Mahatma Munnabhai v/s RDB

Sequels have seldom worked or so the critics would have us believe. Perhaps, that statement is justified, in a way, because a creative idea quite often loses its novelty when churned out again like old wine in a new bottle. But I would think the biggest mistake directors make is trying to start off a sequel where the original ended. There is really no need to do that!

Rajkumar Hirani proved it with his latest offering "Lage Raho Munnabhai". He uses the same set of characters, the goon with a heart "Munna", his witty and lovable sidekick "Circuit" or "Cirkeshwar" and even the adorable Parsi grandpa! Hirani starts with a clean slate and resketches those very characters in a different scene: with a fresh dialogue, old Bhai-ishtyle (Circuit's dialogues are a big riot), fresh theme, old cast, fresh love interest, old courting technique. All of it happens in such a well paced manner that you don't want to know what happened to Munna with his MBBS degree or wife Gracy from the original. With something as serious as Gandhian philosophy as the backdrop, one would wonder how a comedy like this would work out: but work it does from Goondagardi to Gandhigiri! Hirani has perfected the art of making his audience laugh their guts out and cry their eyes out within seconds of each other: just when you get emotional over how Gandhigiri wins, Circuit would burst onto the screen and have you in peals before you can even wipe those tears away.

As entertainment value I would think this movie is topnotch, except for a bit of sermonizing. Yet somehow I cannot stop myself from comparing the ideology of Rang de Basanti and that of Lage Raho Munnabhai. Both movies brought forth the contemporary relevance of two antipodal ideologies that were integral to our struggle for Independence: in Rang de Basanti the revolutionaries and in Munnabhai the Satyagrahis. In the long standing debate of the efficacy of either of ideologies, I believe it is Rang de Basanti that stands today. The uniqueness of Gandhigiri transcends boundaries and reaches out to people and yet it means nothing without a guiding leader to harness the anger of the masses and transform it into Satyagraha. Every great saint, Mahatma and Christ preached the virtue of non-violence and winning the opponent with love: how actionable is that for a common man whose mind is not within his own control? He keeps needing that Mahatma to direct him towards a means greater than his mind can fathom. In fact it is truly the people skills and charisma of Gandhiji that forged a nation to see, believe and realize the ideology. Gandhigiri is not effective without the people or its leader. Today when each one is to his own and fights his own battle everyday it is easier to pull the metaphoric trigger and get rid of the offending entity than to make peace with it till it sees the light of truth. RDB showed the inefficacy of today's Satyagraha when the voice of protestors was squelched by brute force. Yes Gandhians fought that too because of the unwavering support of an entire nation and indefatigable patience. Gandhigiri is definitely the harder and nobler of the two paths, but my generation of McFries and Diet Coke has no patience for the Khichadi to cook, it prefers the "Ghoda" over the "Lathi".

Having said that, there is always space for a little bit of Gandhigiri in our lives: be it telling the truth, improving our handwriting, encouraging indigenous craftsmen of our country or cleanliness. Hirani said in an interview, "... I believe in Gandhian ideals which is why I made this film. Today when someone tells me they came out of the theater and threw the ticket away only to return and pick it up and put it in the dustbin, I feel my movie has been a success." Sorry to disappoint you Mr. Hirani, as I walked out of the theater, cappuccino cup in hand to find the dustbin, I saw my fellow audience stream out leaving behind a trail of royal mess: despite the Gandhian sermon given in the platter, all that our immature audience took along was "Kya bolrela Mamu!"