Movie Review: Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam
Film Critic: Goher Iqbal Punn
Producers: Champak Jain, Ganesh Jain and Ratan Jain
Director: Sanjay Chhel
Cast: Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat, Kay Kay Menon and Paresh Rawal
Music: Anu Malik
The writer-director Sanjay Chhel has come up with a wacky enterprise, ‘Maan Gayee Mughal-e-Azam’. Widely popular for his comic flair, Sanjay Chhel, the director for this comic venture has done great on this front of ‘MGMA’ (as far as his direction is concerned). The flick certainly sends laughs on your face. The well-timed one liners spell magic with the viewers.
Venus Tapes and Records’ presentation is produced by Champak Jain, Ganesh Jain and Ratan Jain respectively. Starring Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat, Kay Kay Menon and Paresh Rawal in the lead, the film is a hilarious comedy to fill your quota for laughs. The first half of the movie is thoroughly enjoyable and appears as a joy-ride but the second half destroys your joys since it is hazy and abrupt. Here the writers seem to be loosing their grip on the subject.
Near Goa, it is ‘Kalakar Theater’ consisting of dreamy actors who have no other choice but to perform the same age-old period play ‘Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam’ every time. Shabnam (Mallika Sherawat) is the wife of Uday Shankar Muzamdar (Paresh Rawal). Uday Shankar is a theater owner in a small town. Shabnam is a character artist and highly inspired by the legenadry actress Jaya Bachchan. Her dream is to make it big in Bollywood. Although she is married, nonetheless she has affair with Arjun (Rahul Bose) and Andaz Haldi Hassan (Kay Kay Menon). Uday is always suspicious of his wife because she is young and sensuous. She is of the view that girls should flirt with men after marriage and she thinks there must be some passion and spice after a girl got married.
One day, they all get to know that an underworld don is planning to explode the city with a bomb. The whole unit of Drama Company moors the belts to save the city from the blast.
The viewers will find laughs on their lips in the drama sequences, the film gathers momentum once starts but fails in the second half when the story fails to keep up with the changing situations.
Although the movie is laced with humour and carries the brilliant stars like Paresh Rawal, Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat, nevertheless it fails to attract the viewers’ attention fully because the writers Sanjay Chhel and Sunil Munshi have tried to mismatch love, patriotism and terrorism all at the same time. The comedy factor … yes…impresses a lot but the terrorism factor .. doesn’t at all.
The trio of Paresh Rawal, Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat has dolled up the roles with finesse. The comedy king Paresh Rawal is a true joy to watch. Rahul Bose enacts the comedy sequences brilliantly. Kay Kay Menon is luminous. Mallika Sherawat outshines in her role. The film belongs to Mallika Sherawat and Paresh Rawal. The rest of the cast impress also.
Dialogues by Sanjay Chhel and Sunil Munshi are great and well-written. Anu Mallik’s composition is not inspiring. Cinematography by Madhu Ambat is good. The choreography by Piyush Panchal, Reshma Khan and Saroj Khan raise the spirits.
On the whole, ‘Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam’, though is filled with laughs and enjoyable but in total it is a one time watcher.
RS Rating: 2/5
- The reviewer is a popular and experienced Bollywood and Indian Television Analyst and is laced with a good rapport with both the swanky worlds of Hindi film industry and television fraternity. He is also swathed with good rapport with the celebs of these abodes. You may write to him at the e-mails: goher.punn@yahoo.com, goheriqbal@yahoo.co.uk and bollywood.tv.analyst@gmail.com