Review: 'Gali Gali Chor Hai'

_Gali Gali Chor Hai_ may hope to ride the Anna Hazare tide but it does nothing to put a point across and it certainly fails to entertain. FILM: _Gali Gali Chor Hai _DIRECTOR: Rumi Jaffery

Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Shriya Saran, Satish Kaushik, Mugdha Godse, Annu Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, Murli Sharma RATING: *1/2 The year 2011 was termed as the year of revolution and yet, in India,

revolutions failed to go beyond _morchas _and candle-light vigils. As the year 2012 kicks off with civic polls in Maharashtra and various states gear up for legislative assembly elections,

many groups are trying to speak-up against corruption and bring the political office holders to the book. In April, a man named Anna Hazare gave Indians a hope by demanding a strong Lokpal

bill by using Gandhian techniques. And while his bill might render the Lokpal powerful, one can't help but wonder what would happen if the person appointed Lokpal were to abuse the

power bestowed upon him. Sure, in an age of citizen candidates (this year the BMC polls in Mumbai are seeing an unprecedented number of citizen candidates), there is some hope, but each

political party looks as corrupt as the other. In short, _Gali Gali Chor Hai _holds true. The makers of the above movie held a screening exclusively for the great Gandhian, Anna Hazare in

his hometown. The screening earned them their fair share of newsprint, because 'anything with Anna sells,' and naturally, the Gandhian was inspired by this film. We wonder why? The

film is the tale of a common man Bharat (Akshaye Khanna) who lives happily in his ancestral home in Bhopal with a criticizing father (Satish Kaushik) and a devout yet bickering wife (Shriya

Saran). As a _pandit _warns him of a bad time coming, Bharat rejects a request from Tripathiji, a local MLA, to use the outer room of his house. And that's enough to land Bharat in the

powerful man's black books. Scuttling between his wife and hot paying guest Ameeta (Mugdha Godse in skimpy clothing), Bharat lands himself in a legal mess orchestrated by

Tripathiji's brother who plays Ram in the _Ramlila _where Bharat is the Hanuman. After many a palm are greased and many _chai-paanis _bought for lawyers, thieves, witnesses and

policemen, Bharat manages to take into custody a fan that a thief claimed was stolen from his house. All through this process, the viewer is subject to a tortuously loud trumpet blowing to

the tune of the title song every time our man reaches for his wallet. After the interval, one would expect this common man to blow up and fight injustice but no such thing happens. The

comedy continues as he tries to rid himself of the said fan and lands in a far bigger bowl of soup. Beyond a point, the attempts to induce laughs over Bharat's misery become as

monotonous as a wad of gum chewed for over an hour. The setting has scope for some intelligent metaphors with _Ramlila _happening in the background but alas, the full potential of the

_Ramlila _vs _Bharatlila, _remains unutilized. One would call Jaffery clever for showing Ram attacking Hanuman using his political clout and Ravan using his legal knowledge to free him up,

but he loses the brownie points with a narrative that runs around in circles without going anywhere and the totally unnecessary, distasteful item number where Veena Malik shows her ample

(visibly fake) bosom in an electrically illuminated _choli_. The common man's rage, which you expect to dazzle you (or rescue you from the repeated adventures of Bharat _babu_)

doesn't happen right until the end of the film, by when, you want to clap simply out of the delight that the film is over. _Gali Gali Chor Hai _may hope to ride the Anna Hazare tide but

it does nothing to put a point across and it certainly fails to entertain.