REVIEW OF LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI
Recently, my wife and I saw the movie "Lage Raho Munnabhai" (see http://msnspecials.in/munnabhai/index.asp for details). Both of us enjoyed the movie, though my wife found the whistles and cheers of the largely collegiate crowd rather disconcerting ! The young crowd cheered loudly when the movie began and it only increased when Munnabhai and Circuit made their first appearance on screen. As the movie progressed, the noise level in the theatre reduced, but when Abhishek made his appearance as the groom of a Manglik girl, the noise level again increased !
The college crowd lapped up the movie. My wife and I also completely enjoyed it. We laughed at the antics of Circuit and Munna and empathized with them as they tried to apply Gandhian principles in today's world and age.
The story of LRM is simple : Munna wants to impress an RJ called Jahnavi and pretends to be a professor teaching Gandhism at college. As usual, Circuit his friend helps him in this venture. Lucky Singh, one of their "customers" wants to get an old age house evicted and the two of them help him out. What Munna and Circuit don't realise is that the house is an old age home run by Jahnavi's father ! Munna preaches Gandhi's ideals to the senior citizens in the home and decides to apply the principles to see that the senior citizens get their home back. He organises a radio campaign with Jahnavi's help to get Lucky to change his mind about the home.
Lucky wants the house as a wedding gift for his daughter. Her marriage is fixed with an industrialist's son. The industrialist Khurana is a superstitious man who wants to cancel the wedding when he learns that the girl is a Manglik. It is up to Munna to help the girl and unite her with Khurana's son. Of course, when Lucky sees how Munna has helped him, he turns over a new leaf and at the end of the movie, hands over the house back to the senior citizens.
Well, that was the story ! What I haven't written about is the presence of Bapuji in the movie. On one hand, it appears that this may well be Munna's hallucinations and on the other, it is Gandhiji's insistence on sticking to truth and non-violence which gives Munna direction on how to address problems that the listeners of Jahnavi's radio station tell him. The way truth and non-violence can be applied in today's world and age is one of the main highlights of the movie.
Is it any surprise that the movie has become such a hot topic for the media ?! Since Gandhi Jayanthi just happened a couple of days ago, the movie is all the more relevant ! It is not an out-and-out Gandhi movie : the trailers show Munna and Circuit day dreaming about having a birthday of their own as a national holiday, but they draw the line when it comes to having a a dry day in their honour !! Still, the movie brings out the fact that the foundations of Gandhi's principles are as relevant today as they were in the 1940s and that they will continue to remain as relevant at all times.
In my view, Vidya Balan has acted well as Jahnavi and comes across as a fresh face, who is earnest in the movie. Boman Irani as the boisterous, extrovert Punjabi Lucky Singh is competent. The scene stealers are Sunjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi as Munnabhai and Circuit respectively. The chemistry and intimacy between the two is delightful. The scene where Circuit pretends to see Gandhiji just to convince Munna that he is not day-dreaming is heart warming. Similarly, another sequence when Munna apologises to Circuit after requesting him to look away is also touching. The music is decent, with the best song being the soft "Pal pal pal har pal".
In my view, the biggest plus of the movie is its script. Whether it is the sequence in the beginning of the movie when Munna and Circuit try out the concept of "vinamrata" with knives in their hands or the scene in jail where Circuit checks with Munna whether their "reputation" will indeed improve because they have landed in jail, the script is the real essence of the movie. Besides, the director also drives in an anti-superstition message in the movie, by making Khurana change his name back from Kkhurana to Khurana and also by making Khurana's son marry the Manglik daughter of Lucky.
All in all, LRM is a movie that re-invents Mahatma Gandhi's ideals for today's age and space. It is not a "preachy" film, but it is a good one !
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NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
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===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
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Recently, my wife and I saw the movie "Lage Raho Munnabhai" (see http://msnspecials.in/munnabhai/index.asp for details). Both of us enjoyed the movie, though my wife found the whistles and cheers of the largely collegiate crowd rather disconcerting ! The young crowd cheered loudly when the movie began and it only increased when Munnabhai and Circuit made their first appearance on screen. As the movie progressed, the noise level in the theatre reduced, but when Abhishek made his appearance as the groom of a Manglik girl, the noise level again increased !
The college crowd lapped up the movie. My wife and I also completely enjoyed it. We laughed at the antics of Circuit and Munna and empathized with them as they tried to apply Gandhian principles in today's world and age.
The story of LRM is simple : Munna wants to impress an RJ called Jahnavi and pretends to be a professor teaching Gandhism at college. As usual, Circuit his friend helps him in this venture. Lucky Singh, one of their "customers" wants to get an old age house evicted and the two of them help him out. What Munna and Circuit don't realise is that the house is an old age home run by Jahnavi's father ! Munna preaches Gandhi's ideals to the senior citizens in the home and decides to apply the principles to see that the senior citizens get their home back. He organises a radio campaign with Jahnavi's help to get Lucky to change his mind about the home.
Lucky wants the house as a wedding gift for his daughter. Her marriage is fixed with an industrialist's son. The industrialist Khurana is a superstitious man who wants to cancel the wedding when he learns that the girl is a Manglik. It is up to Munna to help the girl and unite her with Khurana's son. Of course, when Lucky sees how Munna has helped him, he turns over a new leaf and at the end of the movie, hands over the house back to the senior citizens.
Well, that was the story ! What I haven't written about is the presence of Bapuji in the movie. On one hand, it appears that this may well be Munna's hallucinations and on the other, it is Gandhiji's insistence on sticking to truth and non-violence which gives Munna direction on how to address problems that the listeners of Jahnavi's radio station tell him. The way truth and non-violence can be applied in today's world and age is one of the main highlights of the movie.
Is it any surprise that the movie has become such a hot topic for the media ?! Since Gandhi Jayanthi just happened a couple of days ago, the movie is all the more relevant ! It is not an out-and-out Gandhi movie : the trailers show Munna and Circuit day dreaming about having a birthday of their own as a national holiday, but they draw the line when it comes to having a a dry day in their honour !! Still, the movie brings out the fact that the foundations of Gandhi's principles are as relevant today as they were in the 1940s and that they will continue to remain as relevant at all times.
In my view, Vidya Balan has acted well as Jahnavi and comes across as a fresh face, who is earnest in the movie. Boman Irani as the boisterous, extrovert Punjabi Lucky Singh is competent. The scene stealers are Sunjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi as Munnabhai and Circuit respectively. The chemistry and intimacy between the two is delightful. The scene where Circuit pretends to see Gandhiji just to convince Munna that he is not day-dreaming is heart warming. Similarly, another sequence when Munna apologises to Circuit after requesting him to look away is also touching. The music is decent, with the best song being the soft "Pal pal pal har pal".
In my view, the biggest plus of the movie is its script. Whether it is the sequence in the beginning of the movie when Munna and Circuit try out the concept of "vinamrata" with knives in their hands or the scene in jail where Circuit checks with Munna whether their "reputation" will indeed improve because they have landed in jail, the script is the real essence of the movie. Besides, the director also drives in an anti-superstition message in the movie, by making Khurana change his name back from Kkhurana to Khurana and also by making Khurana's son marry the Manglik daughter of Lucky.
All in all, LRM is a movie that re-invents Mahatma Gandhi's ideals for today's age and space. It is not a "preachy" film, but it is a good one !
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
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