Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
Encyclopedia
This article is about the 1983 film. For the 2007 film with a similar title, see Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (2007 film)Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (2007 film)Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron is a 2007 Bollywood comedy film.- Cast :* Kulraj Randhawa ...* Kapil Sharma ...* Anupam Kher ...* Prem Chopra ...* Sneha Ullal .....
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (Devnagari: जाने भी दो यारों, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Just Let It Go, Friends) is a 1983 Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
film directed by Kundan Shah
Kundan Shah
Kundan Shah is an Indian film director and writer.He is most known for his comedy classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and his 1985-1986, TV series Nukkad with Saeed Akhtar Mirza.-Biography:...
and produced by NFDC. It is a dark satire on the rampant corruption in Indian politics, bureaucracy, news media and business, and stars an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
, Ravi Baswani
Ravi Baswani
Ravi Baswani was a well known Indian film actor, most famous for his role in Sai Paranjpe's Chashme Buddoor and Kundan Shah's cult comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , for which he won Filmfare Best Comedian Award in 1984. He was noted for his comic timing and underplaying of a character in the true sense...
, Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
, Pankaj Kapur, Satish Shah
Satish Shah
Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...
and Bhakti Barve
Bhakti Barve
Bhakti Barve was an Indian film, theatre and television actress in Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati. She is best known for her role in Kundan Shah's comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , where she acted alongside Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah and Ravi Basvani....
.
Kundan Shah won the 1984 Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director
Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director
The Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director is a National Film Award - Golden Lotus Award, given to a feature film director's first film.The National Film Award - Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director winners:...
for his work. 'Indiatimes Movies' ranks the film amongst the 'Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films'. The film was part of the NFDC
NFDC
The National Film Development Corporation of India is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage good cinema in India based in Mumbai...
Retrospective at India International Film Festival in 2006
Synopsis
Professional photographers Vinod Chopra (Naseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
) and Sudhir Mishra (Ravi Baswani
Ravi Baswani
Ravi Baswani was a well known Indian film actor, most famous for his role in Sai Paranjpe's Chashme Buddoor and Kundan Shah's cult comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , for which he won Filmfare Best Comedian Award in 1984. He was noted for his comic timing and underplaying of a character in the true sense...
) open a photo studio in the prestigious Haji Ali area, and hope to make enough money to keep it running. After a disastrous start, they are given some work by the editor of "Khabardar", a publication that exposes the scandalous lives of the rich and the famous. They accept it and start working with the editor, Shobha Sen (Bhakti Barve
Bhakti Barve
Bhakti Barve was an Indian film, theatre and television actress in Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati. She is best known for her role in Kundan Shah's comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , where she acted alongside Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah and Ravi Basvani....
), on a story exposing the dealings between an unscrupulous builder, Tarneja (Pankaj Kapoor
Pankaj Kapoor
Pankaj Kapur is an Indian theatre, television and film actor from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He has appeared in several television serials and films. His most acclaimed film roles to date have been that of Dr...
), and corrupt Municipal Commissioner D'Mello (Satish Shah
Satish Shah
Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...
). During their investigation, they find out that another builder Ahuja (Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
) too is involved in this dealing.
While working on their story, Sudhir and Vinod decide to enter a photography contest that carries a prize money of Rs.5000/-, and take a number of photographs all over the city. On developing their pictures, in one of the photographs they see a man shooting someone. Upon enlarging it, they realize that the killer is none other than Tarneja. They immediately return to the park where they had shot that picture and realize that the body is lying behind the bushes. Before the duo get to the body, it disappears, but they manage to retrieve one of a pair of gold cuff links. Sometime later, they attend the inauguration of a bridge dedicated to the memory of late Municipal Commissioner D'Mello who is supposed to have died of a terminal disease. It is there that they discover the other cuff link. They return at night and dig up that area and unearth a coffin containing the dead body of D'Mello.
The climax is set upon a stage dramatization of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, particularly the enactment of the Draupadi Cheer-Haran episode, which is turned on its head with the duo and the group following them inserting themselves into the scene. The corpse plays Draupadi
Draupadi
In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...
and the vile Duryodhana
Duryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
, who orders the disrobing in the original version, ends up pledging to save Draupadi's honor at any cost. To make things even more hilarious, a new act - that of the ill-fated romance of Salim
Jahangir
Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
and Anarkali
Anarkali
Anarkali ; Anārkalī ) was a legendary slave girl from Lahore, Punjab . During the Mughal period, she was supposedly ordered to be buried alive between two walls by Mughal emperor Akbar for having an illicit relationship with the Prince Nuruddin Saleem later to become Emperor Jahangir...
- is introduced, with the corpse playing Anarkali.
Cast
- Naseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
as Vinod Chopra - Ravi BaswaniRavi BaswaniRavi Baswani was a well known Indian film actor, most famous for his role in Sai Paranjpe's Chashme Buddoor and Kundan Shah's cult comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , for which he won Filmfare Best Comedian Award in 1984. He was noted for his comic timing and underplaying of a character in the true sense...
as Sudhir Mishra - Om PuriOm PuriOm Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
as Ahuja - Pankaj KapoorPankaj KapoorPankaj Kapur is an Indian theatre, television and film actor from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He has appeared in several television serials and films. His most acclaimed film roles to date have been that of Dr...
as Taneja - Satish ShahSatish ShahSatish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...
as D'Mello (Municipal Commissioner) - Bhakti BarveBhakti BarveBhakti Barve was an Indian film, theatre and television actress in Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati. She is best known for her role in Kundan Shah's comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , where she acted alongside Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah and Ravi Basvani....
as Shobha Sen (Editor) - Satish KaushikSatish KaushikSatish Kaushik is an Indian film director and actor in Hindi films and theatre.As a film actor his most remembered for his role as 'Calendar' in Mr. India, and as 'Chanu Ahmed' in Sarah Gavron's English film Brick Lane...
as Ashok Namboodirippad (the assistant/secretary of Tarneja) - Neena GuptaNeena GuptaNeena Gupta is an Indian film and television actress and director-producer. She won the 1994 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for Woh Chokri. She is a popular actress in Indian commercial cinema, but it is her work with art filmmakers of India, like Shyam Benegal that got her...
as Priya - Deepak Qazir as Srivastav (Assistant Municipal Commissioner)
- Rajesh Puri as Kamdar (Assistant Editor)
- Zafar Sanjari
- Vidhu Vinod ChopraVidhu Vinod ChopraVidhu Vinod Chopra is an Indian director and producer. Chopra is the head of his own company, Vinod Chopra Productions, and is particularly known for producing the Munna Bhai films and 3 Idiots.-Early life:Born in a Punjabi family of Kashmir,...
as DushasanaDushasanaDushasana was the second son of the blind king Dhritarashtra and Gandhari in the epic Mahābhārata, and the younger brother of Duryodhana.-Birth and development:...
Production Information
The film had a budget of seven lakhLakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
rupees
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
(Rs 700,000).
Reception
The film was not immediately successful at the box office when released, but was eventually regarded as a cult classicCult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
, which is refelcted in a recent comment by Indian Express that film high recall value even after 27 years, is due to "it(s) superb satirical depiction of the essential, timeless, human condition: supreme self-interest versus some moral/ethical anchor. What made the depiction particularly powerful was its setting: India of the early ’80s".
Awards
- 1984 Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a DirectorIndira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a DirectorThe Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director is a National Film Award - Golden Lotus Award, given to a feature film director's first film.The National Film Award - Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director winners:...
: Kundan ShahKundan ShahKundan Shah is an Indian film director and writer.He is most known for his comedy classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and his 1985-1986, TV series Nukkad with Saeed Akhtar Mirza.-Biography:... - 1984: Filmfare Best Comedian AwardFilmfare Best Comedian AwardThe Filmfare Best Comedian Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a comic role....
: Ravi BaswaniRavi BaswaniRavi Baswani was a well known Indian film actor, most famous for his role in Sai Paranjpe's Chashme Buddoor and Kundan Shah's cult comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , for which he won Filmfare Best Comedian Award in 1984. He was noted for his comic timing and underplaying of a character in the true sense...
Further reading
- Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro: Seriously Funny Since 1983, by Jai Arjun SinghJai Arjun SinghJai Arjun Singh is a New Delhi-based freelance writer/journalist. He has written for Yahoo! India, Business Standard, The Hindu, The Man , Tehelka, Outlook Traveler, The Sunday Guardian and The Hindustan Times, among other publications. His book about the making of the cult comedy film Jaane Bhi Do...
. 2010. Harpercollins India. ISBN 9350290224.