Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam

Writer-director Sanjay Chhel is no Stanley Kubrick, and yet I suspect he was somehow able to strike the same deal with his producers, as Kubrick did with the studio that financed his last film. It's popularly believed that Kubrick didn't allow Warner Brothers to see any rushes, any scenes of Eyes Wide Shut before he delivered his final cut, even though the studio had poured millions of dollars into the film. Watching this comedy written and directed by Chhel, I think I can safely say nobody but the film's creator could have had any clue what they were going to see. Of course, in the case of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick delivered a haunting portrait of marital loneliness. With Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam, on the other hand, Chhel has created a wretched mess of a movie -- a jumble of footage in search of a plot. Paresh Rawal and Mallika Sherawat star as a married couple who're part of a theatre troupe in a small town in Goa who must yet again stage their version of the classic period romance Mughal-e-Azam, because the police fears their political satire might be a little too sensitive in such difficult times. The film after all is set in 1993, shortly after the communal riots that rocked the country. Rahul Bose plays what appears to be a seemingly jobless RAW officer who falls for Sherawat when he sees her on stage, and subsequently conducts an affair with her behind her husband's back. Kay Kay Menon stars as a ghazal singer with underworld connections who disguises himself as an undercover cop. When Bose learns that Kay Kay is working closely with a Dubai Don on a plan to blow up the country, he gets this theatre troupe involved in a mission to foil the Don's sinister operation. Liberally borrowing the premise of the Mel Brooks starrer To Be Or Not To Be, writer-director Sanjay Chhel turns in an asinine farce that one can't expect anyone with even the slightest intelligence to actually find funny. The dialogues are full of repetitive puns, characters respond to each other in rhyme, and far from following a cohesive screenplay, individual scenes end with punch-lines and clap-traps. I understand this film's meant to be a comedy and one's expected to make allowances for logic, but Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam isn't just illogical, it's seriously lacking in any common sense whatsoever. It's also a showcase of the worst performances you'll see by some very fine actors - Paresh Rawal, Kay Kay Menon, Pavan Malhotra and Zakir Hussain seem to have sent their acting skills on a holiday while they were shooting this film, and even the comically gifted Mallika Sherawat isn't in particularly good form. Rahul Bose has precisely three expressions in all, and he alternates between them through the entire duration of this film. I must go back to the point I made earlier - did really no producer, no actor, nobody associated with this film in any capacity have any idea what film they'd gone and made? Because I'm not sure you could find a worse movie than this if you went searching for one. There's no question of any rating for this film, they're lucky we don't have a negative rating scale. I suspect the members of the Censor Board fell asleep while watching this film, how else could they have allowed the use of so many expletives. Every other character uses the words maa ki and behen ki very freely, one character's name is Bashir Bastard, and one chap even uses the F-word. There's a very good chance you'll be swearing just as much when you're leaving the cinema.

Its more difficult to make a good comedy than a action thriller or an emotional drama. The reason being that there is a very thin & minute line between a good comedy and some cheap sequences trying to make you laugh. The present movie should be considered in the second category where you keep waiting for the expected hilarious moments but nothing comes and the film ends just like that.

The story idea of a "Theater Team" getting involved with "Gangsters" was good but its lacks the required punchy execution for a comedy. The script fails to entertain and also could not make use of the talented star cast it had. Both the plots get confused with each other, which results in a movie going in an unknown direction. Cheap imitations of real life characters is not tastefully done. Naseeruddin Shah's part of a Ghazal Singer involved with terrorists in "Sarfarosh" is also used in a comic way but this too falls flat.

Paresh Rawal is completely wasted and in my opinion apart from his other roles, the comedy movies are the one which he should choose with utmost care. After his past successes in comic roles, people now go for a movie only for him. But the writer neither gave him good scenes nor good dialogues to deliver. I suppose he was more concerned with showing Mallika Sherawat and her silly affairs with everyone in the story.

While watching you wonder what K.K. & Rahul Bose are doing in the movie. They are just playing their role because they have signed the movie. Rahul Bose doesn't seem interested anywhere in the 2 hours and K.K. looks like just enjoying doing a light comedy for a change. Mallika Sherawat is over possessive about her "sex-siren" image. But now after the failure of her 2 recent movies one after another, its time she comes with something more original & creative in order to sustain. Musically there is nothing to comment upon as its just another musical score for a movie with nothing exceptional.

In the end, I can only say that the movie is not entertaining enough with even Paresh Rawal being there as the lead. I was expecting at least some good moments but sadly couldn't find enough to recommend the movie to others.

i saw the preview show..i freaked out..this a superb movie of 2008. A New but Classy attempt to try to create humor as well as give a patriotic message, in which the director has succeeded completely.its a mad mad..laugh riot..best work of parseh rawal..mallika is hot..i loved kk and Rahul bose too..bollywood film can be wacky..tile song is funny and has witty lyrics. everyone should see it and wait to see the superb outcome.... this film has everything.......sensuality of Mallika sherawat....terrific performance of Rahul Bose...charisma of paresh rawal.....and above all foot tapping music and there is not even one dull moment in the picture.....this is certainly a SMALL MOVIE WITH BIG IDEAS go have fun and its a TOTAL PAISA VASOOL!!!!!!!!!!

Who this movie is *not* for: If you like movies that make some sense, you won't like this at all. There is absolutely no meaning in the story and way too many editing and concept flaws. The jokes are cliché and the acting not as entertaining. The star cast is pretty poor. If you are a fan of Paresh Rawal and love his acting and movies, you will dislike this movie a lot because his character is meaningless. If you are looking for a comedy movie and like Priyadarshan style, you'll hate this.

Who this movie *is* for: If you like Govinda movies i.e. slapstick style, you may find this OK. If you don't care about acting, direction or story; rather just some fun songs and something you can watch with family, then this is OK.

Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam review :

A wannabe Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), writer- director Sanjay Chhel's longish titled Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam cannot be classified as a black comedy nor can it pass off as spoof on the K Asif's timeless classic. At best, it is a showcase for super hottie Mallika Sherawat to display her cleavage and ample assets in skimpy little outfits. Trust me, there is nothing else in the film to catch your eyes.

Mallika-E-Azam then!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.