Review : Lage raho Munnbhai

[amazon_link id=”B002PM9VOM” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Review : Lage raho Munnabhai
Rating : Above avergage (3.6/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2006
Director : Rajkumar Hirani
Cast : Sunjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani, Kubhushan Kharbanda, Dilip Prabhavalkar

Lage raho Munnabhai : Good, clean fun !

This one being a sequel to the last Munnabhai film, it begins again with who else – the gangster with a heart of gold – Munnabhai (Dutt). Only Munnabhai is in love this time. And with no less than a beautiful radio jockey, Jhanvi (Balan). Of course the lady in question doesn’t know Munnabhai from Adam, and thus Munnabhai decides to compete in a radio quiz being held by the Radio Station. When he wins, courtesy devoted Circuit (Warsi), he gets a chance to meet the woman of his dreams and be interviewed by her on radio.

Of course when Munnabhai meets her, he attempts to appear educated and suave, naming himself Professor Murli Prasad Sharma. Jhanvi is taken with the Professor and calls him to deliver a lecture on Gandhi (the subject of the earlier Quiz contest) to her Grandad and his old cronies who live in a home the called the “2nd Innings” house. Since Munnabhai is ignorant about Gandhi, he decides read up on him. Bleary eyed from too much reading in 3 days, Munnabhai now appears to actually be able to see Gandhi. This hallucination (Dilip Prabhavalkar) appears to Munnabhai alone, and advises him in Gandhivadi non-violent strategies to life‘s problems.

The lecture goes well, as does the friendship between Jahnavi and Munnabhai. However Jahnavi’s Grandad’s home (2nd Innings House) is wanted by Munnabhai’s friend Lucky Singh (Irani) and he tricks Munnabhai into getting it evacuated. When Munnabhai finds out about the deception he threatens Lucky Singh. However his problems grow manifold, as he must stick to non-violent methods in dealing with Lucky (courtesy his image as the Gandhivadi professor) and must strive to keep from Jahnavi the truth about his real identity . . .

This is a pretty decent comedy although the premise is a bit unbelievable. It works because it’s got some real laugh-out-loud dialogues, keeps away from hammy slap-stick and sticks to a simple (and simplistic) story. The direction is pretty good, the music catchy, and the songs, especially the first two are picturized beautifully. One song “Pal, pal, har pal” is lifted straight from Cliff Richard number “Theme for a dream”.

Vidya Balan dresses in flowing skirts and long kurtis, acts well, and looks charming. Sanjay Dutt’s meager talents carry him through yet another film. The real star here is Arshad Warsi, who as Circuit exudes goodness, bonhomie and “taporiness”, all in perfect proportions. It’s a pity than an actor this fine (see Sehar) must play second fiddle to the likes of Dutt. Irani as Sardar Lucky Singh looks the part but falters in rendering a true Punjabi accent. The actor playing the Gandhi apparition (TV artist Prabhavalkar) does a fine job. Jimmy Shergill, Diya Mirza and Parikshit Sahni appear in small roles.

To find flaws in this film, I must put my thinking cap back on, which is a strict no-no when reviewing desi comedy films. This film could have been better if it had been a little less preachy, hadn’t overdone the emotional scenes, the heroine had better logical and analytical skills, or Gandhism really worked, but considering that we made dormant the logical half of our brains at the door of the packed theatre, one doesn’t mind the unrealistic story too much.

This is a clean, fun film and better than the prequel “Munnabhai MBBS”. Definitely watchable.