Jail - A must watch

Production: Percept Picture Company, Bhandarkar Entertainment

Direction: Madhur Bhandarkar

Star-casts: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mugdha Godse, Manoj Bhajpayee, Arya Babbar and others.

'Reality really bites' and so does Madhur Bhandarkar’s 'Jail'. All his previous films basked itself onto the grounds of reality and 'Jail' isn’t exception as it proves to be a hardcore reality drama of prison life that most of our 'Aam' Aadmi are unaware about.

Perhaps, filmy buffs may find some similarities of ‘Shawshank Redemption’, Desi version of ‘Midnight Express’ and somewhat of some prison based movies. But to be precise, Madhur Bhandarkar sweeps us out with his stunning piece of directorial.

Of course, his previous films including trilogy of Traffic Signal, Corporate and Page 3, and Fashion had been the astonishing works on virtual prospects and this one again strikes with similar quotients.

Unlike many films where, innocents are victimized for bomb blasts and terrorists’ connection (like Neil’s role in ‘New York’ drama in initial stages), Madhur Bhandarkar seems to be stepped apart. It’s about a friend’s betrayal of an innocuous person – as Madhur says God’s chosen child, being trapped by law for the uncommitted crime. This ‘Behind the Bars’ drama just not alone focuses on the film’s protagonist, but about the lives of various characters in prison… Specifically, those innocent victims who never committed any crimes and still undergoing tribulations...

Everything is fine in life of Parag Dixit (Neil Nithin Mukesh) leading a dream life with a great job and his loving girlfriend Maansi (Mugdha Godse)… Nevertheless things take an ugly turn when after a series of unfortunate events the suddenly wakes up in jail; handcuffed and randomly beaten up by the cops.

Parag is perplexed and in a place far from his utopian life. He tries hard to face away from the ugly truth and wish it's all a bad dream but soon succumbs to the prison anarchy. The only salvation he finds is in Nawab (Manoj Bhajpayee), a convict and a warder who believes that Parag is innocent.

Soon, Parag discovers the inner mechanism and the science responsible for the wretched status inside the prison and hordes of broken hearts and shattered souls which managed to find comfort amidst the four prison walls.

He is left with a choice, to either live a life that controlled and exploited or fight against the system…

Getting on with performance, Neil Nithin Mukesh does an awe-inspiring job with a power-packed performance. He’s completely astonishing much more than his previous works in – Johnny Gaddar, New York that literally delineated him in best roles. Be the scenes where he’s genuine over explaining the situation or the emotional outbursts, he’s prodigious over the parts.

Here comes the best ever performance from Manoj Bhajpayee who had no better shows after his debut flick ‘Sathya’. Much equivalently, Arya Babbar steals the show with his overpowering performance with a substantial characterization. As well Manish Mehta’s role is compassionate and slightly reminds us off an old-aged painter’s role in ‘Escape from Alcatraz’… Mugdha Godse looks perfect and keeps us intact with her deglamorized looks as in contrast with ‘Fashion’.

Technically, you can’t experience rich visuals over the screens as in ‘Fashion’ and Madhur does justice to the context of what really requires. Placement of camera angles are excellent and background score is enormous and the song by Latha Mangeshkar is perfervid.

On whole, ‘Jail’ may be filled with certain illogical traits and may seem to be a docu-drama kind of genre and may not impress the fun-loving group of cinema-goers.

But, we strongly mention that – films like this would break the barriers of Hindi Cinema and elevate its standards.

Verdict: Hats off to Madhur Bhandarkar
Richard Mahesh