’s house to talk about the murder of the Sherpur men. Inside, Ganchi learns that his blood pressure is at an all-time high and the doctor asks Jugnu to take care of his father.

Ganchi goes outside to meet Tipu and learns about the murders. Tipu asks Ganchi to help save him from the cops as a favour because his father, Babu, died working for Ganchi.

At school, Gangaram is one of the few students that fails the English paper and gets scolded by Chandralekha. Lalkrishna is embarrassed when his record of being a class topper is broken by Jyotsna and she becomes the new class leader. On the other hand, Suneel is hopeful that Ganchi will help save Tipu. The mechanic is still thinking about the letter he gave to Chandralekha and how she yelled at him and called him cheap over it.

Tipu is sure that the letter has something wrong and asks his employee, Kamarcut, to read it for him. Kamarcut tells Tipu that the letter mentioned that Tipu wanted to have sex with Chandralekha. Tipu meets the boys and learns that Gangaram loved Chandralekha too and wanted to marry her.

Tipu and Suneel bring Lalkrishna and Gangaram with them to force Lalkrishna to write a new love letter to Chandralekha. Lalkrishna asks for his tape recorder and song cassette in order to vibe before writing the letter. Tipu asks Suneel to go with Gangaram in order to bring the cassette.

Later that day, Arjun inspects the opium fields with Ramprasad and learns about the two gangs that are involved in the opium business. He finds out that the Gulaabgunj gang and the Sherpur gang were run by rival leaders Ganchi and Nabeed respectively.

Ramprasad also adds that these gangs controlled the opium farmers of the area and paid them a hefty amount to buy the crop in comparison to what the government paid the farmers. The man also adds that the regular supply of opium that reaches the government is from small farm owners who produced limited poppy crops and helped these gangs to keep suspicion from the government at bay.

The large farm owners only worked for mafia leaders like Ganchi and Nabeed. Arjun starts inspecting the large opium farms while Tipu sets up the scene for Lalkrishna to write his love letter to Chandralekha. Tipu asks Gangaram about the secret that he was supposed to tell him but the boy refuses to spill it considering he has now made Tipu his enemy.

After Lalkrishna writes the letter for Tipu, the mechanic hands it over to Chandralekha and asks her to forgive his past mistake. Chandralekha tells Tipu that she knew he had feelings for her but adds that she did not want to lead a simple life with him but wanted luxuries and a wealthy life with her partner.

A man meets Arjun and threatens him to meet his client. He delivered explicit photos of him with Yamini to his wife and asks him to rush home before Madhu sees them. Arjun drives back home in time and manages to talk the envelope from Madhu before she can see the photos. He burns them and flushes them down the toilet.

Later that day, Chandralekha comes to the mechanic shop and apologises for rejecting Tipu. She is rather impressed by the fact that Tipu killed the two men and praises him for making his late father proud. At night, Ganchi tells Mahinder how he’s worried about not meeting the expectations of the client. He yells at Jugnu for not being manly enough and asks him to man up as the only heir of the Gulaabganj Gang.

Ganchi claims that he had a plan that could make the deal possible but goes to use the newly constructed restroom up the rosewood stairs before telling Mahinder and Jugnu about it. The weak rosewood stairs cannot contain his weight and Ganchi falls off them and starts bleeding from his head.

On the other hand, Arjun talks to Madhu about how he led a filthy life because of his work in the past and that he wanted to change things in Gulaabganj. Madhu claims that she was okay with everything as long as Arjun puts an end to his bad habits. Arjun finally calls the man and schedules a meeting with him.

Tipu tells Suneel that he doesn’t like how Chandralekha was impressed with the news of him committing murder. However, as they reach home, Aatmaram and his men chase after Tipu and Suneel. Tipu manages to escape but Aatmaram kills Suneel right before his eyes. The episode ends with Tipu fleeing Aatmaram’s men with tears in his eyes over his friend’s death.

The Episode Review

The ’90s was a time of the masculine man and the feminine female and it looks like the makers of this show are trying to challenge that stereotype with a not-so-masculine man like Jugnu. Jugnu seems like the typical rich kid who cannot be bothered by the things around him because he lives in a bubble of privilege that protects him from the harsh real world.

This show really is a nostalgic ride for viewers who grew up in India in the ’90s because it gives you so many moments to relive your childhood with scenes involving high schoolers. From playing FLAMES using the name of the person you liked to check your compatibility with them to drinking “Campa”, India’s version of Coca-Cola.

It was also typical of ’90s Bollywood films for people to die just seconds before giving out important information or telling a very important secret seconds before their death. Guns & Gulaabs has already ticked both of those boxes with Ganchi and Babu Tiger’s deaths respectively. I am sure this secret will help Tipu in the longer run as the show ends and his father’s advice comes his rescue.

Aatmaram is the ideal embodiment of the ’90s villain, Khalnayak portrayed by Sanjay Dutt. After seeing Gulshan Devaiah grow as an actor over the last 8-10 years, it is a treat to watch him play a negative character with such ease. His 4-cut kill as well as Rajkumar Rao’s “Paana Tipu” is another callback to the ’90s when villans and bandits were known for their murder styles.