Movie Review: Jail (2009)

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Jail: Packs a solid punch

Rating: 3.5 out of 5*

Starring: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mugdha Godse, Manoj Bajapai, Rahul Singh and Arya Babbar

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

Parag Dixit (Neil) is hard working white collared job employee who is just on the threshold of a great career ahead. He gets a well deserved promotion at his job and is all set to marry his girl friend Mansi (Mugdha). But fate has other plans. He gets wrongly implicated in crime which he is not part of and is subjected to a police custody first and then Thane jail. Thus begins a nightmare for the innocent Parag. How he faces the problems in a world completely unknown and as dark as he could not even imagine in his wildest dreams forms the rest of the film.

Jail is as gritty as it gets. It is not meant for the faint hearted. Madhur Bhandarkar yet again takes us right into the underbelly of a world we never knew existed like it is. With his well researched and authentic treatment, Madhur makes us feel the pain and anguish of what a person must be undergoing when he is put in jail. The dialogues are razor sharp befitting a Madhur Bhandarkar film and the large number of character actors carefully chosen justifying their parts with their natural act. The film has many characters put in for real life references like for example the infamous drunk and drive incident on a Mumbai road. Although, it takes a little extra time for the story to build up, after the interval point it packs in a solid punch. Camerawork by Kalpesh Bhandarkar and background music deserve special mention. Sayali Bhagat’s item song will please the front benchers.

Madhur has the knack of deriving award winning performances from his principal cast and in here Neil delivers an award worthy performance as Parag Dixit. The manner in which he has successfully conveyed his anger, frustration and sheer helplessness against the situation that he has been subjected to deserves a bow. Mugdha Godse in a non-glam part is good. Manoj Bajpai in his intense act is simply superb. His meaningful gaze conveys a lot. Playing jail inmates - Rahul Singh as Gani bhai and Arya Babbar as the underworld recruiter are excellent in their parts. Atul Kulkarni impresses in the two scenes he gets during the climax.

Watch Jail for an experience of a trip to a world which you will wish you never to visit even in your worst nightmares.