Jail

Madhur Bhandarkar is getting too repetitive and as a result, Jail turned out to be a drag.

Bhandarkar's banal way of storytelling has lost its appeal and originality. Consequently, Jail is boring, tediously slow, extremely clichéd (the bane of our movies) and way too predictable.

The story doesn't need an elaboration, but the situation Neil Nitish Mukesh's character finds himself in isn't one that garners sympathy. You feel sorry for him because he is falsely accused, but the cops don't know that and they gotta investigate. Only he and his roommate (who goes into a comma) know that the drugs found in his car weren't his. But it was his car; hence, he is an offender. So his having to go to prison makes sense. You don't feel the kind of sympathy for him that the director wants you to feel.

Life in prison is shown at its worst, but then being in prison is supposed to suck. What was ironic was showing inmates getting together to pray to God. OK, we have killed a few people but now please get us out of this hellhole so that we can be nice for a week and then start killing again.

Performance-wise, Neil Nitish Mukesh (all three of them ;-)) is very good. His previous films have proved that he is a good actor, and Jail vindicates that. The dude if felt sorry for was Manoj Bajapayee. It was totally sad to see him in a single-expression side role, although it's good to see that he's back in the movies at least. Mughda Godse is unglamorous for a change but doesn't get enough screen time to show her acting prowess. The other characters are the usual bunch of Bhandarkar's real-life-type actors.

Overall, you won't miss anything if you don't go for Jail.

It may not be a hit in BO but it is one of those few films which stays in your heart forever. Neil Nitin Mukesh is amazing in this movie. The movie rests on the strong shoulders of Neil Nitin. He has excelled in his performance.

Parag Manohar Dixit (Neil Nitin Mukesh) is a successful executive, living with a roommate who is a bit of a weirdo — his mobile phone always seems to have a poor network whenever the guy is in town, and he constantly uses Parag's phone. Parag's air-hostess girlfriend, Manasi (Mugdha Godse), warns him against the weirdness, but Parag laughs it off, saying that such things (he even uses Parag's underwear and towel occasionally) are normal with bachelors.

But it's not so simple: one evening, Parag picks up his roommate from a pub and the cops get after them. His friend opens fire on the cops and is critically wounded by the police, and drugs worth over a crore are found in the vehicle.

The world goes upside down for Parag: he is remanded in police custody; a greedy lawyer sucks money from his mother (Navni Parihar) and girlfriend like a leech drawing blood; and once incarcerated, he gets to stay in conditions and an environment that he never had imagined before. His roommate lapses into coma and soon dies — and with him, seemingly, Parag's acquittal on a serious drugs charge seems a remote possibility, especially as many bail applications are rejected.

The long battle begins and soon, Parag is broken, shattered, a programmed automaton who suddenly gets into frenzies and vicious temper bouts. The inmates in jail all have one common thread: hope, irrespective or whether rich or poor, innocent or guilty, law-abiding or lawless and sentenced or awaiting trial. And Parag will never be the same again, but life-term convict Nawab (Manoj Bajpayee) would want him to be the same man when he goes out a free man and not get embittered or even lured by in-jail mafia that operate along with corrupt cops, represented by Karim (Aarya Babbar) and his clique.

Some people say that the scenes in jail and the atmosphere created by Madhur Bhandarkar is very claustrophobic but that's how it should be ! There was no scope of music in this kind of movie but the songs are very intelligently woven in the film, My fav are Data sun le & Milke youn laga. As a whole it is a must watch film !

Yesterday when I went to see this movie , I didn't expect a lot ; but what I got was a spectacular vision of the true life inside the jail. Very satisfied and much mire than my expectations. The performances by all the actors were good ; a very strong performance by Neil Nitin Mukesh. Moreover a very strong and powerful script. Jail delves into the darker side of reality , the reality what lies within the walls of a prison. Even today there are many people who have still not yet been found guilty are facing the grim reality of the life inside the prison wall; which Jail brings to light. Excellent,Transcendent and Highly Distinguished cinema. One of the top 10 movies of 2009.

Some may call him pretentious, exploiting, sensationalist and heavily biased but that doesn't change that Bhandarkar dares to tackle themes that others would hesitate to think twice about. That said, 'Jail', sadly, offers nothing new. It's pretty much the familiar story of how a wrongfully accused man spends his years in prison. Bhandarkar could have pushed the boundary by portraying the horrors that take place within the three walls but he has opted for a safer formula this time. Moreover the background score makes the atmosphere melodramatic rather than adding anything positive. Neil Mukesh shows improvement as an actor. With a well-written role and maybe good direction, he might be a competent actor but there are a few sequences where his acting is formulaic. Manoj Bajpai is underused but he manages to outshine anyone who shares his screenspace. Arya Babbar is first rate. This actor shows great potential. Mughda Godse makes the best of her small role. The music is foot-tapping (but much of the songs aren't even needed). 'Jail' is average at best.

In life some moments end up obtaining the status sacrosanct. No matter how hard one attempts, they cannot be relived and any attempt to recreate the magical moments go futile. The same would applies to Madhur's "Page 3". In hindsight it serves the purpose of being an yardstick, a guiding light force, a benchmark simply to aspire but never surpass.

"Page 3" created a genre which signified a fine balance of ingredients of parallel cinema doused with commercial sensibilities. Madhur's subsequent outings were attempts to fit into this genre but his every passing milestone were getting over-weighed by commercial temptations. "Corporate" and "Traffic Signal" to a certain extent carried the soul of "Page 3" but with "Fashion" it was transparent that the voice of "Page 3" was silenced and in his recent outing "Jail" the voice has perhaps died of extreme suffocation.

"The Green Mile", "Teen Deewarien" and "The Shawshank Redemption" are the thought that would spring into the mind as you watch "Jail" especially the latter with Manoj Bajpai reprising the role of Morgan Freeman. Indeed the stark reality, the rustic look and nexus is portrayed with utmost perfection. Sadly the plot fails to bear the weight and the seams begin to give away with each passing reel.

Performance wise, everybody is spot-on. Its difficult to segregate between the actors and the actual inmates.

˚ Niel: Gets a role of his life-time to showcase his talent in full glory. Sadly, as mentioned earlier the writing fails. Commendable is his commitment to get into the character and thereby gets an authentic look. And yes, the way his character gets implicated warranted better writing.

˚ Mughda: Seemed her character was more of glam-doll. And quite cinematic for her to stand up to the protagonist right from first frame.

˚ Manoj: The character did not have much meat in it therefore he appears to akin to a goat peering his eyes into the camera.

˚ Arya Babbar: Leaves an impression.

˚ Navni Parihar: Except to stand next to Mughda, her character served no purpose (probably pre-meditated the "Saas-Bahu" equation well in advance!)

˚ Atul Kulkarni: Very small role.

Whilst the "Page 3" ending was a realistic ending, the wrap-up of "Jail" is so commercial (on the same note even "Fashion" was).