Jai Ho! Democracy is only 96 minutes long. Early into the comedy, it’s not hard to see why.
A gag that’s worth a few minutes of air-time in a sitcom has been stretched beyond repair in Ranjit Kapoor’s movie. It opens on the Indo-Pak border. A hen strays into no man’s land. An Indian soldier is dispatched to retrieve the bird. Pakistani soldiers train their guns on him. Meanwhile, the media get wind of the story, and enough feathers are ruffled for a high-level committee to convene in Delhi and debate the course of action.
Is it funny? Is it even a complete idea? You keep waiting for the movie to develop into something bigger and richer than its one-line premise, but it never does.
All politicians bad
The committee, which consists of politicians of various national and regional parties, is supposed to be a microcosm of Parliament. The fact that the committee’s members fritter away their time on technicalities and frivolities rather than addressing the issues at hand and can barely communicate with each other is supposed to be rib-tickling. The gabfest is conducted by stalwarts from parallel cinema and the National School of Drama, including Om Puri, Satish Kaushik, Annu Kapoor and Seema Biswas, who hoof around as though they were in a college production. One sequence, in which they have to demonstrate the difference between a cough and a laugh, depicts the banality not of our political class but of the film's writing department.
While linguistic diversity is squeezed for laughs in the script (only Annu Kapoor’s Tamil politician impersonation being somewhat amusing), another language problem arises on the border. The Indian soldier who is trapped in no man’s land encounters his Pakistani counterpart, and both happen to be from Punjab (but naturally). Cue Punjabi dialogue that is delivered without subtitles and teary-eyed nostalgia for the tragedy of the Partition and the yearning for an undivided state (only, nobody asked the Pakistanis if they agree with this very Indian obsession.)
Director Ranjit Kapoor, co-writer of the classic comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and the maker of Chintu Ji, is no stranger to satire, but Jai Ho! Democracy isn’t the best advertisement for his capabilities. The cast, which includes Adil Hussain, Aamir Bashir and Mukesh Tiwari, might similarly want to bury this simplistic rant against the political class and tribute to the unknown Indian soldier deep down their resumes.
A gag that’s worth a few minutes of air-time in a sitcom has been stretched beyond repair in Ranjit Kapoor’s movie. It opens on the Indo-Pak border. A hen strays into no man’s land. An Indian soldier is dispatched to retrieve the bird. Pakistani soldiers train their guns on him. Meanwhile, the media get wind of the story, and enough feathers are ruffled for a high-level committee to convene in Delhi and debate the course of action.
Is it funny? Is it even a complete idea? You keep waiting for the movie to develop into something bigger and richer than its one-line premise, but it never does.
All politicians bad
The committee, which consists of politicians of various national and regional parties, is supposed to be a microcosm of Parliament. The fact that the committee’s members fritter away their time on technicalities and frivolities rather than addressing the issues at hand and can barely communicate with each other is supposed to be rib-tickling. The gabfest is conducted by stalwarts from parallel cinema and the National School of Drama, including Om Puri, Satish Kaushik, Annu Kapoor and Seema Biswas, who hoof around as though they were in a college production. One sequence, in which they have to demonstrate the difference between a cough and a laugh, depicts the banality not of our political class but of the film's writing department.
While linguistic diversity is squeezed for laughs in the script (only Annu Kapoor’s Tamil politician impersonation being somewhat amusing), another language problem arises on the border. The Indian soldier who is trapped in no man’s land encounters his Pakistani counterpart, and both happen to be from Punjab (but naturally). Cue Punjabi dialogue that is delivered without subtitles and teary-eyed nostalgia for the tragedy of the Partition and the yearning for an undivided state (only, nobody asked the Pakistanis if they agree with this very Indian obsession.)
Director Ranjit Kapoor, co-writer of the classic comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and the maker of Chintu Ji, is no stranger to satire, but Jai Ho! Democracy isn’t the best advertisement for his capabilities. The cast, which includes Adil Hussain, Aamir Bashir and Mukesh Tiwari, might similarly want to bury this simplistic rant against the political class and tribute to the unknown Indian soldier deep down their resumes.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!