Cinemaah

Laws and Found

Subhash Kapoor has been in the news recently, for being the director picked to direct the third Munnabhai film. His Phas Gaye Re Obama, a small and very funny film reveals a mind that knows its way around the comic terrain. Jolly LLB has traces of that humour, but not the devastating satire the ‘law-is-an-ass’ subject could have had.

It is based on the infamous Sanjeev Nanda case (rich guy mows down half a dozen pavement dwellers), which, along with the Jessica Lal case (rich guy shoots girl) had cause nationwide outrage at the subversion of justice. In India, the general perception is that the law does not work, at least not for the poor.

Kapoor picks as his unlikely hero, an unsuccessful Meerut lawyer Jagdish Tyagi or Jolly (Arshad Warsi), who finds a way of getting into the big league, but taking on the might of celebrity lawyer Tejinder Rajpal (Boman Irani), who has defended the guilty in a hit-and-run case, and got him off, in return for big (and he demands more) money.

Jolly files a public interest litigation to get the case reopened, and then does all he can to find evidence to nail the culprit.  When it comes to his treatment of what goes on in the corridors of power, Kapoor becomes deadly serious, but lacks the sophistication and sharpness of No One Killed Jessica.

The courtroom drama is enlivened considerably by Saurabh Shukla playing the judge, whose comments are funny and to the point. He hijacks the film from under the noses of the two male leads, thundering away with their legal arguments. What also bogs down the otherwise sincere film is the needless romantic track (with Amrita Rao) and the note of preachiness that creeps in, without the emotional core to make it palatable (like the Sunny Deol track in Damini).

Still, idealism in the movies is as welcome as intelligent humour, and when the actors in the ring besides the thoroughly competent Warsi, Irani and Shukla, include Mohan Agashe and Ramesh Deo along with Sanjay Mishra, Mohan Kapoor, Harsh Chhaya, Vibha Chibber and Manoj Pahwa, the film’s asking to be given a viewing. It’s worth the time and money. 

Dude, It’s The Car

Yashraj Productions’ youth wing, that has made films like Mujhse Fraandship Karoge and Luv Ka The End, comes up with another film aimed at teens, who just want to have some fun at the movies. They presumably want to see young actors, bubble gummy- brightness, surface emotions, a danceable track or two, and hear their own ‘lingo’.

Ashima Chibber’s debut film, Mere Dad Ki Maruti, delivers all this in measured doses, and as the skinny plot unfolds with a bit (not quite enough) of Punjabi quirkiness, there is much to keep the young viewer amused—most importantly mild teen rebellion against stern dads. Moms just hover around nervously! The story, such as it is, has been lifted from Dude, Where’s My Car?  and suitably sanitized.

Chibber does manage to catch the aspirational vibe of Chandigarh, where young people speak heavily accented English; the boys lust after mini-skirted girls, who wish to be seen as hot.  Saqib Saleem plays middle-class young Smeer (Punjabis tend to swallow the ‘a’), who can’t get girls to look at him because he doesn’t have a car.  But when, quite by chance, he lands a date with “Chandigarh Ki Shakira, call me Jazlin” aka Jasleen (Rhea Chakraborty) he obviously can’t go fetch her in a cycle rickshaw. So he steals a brand new car (it’s a Maruti which gets great product placement) that his father (Ram Kapoor) has bought as a gift for his potential son-in-law... and manages to lose it.

 With friend Gattu (Prabal Panjabi) in tow—the kind of all-weather buddy found only in films-- he has many split second scrapes in trying to prevent his father from finding out, and desperately making sure the car reaches home in time for the wedding.

Life in Chandigarh, an extravagant wedding where money is spent on rituals and shopping, but the booze is adulterated, the typical Punju colloquialisms-- Chibber pays attention to details, while keeping the pace brisk.

Saqib Saleem does well as the good-for-nothing teen, who reveals a clean heart behind all the dad-bashing.  Ram Kapoor is perfectly cast as the loud Punjabi father, who for a change, dotes on the daughter, and gives the son a tough time.  Chances are the film will be forgotten the minute it ends, but while it lasts, at least it makes you care for the hapless Smeer. 

On The Chessboard

The surprise success of Tigmanshu Dhulia’s wickedly dark Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, probably called for a sequel that mostly goes over old ground, but creates a cast of even more twisted characters, and throws them in a simmering cauldron of ambition, frustration and hate.

This ‘Return’ has a new gangster in the form of a minor princeling Inderpratap Singh (Irrfan), the family’s former glory reduced to a decrepit haveli. He is called Raja Bhaiya, and craves wealth, power and revenge against Saheb or Aditya Pratap Singh (Jimmy Sheirgill), who was shot in the first film, and is now in a wheelchair. His drunken wife Madhavi (Mahie Gill), who had grabbed political power at the end of Part One, realises, even in an alcoholic haze, that she must do something to get out of the rut she has got herself into.

Aditya Pratap wants to marry Ranjana (Soha Ali Khan), and pressurises her father (Raj Babbar) into agreeing to the match.  But Ranjana is in love with Inder, who in turn is using Madhavi to get what he wants, as she uses him. The game of love and sex plays out against a complicated political backdrop that involves the partition of UP, and four former royals trying to get the best of the situation.

Even from his wheelchair, Aditya oversees a gang of bandits, manipulates a greedy politician (Rajeev Gupta—hilarious), and keeps the two women on tenterhooks in a way. 

 After the characters and their motivations are introduced—and it’s interesting to see at least three of them as totally amoral and selfish— Dhulia can’t keep either the pace or the plot moving to a satisfying finale.  The ending, however, leaves a hint about another sequel, which might be pushing it a bit. The one who comes off as really strong and ruthless is Madhavi— and that rarely happens in Bollywood.  The director and the two male leads deserve appreciation for letting this go through. Both Jimmy Sheirgill and Irrfan are in fine fettle; Mahie Gill overacting a bit, comes into her own in this film.

What Dhulia does well is lay out the chessboard and move his characters around expertly, but the game goes on for too long and with too many needless distractions. The locations are wonderful and realistic, and Dhulia, as always, brings small town India alive on screen vividly.  But how much more interest can a viewer muster up for the shenanigans of dethroned rajas and raanis?