Munnabhai MBBS -> Review

Munnabhai MBBS

22nd December 2003


Now aren't all of us bored to hell by 'bhai' films. Doesn't the Mumbaiya lingo sound stale, jaded and all the same every time. Vidhu Vinod Chopra has been churning trash with 'Kareeb' and 'Mission Kashmir' but thankfully atleast with some good music. For those of you who have seen the promos, Munnabhai's music, hardly is, music. But wait, give it a look, and you won't be disappointed. Munnabhai MBBS is a winner from the first shot.

Rajkumar Hirani, who edited Mission Kashmir, has the directors reins in is hands and has he done a good job or what!!! Hirani has co-written Munnabhai with Chopra and the result is a rib tickling comedy.

It is the story of a small time gangster Munnabhai (Sanjay Dutt) and his loyal and extremely lovable sidekick Circuit (Arshad Warsi). Every year when his father, Hari Prasad Sharma (Sunil Dutt) visits him, he transforms his 'adda' into "Hari Prasad Sharma Charitable Hospital", Munnabhai becomes Dr. Murali Prasad Sharma, Circuit becomes Dr. Sirkeshwar and the side cast either becomes doctor or the patient. Laughs come aplenty scene after scene. Sunil Dutt even recognizes one of the patients and asks him "ki bhai tum pichchle saal bhi yahan the...".
The story takes a dramatic turn when the father realizes that all is not what it seems and is heart broken, so our gangster with a golden heart decides to become a doctor. Through his crooked means he clears the entrance and enters Mumbai's most prestigious "Imperial medical college".. What follows tickles your funny bone endlessly.

Comedy as a facet of film-making hasn't been that big a feature of hindi cinema. We have had an occasional "Chupke-Chupke", "Jaane bhi do yaaron" and "Coolie no. 1" but mostly the comedy in hindi films has been driven by some slapstick jokes or an occasional dialog. As you'd see that in all these films, the comedy emerges from the right man being in the wrong place. Munnabhai is a classic, i reiterate a classic, in this sense. A 40 year old don amongst the class of 19 year olds, sharing a room with someone, attending dissection classes, being thrown out of the lectures and being ragged, and all the while playing his own character and his own age. Never mind if it is too impractical or too unrealistic, it is extremely funny.

Munnabhai is essentially a situational comedy, there is not an iota of cheapness or vulgarity about it. Although the story of a bhai, not a single drop of blood is shed excluding Munnabhai's own antics to stay in the hospital. There is no violence, just plain good natured humor. It is a study where you get to know the difference between the story and the screenplay. There isn't much of a story about Munnabhai but the treatment and the execution of each comedy sequence is out of top drawer. Dialogs are first rate, expect the word 'Mamu' to become a common vocabulary all over in a months time. Music is situational, "Subah ho gayee Mamu" by Shaan sounded irritating but when seen in the context of the movie, its sensational.

What lifts the film are the riveting performances by Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani (Dr. Asthana, the dean of the medical college). Take your pick, each one is better han the other. Sunil Dutt and Gracy Singh are incidental. Supporting cast supports well, don't know what Jimmy Shergill is doing in the movie.

All in all, it is a not a movie to be missed, watch it and preferably today... total paisa vasool, infact, upset by a string of uninspiring films I chose not to watch any movies for a long time... Glad I started again with Munnabhai...