Surprised! This is not BR chopra’s Mahabharata, but the super hilarious scene of Darupdai’s Cheer Haran in the Cult classic Jaane bhi do yaaro. It was Kundan Shah’s directional debut of in 1983, also the director of the famous TV serial Nukkad. Set in Mumbai, this film is a satire on the nexus between Business, Bureaucracy and media.
The opening sequence is of two characters dressed in immaculate white suits and bel bottoms- Vinod played by Nasaruddin Shah and Sudhir played by Ravi Baswani. They are having an absolute disaster of the the opening day of their photo studio, aptly named ‘Beauty Photo Studio’. Both Vinod and Sudhir, who are professional photographers are a firm believer in honesty and hard work, ‘Mann me he vishwas, pura he vishwas, Hum honge kamyab ek din’ types. But, Disappointment and lack of work continues for another 3 months until they are driven so desperate that they accept a dangerous assignment offered by Shobha Sen of ’Khabardar’, a publication that exposes the scandalous lives of the rich and famous of Mumbai.
Shobha, editor of Khabardar, talks absolute business and knows how to get work done typified in the sequence in which she promptly gets under the Printing machine to fix it when the mechanic is on leave. But her main objective is to catch hold of the crooked builders- Tarneja and Ahuja and their involvement with the commissioner of Mumbai for construction contracts. So she sends Vinod and Sudhir on this assignment to click their pictures to use it as evidence.
Vinod, adventurous of the two starts getting romantically involved with Shobha, an indulgence that shobha finds herself agreeing to in exchange of the manipulative control on vinod. The sequence shot as the closeup of their mirror images, in which Shobha seduces vinod into taking up an even more dangerous assignment is an absolute cracker. Nasruddin is in absolute control of his craft as each movement is meant to communicate something be it of a young man infatuated with an elder women or the sense of purpose oozing out of his eyes.
There are several scenes involving the impersonators Vinod and Sudhir that will definitely make you laugh. One cannot not mention the brilliant portrayal of the crooked builder Tarneja played by Pankaj Kapoor. He is calculative, devious and keeps a studied calm. Satish kaushik plays his stupid yet loyal assistant along with Neena gupta. The movie is brilliant in parts but starts to lose the pace in the second half just before the madness begins.
Lastly, it is the Mahabharata scene which is largely responsible for making this movie a cult that it is today. It almost looks like the madness was impromptu and there are several moments captured by director that could not have been scripted. One starts rolling on the floor when Akbar walks into the Cheer haran scene and the background is changed to that of a mughal setting. And that is when the legendary lines “Atyachar, Durachari, bhrashtachari.. say sorry” are spoken by Pankaj Kapoor who dresses up as Darupad.
Jaane bhi do yaaro is an important commentary on the nexus of the big and powerful of the Mumbai of 80’s and one should not just watch it for its brilliant ensemble of actors and their comic timing but also mumbai’s loss of innocence very symbolically shown in the Final shot.
Entertainment- 8/10
Meaningful- 7/10
Inspirational- 4/10
Final Score-7/10
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