Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Guns and Gulaabs’ takes the audience to the fictional town of Gulaabganj, where chaos ensues as things get heated between two rival gangs. They murder each other for having a monopoly on the opium trade, and things get more complicated with the arrival of several other characters. By the end, the story is tied into so many knots, and each character’s actions impact the storyline such that one cannot be separated from the other. The conflicts of their collective arcs deliver an explosive and action-packed finale. Here’s what happens to them. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Guns and Gulaabs Plot Synopsis
Nabid hires Atmaram to kill Babu Tiger, the right-hand man of Ganchi’s gang. Nabid and Ganchi are rivals trying to gain a stronghold on the opium business by destroying the other party. Babu Tiger’s death significantly impacts the new deal Ganchi is about to sign with the people in Kolkata. Meanwhile, Babu Tiger’s son, Tipu, runs a mechanic shop. He is in love with Lekha, who teaches English at the local school.
Despite the strife between them, things had been going well for Ganchi and Nabid, but the arrival of a new narcotics officer, Arjun, changes everything. He is hell-bent on cleaning his area of any criminal activities. However, when his past catches up with him, he is forced to partake in the game whose players he wants to lock up. An accident renders Ganchi unable to execute his elaborate plan to ensure their success, and his son, Jugnu, takes over.
Guns and Gulaabs Ending: Is Tipu Dead?
Arjun was an honest officer who always wanted to do right by the law. When he was in Delhi, he started an investigation that ended badly for Pratap, one of the senior officers, who had to take the fall for everything while the real culprits walked free. To exact revenge on Arjun, Pratap sends Yamini into his life, with whom Arjun has an extra-marital affair. She takes pictures of them, which are later used to threaten Arjun. To stop them from making those pictures public, Arjun decides to compensate Pratap. He can only make that kind of money if he does something illegal.
When Arjun came to Gulaabganj, he was focused on destroying Ganchi and Nabid. He knew they took a large portion of the opium grown illegally by farmers. When Ganchi is hospitalized, and it looks like the deal with Sunkanto might fall through, Arjun sees it as an opportunity to make money to square things with Pratap. He conducts raids and confiscates the opium, which he then plans to sell to Sunkanto.
Meanwhile, Nabid and Atmaram fall out when the latter fails to kill Tipu twice. Atmaram kills Nabid, leaving a power vacuum. He is approached by Dheeraj, who offers him a job. Dheeraj knows that Arjun has the opium to finish Sukanto’s deal. He asks Atmaram to kidnap Jo, Arjun’s daughter, in return for whom the police officer would have to give up the opium. When Jo is kidnapped, Gangu and his friend follow them, accompanied by Lekha. When Tipu finds out about the kidnapping and that Lekha is in danger, he denies to save her.
After a shootout in which most of Atmaram’s people are killed by Arjun, Tipu discovers that Atmaram is still alive. The children are saved and sent home, while Arjun tackles Dheeraj, who tries to run away with the truck full of opium. Tipu tracks down Atmaram, who cuts him three times. Tipu has a gun, and he shoots Atmaram in the head. However, he himself sustained a severe blow to his neck. In the last moments of the show, we see Tipu being rushed to the hospital by Bunty and Lekha. He gives Lekha the receipt, which would save her father’s land from being taken by the government.
He is also happy that he avenged his friend and his father, who were killed by Atmaram. Before they reach the hospital, Tipu closes his eyes. It is not confirmed whether he fell unconscious or if he died. The odds are not in his favor, especially considering that Atmaram said whoever tried to kill him died. Tipu escaped death twice, but the third charm might have been the charm for Atmaram. Moreover, the wounds looked fatal, and Tipu lost a lot of blood, which means there is a good chance he is dead. Still, anything can happen in the world of ‘Guns and Gulaabs.’ So, the jury is still out.
What Happens to the Opium?
The whole cycle of power and money in Gulaabganj revolves around opium. Whoever has the opium has the keys to the kingdom. Everyone knows that opium is to end up with Sukanto. The question is: who will deliver it and get the money? Ganchi and Nabid are thrown out of the game due to circumstances out of their control and other unforeseen factors. Arjun had it all, but he is forced to change the plan when his daughter is kidnapped. Then Dheeraj tries to take it for himself. In the end, Arjun prevails, and the opium is still with him.
Arjun wanted to sell opium to Sukanto because he didn’t want the truth about his affair to come to light. He thought giving Pratap a lot of money would keep his mouth shut. However, when his actions put his daughter in danger, he realizes how deluded he was to believe that another wrong could correct his previous mistakes. While he is busy saving his daughter, Sukanto is killed by Jugnu and his men. Arjun isn’t aware of this, but even then, he decides not to proceed with the deal. He tells Pratap that he won’t be getting money, and the opium will be given over to the government, as it should have been in the first place.
Does Arjun Tell the Truth to His Wife?
The only reason Arjun was ready to make a deal with the criminals he was supposed to catch was because he wanted to save his family from breaking apart. Pratap’s life and career were destroyed after Arjun’s investigation sent him to prison. He wanted to do the same to Arjun, which is where the affair with Yamini and the pictures come in. Arjun knew that if his wife found the pictures or if they were made public, he would lose his family and career. So, he concocted the plan to get opium and trade it with Sukanto.
In the end, Arjun learns his lesson. He decides not to go forward with the deal after all. The opium goes to the government, and Arjun decides to tell his wife the truth. He knows that Pratap would do it anyway, so it’s better if his wife hears about the affair from him. As he is about to go home, Yamini shows up and gives him the negatives of the pictures. This was the only thing Pratap had on Arjun, which he would use to destroy his life. With the negatives in his hand, Arjun has a choice. He can still come clean to his wife and risk losing her, or he can destroy the negatives, and none would be the wiser.
While Arjun has his heart set on telling the truth, Yamini asks him if telling the truth is about his peace of mind rather than that his wife deserves the truth. Yamini advises him to let bygones be bygones and not break his wife’s heart simply because he wants to unload his burden. This makes Arjun wonder if revealing the truth would be a mistake. We don’t know what Arjun chooses to do, as the show ends with him in a dilemma. Unbeknownst to him, his wife already has a clue about his affair. She smells Yamini’s perfume on his sweater. She starts wondering about his late-night shifts and how he has been secretive lately. She asks him to come home early because she wants to talk to him.
This shows that either she suspects him and wants him to come clean, or she may already know about his dalliances and finally has decided to talk things over with him. This is where Arjun’s choice gets harder. If the topic never came up, he could afford to ignore it. However, when his wife brings it up, he might not be able to lie, even if he wants to. And if he does lie, it would only weigh heavier for him, increasing the weight of his transgression because he had the opportunity, to tell the truth but didn’t. Considering that Arjun is, generally speaking, an honest person, we believe he might tell the truth, even if it means risking his happiness and his family.
Why Does Jugnu Kill His Father?
Jugnu was his father’s only son and was born after a very long time. Ganchi wanted a son who could take over his business. Even though he had daughters, he didn’t think women could be strong enough to handle the business. All Jugnu ever wanted was to make his father proud. When Ganchi fell into a coma, Jugnu tried to do whatever he could to ensure the deal with Sukanto went through. It would prove his worth to his father and everyone else who doubted him. In this quest, however, he was forced to suppress who he really was.
In the final scene, Jugnu shows up at the hospital dressed in a salwar kurta and wearing a long-haired wig. This is him finally coming out as trans to everyone, including his father, who is out of the coma but still hospitalized. This act is spurred by the death of his best friend, Nirmal, whom he also loved. Throughout the series, Jugnu’s words and actions hint at him being more sympathetic to being a woman. He even questions why his father waited for a son to be born and didn’t think a woman could handle his business.
All of this was because Jugnu was a woman. Being born a man put the pressure of acting like one on Jugnu. She was forced to suppress her feelings and emotions, including her love for Nirmal, because she knew no one would accept her. In the end, she comes out to her father, and as expected, Ganchi is disappointed in her. Instead of waiting for Ganchi to come around and accept her, she decides to do things her way now. She kills him on the hospital bed, claiming her place as the cartel’s leader, and vows to run things the way she wants them, not how her father expected her to.
Is Atmaram Dead?
While everyone’s arc is resolved in one way or another, the only character whose fate remains uncertain is Atmaram. He is introduced as a brutal assassin who is even more dangerous because he cannot be killed. Some believe he has seven lives, and the number of lives increases each time this legend is repeated. At one point, he reveals that a sadhu told him he had seven lives. Sure enough, a lot of people have tried to kill Atmaram. In his short time in Gulaabganj, he is almost killed at least four times. Anyone else in his place would have died four times over by now. He, however, doesn’t. Somehow, things work out such that he escapes death and walks out of the situation just a little beaten up.
Ultimately, he faces off with Tipu, the only man who tried to kill him twice and walked away safely. Usually, when people try to kill Atmaram, they fail, and he kills them. With Tipu, things don’t work out like that, which makes Atmaram even more intent on killing Tipu. When he finally gets the opportunity, he stabs Tipu three times. Before he can finish him off with his fourth signature move, Tipu pulls out a gun and shoots Atmaram straight in his head. This time, it looks like Atmaram is dead for good. Maybe he ran out of the seven lives. The final scene, however, tells a different tale. In it, the camera pans to his knife, and in the background, we see his leg move. What does this mean?
Apart from the stories about his many lives, there are other things that make Atmaram look like an otherworldly being. In one scene, his eyes shine red like a devil’s. He moves rather quickly in at least two other scenes as if he has super speed. This scares his opponents and also confuses them. But they never talk about it because they die soon after. This suggests that there is more to Atmaram’s tale. Perhaps, he isn’t entirely human, and that’s the reason he cannot be killed. This would also explain how he survived a bullet to the head.
Even if Atmaram is not a supernatural being and only has the seven lives the sadhu talked about, the number of times we see him die in the show still falls short. Considering the one time his father threw him in the well, the one time he was shot in the chest in a flashback scene, and the three times Tipu almost killed him, he still has two more lives left. We could count the one-time Gangu shot him, but the bullet bounced off from the amulet that the roadside magician had given him, so it could be because of that. Considering all this, there is a good chance that Atmaram somehow survived the events of the finale and is still alive and kicking.
Read More: Is Guns & Gulaabs Based on a True Story?
