Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster

For all its flashy sunglasses and gunplay, there’s a folk-tale essence in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s “Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster,” a riff on “Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam,” a 1962 Hindi classic. That film concerned the chaste bond between a married noblewoman and a servant; Mr. Dhulia’s take offers Sahib (Jimmy Shergill), a rural mob godfather of declining fortunes, and Biwi (Mahie Gill), his neglected, hot-tempered wife. The gangster (Randeep Hooda), hired as a chauffeur, is secretly on a mission to set up Sahib for a hit. There’s nothing chaste about his designs: He covets Biwi and Sahib’s status as well.

Mr. Shergill, with a curled mustache and crumbling empire, displays sufficient hauteur. The voluptuous Ms. Gill, however, dominates the film with her alternately haughty, ardent and enraged moments. It is not a one-note performance. As a bodyguard’s tart-tongued daughter, Deepal Shah is also vivid. Mr. Hooda, whose character’s hotheadedness matches Biwi’s, has the requisite virility but few layers.

Political machinations, bloodlettings and (of course) musical sequences are tossed in. But for all its high emotion the film feels enervated, like an excuse to shoot attractive people in amorous rapture amid lavish but decaying real estate. On that level it delivers; there is more suggested nudity and lovemaking here than in many Hindi productions. If there is a metaphor about corruption within India’s ruling classes, it is hopelessly lost in erotic gauze.

Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia; written by Mr. Dhulia and Sanjay Chouhan; director of photography, Aseem Mishra; edited by Rahul Srivastava; produced by Rahul Mittra; released by UTV Motion Pictures. In Manhattan at the Big Cinemas, 239 East 59th Street, between Second and Third Avenues. In Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 2 hours. This film is not rated.