STARRING

Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mugdha Godse, Manoj Bajpai, Arya Babbar, Ashish Sharma, Rahul Singh, Sayali Bhagat and others.



DIRECTION

Madhur Bhandarkar

STORY

 The plot of the flick revolves around the character of Parag Dixit(Neil Nitin Mukesh), who loves his hi fi life style and girlfriend Maansi(Mugdha Godse). He has a well paying job in a good company and is assured of his future promotions and upward mobility in life.

However, Parag Dixit’s dreams come crashing down when some unfortunate events land him in jail.  In fact, Parag’s friend is a drug peddler and he too gets embroiled in the mess with Police. Parag can not believe his eyes, as he was being beaten up randomly by cops in the jail, for the crimes, which he thought he never committed.

On the other hand, Maansi is a modern girl, who loves Parag, but lives life on her own terms. She wants him to initiate the talk about future and commitment and does not believe in forcing anyone into doing such kind of thing.

But after Parag lands in jail, he is unable to make peace with the anarchic way of life in jail. His only salvation comes from Nawaab (Manoj Bajpai), who thinks him to be innocent. Nawaab has a mysterious personality and is serving twenty years of prison term for his crimes. He has been made a warder in the jail and inmates do not mess with him due to his unusual personality.

Soon, Parag Dixit comes face to face with the real dynamics of the jail life and starts understanding the causes of such an inhuman existence in the jail. Now, he has to choose either confrontation or compromise with the existing conditions of life in the prison.

What happens to Parag and if he is able to resist and fight the system forms the rest of the story.

PERFORMANCE

Neil Nitin Mukesh, who plays the character of Parag Dixit living in style, has come out with a rare performance of his career. His eyes and face are fully successful in expressing the anguish and frustration of an innocent person thrown in a jail and being beaten up by cops.

One of the several memorable sequences of the flick includes Neil Nitin Mukesh staring at Manoj Bajpai before trying to flee through the van. The desperation and understanding of an innocent jail inmate comes out clearly by Neil’s acting.

Neil Nitin Mukesh is really amazing in the character of Parag, when he becomes an inmate of the jail and does not know what to do. His helplessness and frustration, as expressed on his face, successfully delete the fine line between reel and real. He is incredible and so real.

Manoj Bajpai, who plays the character of a convict serving his jail term, comes out with one of the finest performance. His cool understated demeanor in the character makes it more effective and real.

Mugdha Godse, the gorgeous babe of Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’ carries the deglamorised role of Maansi with consummate ease. Her concern for the boyfriend, who is jail, seems so real.

Similarly, Arya Babbar and Chetan Pandit have utilized the Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Jail’ to showcase their talents in a very good manner. Rahul Singh, too, has done excellent work in the film.

The direction of Madhur Bhandarkar is first rate and he once again proves that as far as hard hitting, thought provoking subjects are concerned, no one can do better than him. He has narrated the story in a most realistic manner and it even exposes the slow- moving legal system of our country.

The film is able to involve the spectators completely, but sometimes it faces the danger of being called a documentary and that too a depressing one. However, it must be acknowledged that subject of this kind is bound to have some sadness with it. N D Desai’s sets are fabulous, while Kalpesh Bhandarkar’s cinematography leaves nothing to be desired.

STARDUST VERDICT

Neil Nitin Mukesh and Mugdha Godse have done a superb job, but film has become too hard hitting for the family audiences, who go to theatres for entertainment. Even Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif starrer ‘Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani’ will adversely affect its collection at the box office. Above average fare.