Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983)

Two friends, attempting to start-up their own photo studio, come across shady dealings, corruption and murder, and must fight to bring the guilty to light.

Director:

Kundan Shah

Writers:

Ranjit Kapoor (dialogue), Satish Kaushik (dialogue)

Stars:

Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Bhakti Barve

Top Rated Indian Movies #17 | 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Naseeruddin Shah	...	Vinod Chopra
Ravi Baswani	...	Sudhir Mishra
Bhakti Barve	...	Shobha Sen
Satish Shah	...	Municipal Commissioner D'Mello
Om Puri	...	Ahuja
Pankaj Kapur	...	Tarneja (as Pankaj Kapoor)
Satish Kaushik	...	Ashok
Neena Gupta	...	Priya
Deepak Qazir	...	Asst. Mun. Comm. Srivastav
Rajesh Puri	...	Kamdar
Zafar Sanjari
Ashok Banthia	...	Reporter
Uday Chandra
Harshad Gandhi
Jaspal Sandhu

Storyline

Vinod (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir (Ravi Baswani) are two professional photographers trying to start a photo studio. The first real assignment that they get, from the activist magazine Khabardar (literally meaning beware), draws them into the shady world of Bombay real estate. They discover that one of the biggest builders in Bombay, Tarneja, is trying to bribe Municipal Commissioner D'Mello (Satish Shah) into giving him a bridge contract. Meanwhile D'Mello is negotiating with Tarneja's arch rival Ahuja (Om Puri). The contract is finally awarded to a third person. By chance Vinod and Sudhir find out that Tarneja has murdered D'Mello...

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Plot Keywords:

time bomb | corpse | builder | rival | photograph | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

12 August 1983 (India)

Also Known As:

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This Movie was made on such a shoestring budget that Naseeruddin Shah, the most well known actor was paid only Rs 15,000 ($300) for the movie. Naseer also had to bring his own Nikon camera to the shootings to use as a prop for his character, who was a photographer. Towards the end of the shooting, this camera was stolen, which amongst other painful memories of the making of the film, Naseer still reminisces about.

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Quotes

Ahuja: [In Mahabharat stage drama] Draupadi is just not yours, we are all shareholders.

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Connections

References The Blues Brothers (1980)

User Reviews

Satire, Farce & Black Comedy all rolled into one

I remember when this movie came out it faired poorly at the box office and was off the theatres within a week. But I think it generated an underground sort of movement amongst youth who wanted to watch a different kind of cinema and soon it had a cult of its own. You ask any Indian cine fan between 30s and 40s his/her top 10 favorite movies and I think this movie will figure in the list somewhere.

The plot is simple; two struggling photographers accidentally get involved in the filth that Indian 'system' is and which includes everybody from the police to media to politicians to builders etc. etc. etc. Once involved they try to expose everyone involved but the question is 'will they survive?'

Performance wise, everyone from Naseer to Ravi Baswani to Pankaj Kapoor to Satish Shah to Satish Kaushik to Om Puri have given brilliant performances, probably amongst their best. It's almost like magic that you know that it happened but you never know how. The film is bustling with synergy of all these performers (actors, writers, director and the whole crew) who are just happy to work with each other and in such a creative environment and are out to make a difference. And difference they made. It is and will remain a cult classic with people from our generation.