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Lage Raho Munnabhai
Lage Raho
Munnabhai
Review :
'Lage Raho...' a good mix of humour and Gandhism
By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service
Film: "Lage Raho Munnabhai"; Starring:" Sanjay Dutt, Arshad
Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani, Diya Mirza, Jimmy Shergil;
Director: Raj Kumar Hirani; Rating:
*** 1/2
It's all a chemical 'locha' (aberration). Munnabhai meets
Mahatma Gandhi and they get along like a house on fire. The
prophetic leader from the past has a blast as he tells Munna
(Sanjay Dutt) how to deal with an avaricious builder (Boman
Irani) and other problems in life.
It looks like Circuit (Arshad Warsi) has competition this time.
Even as he remains fiercely loyal to his mentor Munna, the
latter shifts his attention to the lovely Radio Jockey Jahanvi
and Mahatma Gandhi. The father of the nation keeps appearing in
Munna's daytime reverie to advise the benign gangster on love,
life and other vagaries of being human.
Munna and Circuit, arguably cinema's most adorable and roguish
reformists since Laurel and Hardy, go about the business of
generating humour out of the pathos of human conditions. The
sequences, all fiercely path breaking, have us in splits.
Watch the love-lorn Munnabhai answer a Gandhian quiz on a
phone-in radio quiz with the help of kidnapped professors...
it's one of the most comically animated sequences
seen in movies of the new millennium.
To look at "Lage Raho Munnabhai" as a 'serious comedy' is to
seriously undermine the motivations and impact of the series.
Playing the street-smart ruffians with cool hearts, Sanjay Dutt
and Arshad Warsi bring a chirpy enchantment to their roles.
Their parts have hefty hearts, but there's more.
There's also innocence and a desire to make the world a better
place.
Although some of the music and jokes are derived from the first
film, this time Hirani takes the duo further down the road of
moralistic mirth to create what can easily be
deemed the most significant satire in Indian cinema since "Munnabhai
MBBS".
Munna and Mahatma Gandhi make an interesting combination. While
outwardly the two seem as disparate in time and personality as
Sanjay Dutt and his father Sunil Dutt, both are in essence all
heart and no guile.
The Munna-Mahatma dialogues sparkle with satirical wisdom,
thanks in no small part to Dutt and Dilip Prabhavalkar (who
plays Gandhiji with tongue-in-cheek conviction).
The dialogues by Hirani and Abhijeet Joshi constantly probe the
moral and social system of the nation without getting hysterical
on homilies.
The film makes light of national issues without trivialising the
cult of conscience.
"Lage Raho Munnabhai" is a parable on love and companionship.
Whether it's Munnabhai's bonding with his faithful companion
Circuit, or Munna courting his ladylove (Vidya Balan) and
Gandhism, the narrative dodges false notes by remaining sincere
to the characters.
Every actor gets a chance to be special in this enriching take
on non-violent protests. Sanjay Dutt proves yet again that he
has shaped into a fine performer who can mingle
poignancy with satire the way Raj Kapoor did in films like "Shri
420" and "Awara", or like Sunil Dutt did in "Milan" and "Meherbaan".
But Warsi manages to steal some scenes from Dutt... That's how
effective he is! Surely he's one of the finest young actors
today.
Vidya Balan is gloriously glamorous and likeable though she
could have toned down those expressions of coyness.
However, some emotional moments, like those between Jimmy
Shergil and his screen-father Parikshit Sahni or the flamboyant
wedding finale starring Diya Mirza, do not have the impact one
thought they would.
Though a wee short of tears, "Lage Raho Munnabhai" goes a long
way in creating an endearing parable on the importance of being
earnest in a world of growing duplicity.
The narrative is so heart-warming and the characters so full of
human kindness, that you wait for the plot to be weighed down by
excessive self-importance.
The fall never happens. "Lage Raho Munnabhai" remains true to
its characters till the end.
One of Munna's favourite words is 'daring'. It must also be Raj
Kumar Hirani's favourite as he dares to dream of Gandhian peace
in a world of extravagant cynicism and
rancour.
When the aggressive Munna turns his other cheek, you actually
wonder if Gandhian values still have a place in our hearts.
They most certainly do have a place in Hirani's art
'Lage Raho Munnabhai' to hit multiplexes Sunday
New Delhi, "Lage Raho Munnabhai" will finally hit the
multiplexes Sunday, breaking the deadlock after the exhibitors
and the producer agreed upon a
profit-sharing formula Saturday.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra's comic caper "Lage Raho Munnabhai", starring
the hit pair of Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi, was not released
Friday because exhibitors refused to
work out a settlement with the producer.
Saurabh Varma, vice president, PVR cinema here said: "We have
entered into an agreement with the producer and settled on a
mutually beneficial deal."
But the stalemate over the release of blockbuster films in
multiplexes due to profit-sharing disputes is not new though not
frequent.
Just before the release of the Aamir Khan-Kajol starrer "Fanaa"
this year, there was a four-day deadlock between multiplex
owners and Yash Raj Films. The issue was
resolved when three multiplexes bowed to pressure and agreed to
the producer's profit-sharing formula.
.
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