Jan 18, 2006 08:35 PM
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(Updated Jan 18, 2006 08:35 PM)
Too often in the Hype Factory of Bollywood we keep hearing the terms path breaking, hatke, cult classic whenever a movie is going to be released. And what do we get in the guise of being a different movie another rip off of some Hollywood flick or a reworked version of an older Hindi movie.
But there are certain movies which don’t need marketing clichés to justify their value. You watch these movies and you know that you are watching a truly great movie. These movies speak for themselves. Movies like Anand, Sholay, Pyaasa . Way back in early 80’s when Bollywood was still not yet trapped in marketing hype, there were some movie makers who refused to conform to the formula and made movies that were really hatke. These movies were what you call as cult classics. And one such classic is Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. A biting satire on the builder-politician-bureaucrat nexus in Mumbai, the movie bristles with infectious wit and an intelligence you would rarely find in a Bollywood movie.
The Story.
Vinod ( Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir ( Ravi Vaswani) are two down on luck , out of work photographers who are hired by a crusading editor Shoba( Bhakti Bharve). Her purpose is to expose the sordid misdeeds of Taneja ( Pankaj Kapoor) a totally corrupt builder and a big shot. Taneja’s rival is Ahuja ( Om Puri ) equally crooked and corrupt to the core. During a normal shoot, Vinod & Sudhir , unknowingly photograph the murder of the city’s commissioner De Mello (Satish Shah).
And that sets off a wild goose chase with both Taneja and Ahuja wanting the evidence. Are Vinod and Sudhir able to nail the culprits? Is Shoba playing a double game with the duo? I would be doing a criminal injustice to the movie if I gave away the plot, so watch it please to know what happens.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron is a perfect example of what we call a black comedy. Director Kundan Shah exhibits a superb sense of comic timing and wit in each and every frame. And the dialogues are just brilliant.
Time bomb mein time bahut kam hai
Hum to cement mein reth lagate hain, yeh log reth mein cement lagate hain, pul tutega nahin kaise
tod diya? Mere 5 rupaiya ka dhanush tod diya
Some of the scenes are just brilliant
The scene where Taneja and his cronies convince De Mello to overlook the building laws.
The scene where Vinod and Sudhir get hold of the documents
The scene where Vinod tries to flirt with Shobha and gets slapped.
And of course the climax Mahabharat scene which is a laugh riot all the way.
For me the Mahabharat scene where all the characters gatecrash in to the drama and make a total mess of it would be the piece de resistance.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron boasts of some great performances from all it’s cast
Neena Gupta as Taneja’s ditzy secretary
Satish Kaushik as Taneja’s goofy assistant
Ravi Vaswani as Sudhir
Bhakti Bharve as Shoba the opportunistic editor ( said to be modeled on Shoba De )
Satish Shah as the corpse does a great act, looking totally dead pan, and manages to come up with a great act.
Naseeruddin Shah as Vinod is just brilliant with his comic timing. Especially in the scene where he tries to flirt with his boss or the scene where he finds out he is being led upon. Naseer just shows us why he is considered as one of Indian cinema’s finest actors.
Pankaj Kapoor an often under rated actor again comes up trumps with his portrayal of Taneja the corrupt builder. Just watch his expression in the scene where he insists that the collapse of the bridge is the work of his rival parties.
But for me the best performance would be that of Om Puri as Ahuja. Till then we had seen Om only in intense serious roles like Aakrosh, Ardh Satya. To watch him in this mad cap role was a revelation. As the perpetually drunk builder with his loud Punjabi accent, Om is just outstanding. And his performance in the final Mahabharat scene just leaves u with laughter.
There are no songs but mention must be made of Vanraj Bhatia’s quirky background score which elevates the mood.
