25 Years of a Cult Classic

After finishing my usual dose of 4 newspapers this Sunday morning in under 30 minutes I was absorbed into the latest issue of Tehelka!

Read an engaging write-up by Naseer on Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro!! It completes 25 years! It may be a cult film today. Back then, during the making of the movie, Naseer says it was insanity. Read the complete article here as Naseer looks back on the gritty elation of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro...

Jotting down a few lines that stuck...

1. In those days, the titles of films were not identified by abbreviations, we just called it “this f—-ing film we’re shooting now”. It was the pre-monsoon summer, the locations were the streets of Bombay...

2. The script of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro seemed to have been revealed to Kundan Shah in an inspired moment of transcendental, if not downright hallucinogenic, lunacy. I had never read or seen anything like it at the time, and while I was not absolutely sure that it was even coherent, I itched to have a crack at it.

3. THE FILM was not an immediate success, but over time it has come to have a sort of cult reputation. I think it has struck a chord with audiences because of the unassuming way in which it speaks of corruption and the struggle of the underdog. None of these themes were novel, but Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’s off-centre presentation caught people’s fancy.

4. What is not funny, however, is the question of why Kundan can’t follow it up. Talk has been rife for too long about a sequel. Only the man himself can answer why it hasn’t happened. And he’s not telling, but I think what he’s not telling is that to be able to generate that extreme and that intense an energy from that many participants takes some doing: it’s tough to summon that adrenaline on demand.

5. For those touched by it, the memory is goose-pimply, it causes sweat to break out on the brow, the blood to rush to the temples and the knuckles to go white. So actually, instead of vainly hoping for a sequel, let’s just give thanks that this one actually happened.
(From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 34, Dated Aug 30, 2008)

Made me want desperately to watch Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro yet again and soonest...