There is, indeed, no point in flogging a dead horse; one would be inclined to think no real purpose is served in repeating the same points over, and over again. What is there to write on Lage Raho Munna Bhai that hasn’t already been written, after close to 200 reviews have been posted? Well, there is… in fact, every review offers a different take, a different perspective. It is also an indication of how successful the movie is… or, in certain cases, how appalling.
THE KEY TO PRESENTATION:
In a world of changing values where the dead are respected more than the living, resurrecting the dead to prove a point or drive home a message is a sure-fire approach to success, especially if it is in the domain of Indian film making where a lot of masala is added to spike up the presentation.
A NOTE OF APPREHENSION:
Many young Indians conveniently avoided the film ‘Gandhi’ by Richard Attenborough because the film was based on the real life and times of a certain Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. They had read enough about Bapuji in the history books anyway, to be foolish enough to spend a further 3 hours in a movie theatres at their own expense… no way, that isn’t exactly a college teen’s idea of enjoying the day.
If the producers of LRMB wanted Gandhism to be a focal point of their film’s storyline, then they had better spice it up to the desired level. Gandhism or Gandhigiri by itself would not draw in the audiences… they needed to package it attractively with a Munna Bhai and a Circuit thrown in. The idea was the audiences (mostly young generation) would crowd the movie theatres to watch their favourite Munna Bhai character and, in turn, get a taste of Gandhigiri.
FOR READER’S EDIFICATION:
LRMB is not a sequel to the original Munna Bhai MBBS. Only the main character, Munna Bhai, and his crony, Circuit, are carried over to this new film. The story is different, and the other characters in the film have no connection whatsoever with the earlier film. Boman Irani remains, but not his previous character. Gracy Singh is dealt with, ungraciously. She makes way for the more effervescent and vivacious Vidya Balan as Munna Bhai’s romantic interest. This is my first look at Vidya Balan on screen, and need I say I am impressed. This young lady has got oodles of talent and all that remains to be seen is whether she can make that count to boost her fledgling career.
What a great fit Sanjay Dutt is for the role of Munna Bhai. The only other actor I can think of who could fit the role is Jaggu Dada (Jackie Shroff), but I must admit he would have been only my second choice. Sanjay Dutt once again proves his histrionics in a role that seems to have been tailor made for him. One would be tempted to think, and forgiven for doing so, that Sanjay’s role in the earlier film was a once in a lifetime performance. Not when you look at his performance in this film. Sanjay Dutt has really outdone himself again, and that’s really a rare achievement in Bollywood these days.
I can’t recall any other film, save for the earlier Munna Bhai flick, the protagonist and his sidekick complementing each other so well. Circuit’s role contributes as much as Munna Bhai’s in the stupendous success of the movie. In the role of Circuit, I cannot think of anyone else but the lovable Arshad Warsi who once again favours us with a standout performance. It’s a reflection of their extraordinary performance and screen fame that today they are remembered more as Munna Bhai and Circuit rather than Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi. In the annals of Bollywood history their performances will go down as unrivalled rustic comedies.
Boman Irani’s role in the earlier film was really good, but he is wasted here. As Lucky Singh, a builder, he does his job in a quite efficient way, but his role allows him limited opportunity to excel. But then, not all roles can be as meaty as the rest in the same film.
Music and lyrics are passable, nothing much here to rave about.
OH, NO! THE BHASHAN:
The fact that the movie has done exceedingly well all over the country saddens me, in a way. Not because the movie is bad in any sense, in fact, it is really good. I am saddened because we needed to rediscover Ganhigiri through the heart-stealing antics of Munna Bhai. A straight forward movie like Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi which stuck to the real accepted story of his life could not entice the Indian masses even in the Hindi version. Instead, a film that is a loose charade on the Mumbai ‘dadagiri’ or ‘bhaigiri’ presents the same Indian masses with a spectre of Gandhiji with all his convictions and idiosyncrasies in tact… the audiences begin to realise what they were missing and lap up Gandhigiri as the mantra of today.
So, the moral is… “Don’t shove Gandhigiri in the face of the common man, instead, show him something to think about in an appealing and appetizing way and the chances are you might succeed in your endeavour.” Therefore, more credit to Rajkumar Hirani for getting the concept right.
The many people I interacted with before and after watching the movie told me that they were initially reluctant to watch the movie because it was all about Gandhism but made up their mind in the end to watch the movie because of the central character Munna Bhai and his sidekick Circuit whom they had come to love. It was another matter that they ended up appreciating Gandhigiri in the end. That brings me to a moot question… would Gandhigiri impact the audience to the same extent without a Munna Bhai or a Circuit to regale you? Sadly, the answer is no!
AH! FINALLY THE CONCLUSION:
No matter how much I appreciate Gandhiji’s ideals, I cannot ignore today’s reality that he would have found it increasingly difficult to live in a society that is so brazenly corrupt that it has Gandhism for breakfast, lunch, or dinner daily. The problem is not with Gandhiji’s ideals or beliefs; the problem is we don’t live like him anymore. We do not have the patience or courage to follow his path because like homeopathy and ayurved the results are slow and in these days of instant gratification, who has time for long drawn remedies?
Many questions are raised by practical minded people – would Gandhi make a good Prime Minister of our country? Would he make a good Chief Minister of a State? Would he make a successful Corporate CEO? Would he make a good Cricket Coach? Would he excel as a great sportsman, or poet, or artist? Would he make a rich and successful entrepreneur? Would he be a famous master of his profession? My answer is an emphatic No! Somewhere among those thousand and one questions as to his efficaciousness we have horribly missed the point. We need to be honest and good human beings first. He would make us a better human being and therein lies his greatness as a guide. We need patience to understand his mantra of truth, patience, and non violence.
Do we have it in us?
mbfarookh