Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

A lot of comments about this movie have centered on the apparently slapstick comedy, ignoring its usage to lend a sense of the grotesque in what is a essentially a masterful farce, and beneath the surface, more of a tragedy.

This movie centers around the two young protagonists, full of ideals and the will to win against the powers of endemic and ubiquitous corruption, a corruption that is so manifestly present that the others do not seem to question its existence, but implicitly assume it and use it to serve their own ends. However, our heroes find the going quite tough.

Although partly inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blow-up", this movie is in a class by itself, with dark humor reminiscent of Kafka and Gogol. The star cast includes some of the finest actors to ever grace the screens of Bollywood (or for that matter, anywhere else). Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor and many others deliver stellar performances in this tragi-comedy which is one of finest pearls produced by the New Wave movement in Indian cinema.

Regretabbly, comprehension of the movie requires intimate knowledge of the background, something which you would only have if you have lived in India, where corruption is as natural as breathing, and if you are familiar with the turbulent times when New Wave Cinema was taking off, a time of discontent and idealism among youth, a time of unemployment and the times of the angry young man (as typified by Amitabh Bachchan in many commercial films from this era).

However one can still enjoy it for it is a comedy worth watching. Hopefully, the viewer will see the tragedy beneath the humor.

I rate this movie among the finest movies of all time, and in the class of farces, it stands alongside Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove".

This was a wonderful comedy, no cheap humor, no poor jokes, just a simple inexpensive movie made with a great script, good jokes and wonderful actors. The scene at the theater where the mahabharat is being enacted is by far the funniest 15 minutes in the history of Indian Cinema. A must see for everyone.

I remember when this movie came out it faired poorly at the box office and was off the theatres within a week. But I think it generated an underground sort of movement amongst youth who wanted to watch a different kind of cinema and soon it had a cult of its own. You ask any Indian cine fan between 30s and 40s his/her top 10 favorite movies and I think this movie will figure in the list somewhere.

The plot is simple; two struggling photographers accidentally get involved in the filth that Indian 'system' is and which includes everybody from the police to media to politicians to builders etc. etc. etc. Once involved they try to expose everyone involved but the question is 'will they survive?'

Performance wise, everyone from Naseer to Ravi Baswani to Pankaj Kapoor to Satish Shah to Satish Kaushik to Om Puri have given brilliant performances, probably amongst their best. It's almost like magic that you know that it happened but you never know how. The film is bustling with synergy of all these performers (actors, writers, director and the whole crew) who are just happy to work with each other and in such a creative environment and are out to make a difference. And difference they made. It is and will remain a cult classic with people from our generation.

Let me first clarify that I have been a fan of this movie for a long time. When I say its overrated, I mean to say that its still a very good movie, much much ahead of its times, but its not as great as its made out to be.

I will just outline some of the negatives that may or may not have been pointed out by prior reviewers. Positives are many obviously. The biggest positive is the fact that a film of this nature was conceived, that too back in 1983, with a budget of barely around 800k rupees. The comic sequences are nice, the satire is accurate. I especially loved the portrayal of early 80s Bombay, India. The people and the places of that era.

Coming to the negatives, the whole plot is so superficial, so shallow, so vain. may be that type of a premise was necessary here, to combine the comic and tragic aspects of the movie. But it makes all the characters of the movie seem incredible, in the bad sense. Too inconsistent. They keep switching from being normal, to being idiotic, to being intelligent, randomly. Perfect example of it is the scene between Naseeruddin and Bhakti Barve in her office. It could have been an awesome scene, but it doesn't reach that potential. And the same is true for so many other scenes. May be the film was made in a hurry.

Another thing is, when you watch the movie now, the humor doesn't work much. Its like a movie playing on slow-mo. Even the actor's reactions and dialogue deliveries seem to be delayed, everything seems too slow. There are a number of Priyadarshan movies, that are way funnier than this one. Of course its unfair to compare movies like that. The point is, its just not as hilarious as I first found it to be.

There are other issues too. The whole Murder-Deadbody segment is so flawed logically. Why would Tanreja murder someone in a park, that too in broad daylight? and why would he choose to return there in the middle of the night to pick up the dead body. And then, why would anyone dump the body under a bridge to be inaugurated to the public the next day.

The satire is monotonous. We Indians are all already aware of corruption. the film doesn't really say anything new. and the worst thing is, there isn't really any greater message to the film. I mean if its a satirical movie, it should have something to say. shouldn't it? This one just announces that the COMMON man is doomed in corrupt India.

I still do endorse this movie. My favorite scene is the one under the bridge, where the two innocent citizens, Naseer and Ravi get harassed by the constable. Unfortunately, its 2014 and the same is still happening in India. I guess thats the ultimate message of this movie. To laugh at it, or to cry over that, is left to the viewers choice.

Many people don't know that this film is based on real story yet it is so humorous and very much interesting.

Story is similar to political storm of 1980s regarding Bridge collapse. The characters name also matches. Tarneja = Raheja (Builder) shobha = shobha de (Reporter) D'mello = rebello (Commisioner)

Kundan Shah has to be acknowledged for writing this beautiful story with current affairs. Every details of film is outstanding and also dialog's. This is not best comedy film but also best film. Every actor has to be credited for his work. Naseerudin shah, pankaj kapur, om puri and satish kaushk specially.