sumanbarthakursmailbox Despite its grim setting, director Madhur Bhandarkar's Jail is his least cynical film in years. Neil Nitin Mukesh stars as Parag Dixit, an innocent man implicated for a crime he didn't commit. Much of the film is centered around Parag's frustration and helplessness as he struggles to stay sane and alive amidst hardened criminals. Like the director's earlier films, Corporate, Traffic Signal and Fashion, his latest too is a slice-of-life drama about the characters and the way of life within the world he's chosen to set the film in. This time though, Bhandarkar ditches his trademark exposé approach and settles for an emotionally-manipulative tone instead. The script of Jail packs in every cliché you expect to see - distraught family struggling to raise money to pay lawyer's fees, jailer venting about his thankless job and meager salary, even a hit-and-run accused who gets off easily because of his influential connections. But despite the clunky writing, it's a relief to see Bhandarkar empathasise with his characters rather than exploit them for cheap titillation like he's done in earlier films. In a very simplistic and roundabout fashion, Jail is about hope and making the right choice, but the film is too formulaic to make a hard-hitting statement. Of the cast, Neil Nitin Mukesh plunges sincerely into the central role, but is at best adequate as the anguished victim. Mughda Godse is unselfconscious as Parag's distressed girlfriend, but has very little to do in a stereotypical part. Arya Babbar plays it broad and is convincing as the top aide of an underworld fixer, but the same sadly can't be said for poor Manoj Bajpai who glowers and glares as Nawab, Parag's only ally in prison. Bajpai's solemn turn adds to the dreariness, making Jail too long and too slow in the end. Because it's well-intentioned and settles for a hopeful message, you stay with the film despite the fact that it's never quite compelling.It's got its heart in the right place, but sometimes that's not enough.

sunny-jindl2 Madhu Bhandarkar in this movie brings out some remarkable characters and one of them is Kabir. Shown as the pawn of a Baba Bhai, a mean character with overbearing friendliness. He turns to help the protagonist just to have him recruited in the Mafia. There is another character of Ghalib who pleads money from another inmate for his mother's operation and uses it to bribe his way to freedom. This movie is full of such characters who are good and bad at the same time.The movie begin slowly and picks up pace later, you almost feel bored with the predictable turn of events initially, only when the jail life begins to settle in the real plot unfolds. Also the later part in which the protagonist is released is probably added to soothe the moviegoer. The fees of a lawyer were probably hugely padded with 75K of one hearing for a lower court is unheard off.

rajandey I know Madhur Bandharkar movies don't interest the masses, since his movies are realistic as hell. His last outing, Fashion, was on the contrary a bit different, but still Madhurs style. Because I really liked I checked out Jail, and im not disappointed at all! Jail has great performances by Neil Nitin Mukesh, Manoj Bajpai and the other supporting cast as the inmates. The music is in sync with the movie and the screenplay and cinematography has been done in an excellent way.I feel Jail could have done better business instead of bombing at the box office if it only didn't release aside the comic raper Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.Jail has Neils best performance so far, a nice story and great content! Go for it!

sniperswagat With Jail, Madhur Bhandarkar continues his take on reality. This time, he looks behind the closed bars of a jail to look at the stories that reside there.Parag Dixit (Neil Nitin Mukesh), a financial whiz- makes money by the plenty and lives life to the fullest with his air-hostess girlfriend Mansi (Mugdha Godse) in tow. Unfortunately for him, his roommate turns out to be a drug peddler and operates without his knowledge. The police catch Neil and accuse him of co-conspiring with his roommate, who lies in an ICU, in a coma.Falling prey to the notoriously slow judicial system, Parag ends up in jail, still pending trial. How he handles this new environment, and the stories of other individuals that inhabit the world behind bars, makes up the crux of the story.The basic premise of 'Jail' is one that can be claimed to have been lifted from a Jeffrey Archer novel, or the countless masala movies that are churned out of Bollywood every year. Where it differs is in the portrayal of the jail, forever consigned to be fairly open cells housing 1-2 prisoners, 'Jail' shows them for being what they really are. But unlike some of his earlier ventures, the exposes and the inside look ends there. There is nothing new that Madhur uncovers here: the underworld, the wrongfully-in-jail characters, the politicians holding court have all been seen before. Another problem is that the characters are too stereotypical. The good boy, the bhai's henchman, the gay couple seem out of a story and not real life. And that is where 'Jail' falters.Madhur Bhandarkar is known for his brilliant direction that keeps us motivated to sit through potentially depressing themes and stories. While this is his least depressing venture till date, he fails to deliver the same brilliant speed and sense as always.Neil Nitin Mukesh does a good job of portraying Parag, the man who is wrongfully incarcerated. It takes an immensely brave man to take up a role which is so challenging in nature. He's on screen for more than 90% of the screen time, going through so many different emotions, and also the much-talked about nude scene. He makes Parag believable. Kudos to Neil.Mugdha Godse gets very less scope as Mansi, but manages to do a decent job. Manoj Bajpayee as Parag's sympathizing co-inmate is the narrator of the movie, but somehow gets only a perennially sad expression to work with. He manages to still pitch in a good performance. His performance in the flashback sequence is his high point. This has to be expected though, with the film showcasing and focusing on Neil throughout.The music in 'Jail' is simply there to make up the numbers. Even the legendary Lata Mangeshkar's 'Daata Sun Le', though rendered as well as her songs are, could have been done without. 'Bareily ke Bazar mein' is absolutely useless placement wise and is only just bearable in terms of song quality.Kalpesh Bhandarkar captures the jail well on screen, giving the viewer as if he's looking at a sea of humanity and brings home the gruesomeness of the jail. Nitin Desai should bag the award for the best art direction unless a Sawariya or Devdas like set comes up in the movies coming up in the next month. The jail is incredibly well etched out, right down to the wall carvings.Final Verdict: Overall, Jail is only slightly above average. Watch it on the big screen only if you must. Wait for a TV release in my opinion.