Review: 'Gali Gali Chor Hai'

Film: Gali Gali Chor Hai
Director: Rumi Jaffery
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Shriya Saran, Satish Kaushik, Mugdha Godse, Annu Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, Murli Sharma
Rating: *1/2

The year 2011 was termed as the year of revolution and yet, in India, revolutions failed to go beyond morchas and candle-light vigils. As the year 2012 kicks off with civic polls in Maharashtra and various states gear up for legislative assembly elections, many groups are trying to speak-up against corruption and bring the political office holders to the book. In April, a man named Anna Hazare gave Indians a hope by demanding a strong Lokpal bill by using Gandhian techniques. And while his bill might render the Lokpal powerful, one can't help but wonder what would happen if the person appointed Lokpal were to abuse the power bestowed upon him.

Sure, in an age of citizen candidates (this year the BMC polls in Mumbai are seeing an unprecedented number of citizen candidates), there is some hope, but each political party looks as corrupt as the other. In short, Gali Gali Chor Hai holds true.

The makers of the above movie held a screening exclusively for the great Gandhian, Anna Hazare in his hometown. The screening earned them their fair share of newsprint, because 'anything with Anna sells,' and naturally, the Gandhian was inspired by this film. We wonder why?

The film is the tale of a common man Bharat (Akshaye Khanna) who lives happily in his ancestral home in Bhopal with a criticizing father (Satish Kaushik) and a devout yet bickering wife (Shriya Saran). As a pandit warns him of a bad time coming, Bharat rejects a request from Tripathiji, a local MLA, to use the outer room of his house. And that's enough to land Bharat in the powerful man's black books. Scuttling between his wife and hot paying guest Ameeta (Mugdha Godse in skimpy clothing), Bharat lands himself in a legal mess orchestrated by Tripathiji's brother who plays Ram in the Ramlila where Bharat is the Hanuman.

After many a palm are greased and many chai-paanis bought for lawyers, thieves, witnesses and policemen, Bharat manages to take into custody a fan that a thief claimed was stolen from his house. All through this process, the viewer is subject to a tortuously loud trumpet blowing to the tune of the title song every time our man reaches for his wallet. After the interval, one would expect this common man to blow up and fight injustice but no such thing happens. The comedy continues as he tries to rid himself of the said fan and lands in a far bigger bowl of soup.

Beyond a point, the attempts to induce laughs over Bharat's misery become as monotonous as a wad of gum chewed for over an hour.

The setting has scope for some intelligent metaphors with Ramlila happening in the background but alas, the full potential of the Ramlila vs Bharatlila, remains unutilized. One would call Jaffery clever for showing Ram attacking Hanuman using his political clout and Ravan using his legal knowledge to free him up, but he loses the brownie points with a narrative that runs around in circles without going anywhere and the totally unnecessary, distasteful item number where Veena Malik shows her ample (visibly fake) bosom in an electrically illuminated choli.

The common man's rage, which you expect to dazzle you (or rescue you from the repeated adventures of Bharat babu) doesn't happen right until the end of the film, by when, you want to clap simply out of the delight that the film is over.

Gali Gali Chor Hai may hope to ride the Anna Hazare tide but it does nothing to put a point across and it certainly fails to entertain.