| After
the stupendous success of Munnabhai MBBS (a film that even found mention
in the British Medical Journal), a couple of years ago, Vidhu Vinod
Chopra and Raju Hirani return with Lage Raho Munnabhai.
Strictly
speaking, this film is not a sequel but it featuresthe same characters
in similar circumstances.
Sequels
usually cause the viewer to have high expectations and if these are not met, then
it will make a film a failure at the box office. Thankfully, Lage Raho is
not only as good as MBBS, but much better.
The
film starts off with Circuit (Arshad Warsi) and company, doing what
they do best - kidnapping and threatening.
This
time around, they kidnap a council official because a famous builder Lucky Singh
(Boman Irani as a Sikh), wants to buy a plot which already has a fully built bungalow.
Munnabhai
alias Murli Prasad Sharma (Sanjay Dutt), has temporarily suspended his violent
acts as he has become love struck with radio presenter Janhavi (Vidya Balan).
For
Munna to meet Janhavi, he decides to enter a quiz competition on Mahatma Gandhi.
He wins the game by cheating with the help of some history professors. But
when he finally meets her, he is forced to lie even more in order to keep Janhavi
interested in him. When
she wants Munna to address a group of senior citizens, residing in the same bungalow
that Lucky Singh wants to buy, Munna has no choice but to go to the local library
for more studies. Spending
five days and nights reading about Gandhi, Munna actually starts seeing Gandhi
(Dilip Prabawalkar), wherever he goes. Gandhi talks to him, pointing him in the
right direction. Whilst
Munna and Janhavi romance each other, Lucky Singh evicts the senior citizen from
their house. This
provokes Munna to pick a fight against this property tycoon. When
Janhavi finds the truth about Munna, she leaves him. Left with no choice, Munna
goes on air, confessing his love. He
also manages to save the marriage of the daughter of Lucky Singh's from turning
into a fiasco. Lucky turns over a new leaf and returns the house to the old age
pensioners. A proud Janhavi acknowledges her love for Munna. The
film is a brilliant emotional roller coaster ride. It makes the viewer laugh out
loud and cry in some scenes when Munna and Circuit come up with some cracking
jokes. This
film is very similar to Rang De Basanti, as they both preach goodness and
tries to awaken the sleeping Gandhi, in every Indian's heart. The
entire star cast, especially Sanjay, Arshad, Vidya and Boman have turned in stellar
performances. It often becomes difficult to decide who is the best of the lot
is. The entire supporting cast too, is amazing. The
lyrics are in typical Munnabhai language whilst the musical score is enjoyable.
The
film has already been declared a hit at the UK box office grossing around 拢550,000
to date. See it and you will know the reason why! Reviewed
by Guest reviewer
Vaidyanathan | 
