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Lage Raho Munnabhai

Movie Lage Raho Munnabhai Director Rajkumar Hirani Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra Music Shantanu Moitra Cast Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan.

Lata Khubhchandani

Raj kumar Hirani does it again. Engages us with a heartwarming episode of Munna and Circuit- with Mahatma Gandhi reintroduced to the Indian psyche. This time round Dr Asthana[Boman Irani] turns into Lucky Singh. Another character which will be remembered but not as much as the earlier one. His fetish for being photographed with celebrities notwithstanding he's a weaker character compared to Dr Asthana. Vidya Balan has little to do but she does it beautifully so that her face remains etched in memory. Sunjay Dutt as the goofy Munna out to woo Jahnavi the Radio jockey remains true to the Munnabhai spirit. He takes his job of" "lecturing" on Mahatma Gandhi so seriously that in the absence of a shortcut he starts studying the Mahatma so vehemently that the mahatma comes alive for him and guides him through the vissicitudes of his life with the Gandhian spirit. This is done so seamlessly that you don't question the happening at all. A gullible but sincere Munna is the right vehicle for visitations. And Circuit, as his unfailing Jeeves is just the right satellite to egg him on in his Gandhain beliefs. Here it is Circuit{Arshad warsi] who runs away with the accolades for portraying a fazed but wanting- to -believe -character with a smoothness that takes your breath away. This time round Circuit has the more difficult role to play. His need to be always on hand when Munna wants him, to always agree with his friend makes him quickly jump into situations he knows nothing about and his expressions portray bewilderment and belief, wanting to agree but not knowing how to do it when all he has is love for his friend Munna but no clue as to where is the "Bapu" that his friend seems to see all the time is done with a finesse that almost sits ill on a tapori. Hirani's concept of Gandhigiri is sound, if a little irreverent sounding. And some of the funniest scenes come from the effortless tussle between Munna's inherent violent lifestyle and Gandhi's inherently non violent one. While Munna continues to achieve his goals through his violence he is sincere in accepting Gandhi's non violent advice even if it needs a little push through his own violent approach to be effective. Hirani shows that while he is not advocating Gandhian philosophy in today's world, it definitely ahd something to it and can be applied even today hence the lovely number"Bande main tha dum Vande Mataram!" Cameos from Jimmy shergill and Dia Mirza are okay.In fact the Jimmy Shergill wasn't necessary at all and added to the drag value of the film. If the film had any flaw at all and the flaw may be in my view only it was that there was a self congratulatory tone running through the film almost like"we've done it again even before the film is done. The film is a full fledged entertainer and no questions asked. Maybe Karan Johar can take a few tips from Hirani on how not to make a confused film.