Filmi Review

This film means to be quirky, cute and comical. It ends up being a crashing bore. And the sound of the crash that you hear could be those plaster-of-paris props that adorn the stage where the cast enacts the worst version of K. Asif's imperishable romance "Mughal-e-Azam" ever conceived.

As often happens, the film must have sounded so much better on paper. All the accomplished actors who constitute the vast cast must have got the joke and agreed to do this intended satire about the goofy adventures of a stage troupe during the week of the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

Alas, Asif weeps in his grave. And so do we.

This is a political satire combined with a naughty comment on theatrical infidelity with Paresh's sexy wife Mallika being wooed by a smitten Rahul (suitably wide-eyed and far removed from his Mallika-driven affections in "Pyar Ke Side Effects").

Kay Kay, who had done a serious gritty film on the bomb blasts in "Black Friday", slips into its satirical interpretation with astonishing fluency. As a bumbling cheesy ghazal singer with terrorist links (remember Naseeruddin Shah in "Sarfarosh"?), Kay Kay brings a sparkling tongue-in-cheek quality to the goings-on, a sparkle that the film doesn't deserve. It fails to earn itself the committed devotion of such a distinguished cast.

Pavan, another fine actor, is also delightfully over-the-top as a sleazy gangster who gets as confused about the characters played by Kay Kay and Paresh (a bit of Kundan Shah's "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron" here) as we are about this film's intentions.

Is this a theatrical film on play-acting? Or is it meant to be a cinematic interpretation of theatrical hi-jinks? Be that as it may, while Kay Kay goes from "Black Friday" to goofy Friday, Mallika (god bless her costume designers) goes from "Murder" to blue murder. Watching her do a re-mix of "Pyar kiya to darna kya", Madhubala must be smirking in her grave.

If Mallika's "Murder" on infidelity was a path-breaker (at least as far as sexual audacity goes) her attempts to flirt from the pokey stage with her besotted spectator right under her suspicious husband's watchful eyes can at best be described as "Pati Patni Aur Woh" gone to the dogs.

Chhel has always been a capable wordsmith. As a director, he had his polished moments in "Khubsoorat" where Sanjay Dutt turned ugly duckling Urmila Matondkar into a swan.

One is never sure if Mallika is the duck or swan in "Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam". All one knows at the end of this horrifically hammy ode to a hammy theatre company's outrageous attempts to save Mumbai from the underworld (yeah, but who saves us from this film?) is that there is no more than perhaps seven minutes of bonafide humour in the entire tale.

The dialogues are either dreadfully double-meaning or primary school gags. RDX and R.D. Burman are equated for laughs. But the film has neither Burman's melodiousness now the explosive quality of RDX.

Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat
Direction: Sanjay Chhel



Probably inspired by Kundan Shah's classic Jaane Bhi Dho Yaaron director Sanjay Chhel who penned movies like Rangeela directs Maan Gaye Mughall-e-azam with an interesting star cast. We have Mallika Sherawat, Rahul Bose, Kay Kay Menon and Paresh Rawal.

Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam is a mad, contemporary comedy involving a drama troupe - Kalakar Natak Company. They produce socially relevant, thought-provoking plays, which no one understands and hardly anyone sees. But the actors of this natak company believe they will change the society one day and everyone will say, 'Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam'. The theatre group gets involved with an undercover agent who is working on saving the country from a bomb blast. One by one they come forward to help and are eventually instrumental in making a deadly game plan to save the world.

From the first few initial reviews, most critics have thrashed Maan Gaye Mughal-e-azam. So I watched it with no expectations and it turned out to be better than it's made out to be. Sure, the sets aren't great and the movie has a B-Grade feel to it but few scenes here and there are rib tickling. The dialogues and performances by the lead actors make the senseless story watchable.

The music by Anu Malik is poor. Seriously, he has been way below average in his last few music albums.

Paresh Rawal, as the lead actor of the theatre group who is married to a hot young babe (Mallika Sherawat) is in top form. The veteran makes you laugh with his mannerisms, expressions and comic timing. Kay Kay Menon for some reason disappoints. Pawan Malhotra is okay.

Rahul Bose can't match Paresh Rawal but does manage to put up a good show. Mallika Sherawat does what she usually does in most of her movies, look hot and flaunt her cleavage to the maximum possible.

To sum things up, Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam is not as bad as I expected it to be. There are a few scenes which make you laugh out loud. Performances are decent. At the box-office, the movie could do better business at the B and C centers. It's a movie more for the masses. More of a DVD watch, so wait for the DVD to be available on rent.

Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat
Direction: Sanjay Chhel



Sanjay Chhel’s Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam is too lengthy a title to announce to anyone, to type and then to watch. You actually performed all those feats to conclude that you shouldn’t have. Never, never, never.

Although Chhel can be a sparkling dialogue writer, here both his lines and direction are as flat as week-old beer. Evidently, inspired by Ernst Lubitsch’s 1942 comedy, To Be or Not To Be (wow, man what sources!), this Mallika-e-Azam is about her bare back, bling costumes and a plot that would need a research team to deconstruct.

All you know is that a hammy theatre troupe, spearheaded by Paresh Rawal (oof, even he can’t save this) is trying to get hammier. And they do when they are joined by a RAW agent (Rahul Bose) and then an ISI baddy (Kay Kay Menon). What they say (loads about RDX) and what they do (try to be Lubitsch meets Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro) aren’t worth half a chuckle. You just sit there, as round-eyed as the Phoonk maid-servant , and hope this Moan Gaye.. will go away like the monsoon flu.

Indeed, the words ‘the end’ have never looked more precious..