to begin with, the magic and innovation of munna bhai m.b.b.s was quite hard to be repeated. besides, bollywood’s history is abound with cases of disastrous outcomes by the second timer directors. and a lots of expectations were held by the common audience [ though I was a bit skeptical about its success ].
this teachers’ day, I got an opportunity to analyse "lage raho munna bhai" and express all my diatribes since I was already very biased about it being well made. and the first 15 minutes gave me a chance to find loopholes quite easily. but then on, the film just grew on me completely. to talk about the entertainment value, the film has some really great moments, heart wrenching emotional turmoils and hilarious sequences.
now coming to the critical analysis, the film has its share of script writing weakpoints. but that is easily hidden by a strong message, good performances and absolutely remarkable direction. raj kumar hirani will now for sure go places as he has proved his mettle once again.
the first half was largely entertaining and the second half had a tight grip on the narration. though the first scene of jimmy shergill was a bit overdone and was excessively melodramatic. but these are just a minor execution mistakes. also, the dia mirza’s role need not be given so much substance.
the film has also a slight touch of vulgar humour, which was a bit irrelevant [ munna bhai m.b.b.s. was done without it ] and the songs were simply unneeded. actually, the title track should better have been edited from the film. the film would have been the same with out it. and I just couldnt understand one thing - what was the reason for an urban radio jockey like jhanvi falling for a professor ? [ just agree for once she thought him of a honest sincere professor ]. being a radio personality, she would have met many more honest, intelligent and nice people than munna, wouldnt she ?
sorry, but I just cant stop comparing this one to MUNNA BHAI MBBS. the camerawork was a slight pale in comparison, and so was the charisma level. having said this, I am not belittling ’LAGE RAHO MUNNA BHAI’s class. the idea of a nation father’s soul coming back to an interested and needy person was a great creative output. kudos to hirani and chopra for it. [ sorry if u found me excessively comparing this one to MUNNA BHAI MBBS, cant help it, folks ! ]
sanjay dutt was very good but did unintentionally remind me sometimes [ esp when he shouts at the others ] of his take off in the earlier one. arshad warsi was the best perfromer of the lot but unfornately or according to the need of the script, his role was reduced to a sidekick [ honestly admitting ]. boman irani was very enthralling as the self obsessed "lucky singh"
frankly speaking, vidya balan was not very impressive as a performer. more so bcoz I was simply besotted with her performance and screen presence in parineeta. and I simply was forced to give pouts [ sometimes ugly ] whenever she said "gooood moooooooooorning mumbai". my friends loved that but I found that a tad irritaing. [ dont know why, but I really did ]
yeah, I missed one thing. the audience reaction was simply mind-blowing. they were clapping, they were whistling and what not ! one thing is for sure, the film will be a huge commercial success.
and mind u, its not a comedy movie. its a sincere, straight forward and a thought provoking movie just like MUNNA BHAI MBBS. [ oops I did it again ! ]
all n all, LAGE RAHO MUNNA BHAI is a great treat on holiday afternoon, A MUST WATCH.