Daily Recco, October 2: Lage Raho Munna Bhai, for a dose of Gandhigiri

It is the birthday of the Father of the Nation, and what better day than this to remember Gandhigiri?

From Jaadu Ki Jhappi to Bapu ki Gandhigiri, Sanjay Dutt as Murli Prasad Sharma AKA Munna Bhai gives you all the reasons to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi and his ideals in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. The film was released in 2006 — a good 14 years ago. However, the magic of Munna, Circuit, Bapu and Lucky Singh somehow never fades.

In a world that is furthering itself from Mahatma Gandhi’s values and ideals with each passing day and being engulfed by violence, corruption and deceit, a rerun of Lage Raho Munna Bhai doesn’t hurt. Be it Munna providing non-violent solutions to everyday problems of everyday people as a co-RJ with RJ Jahnavi (Vidya Balan), or his non-violent “Get well soon” drive, to “cure” Lucky Singh’s (Boman Irani) disease of dishonesty, director Rajkumar Hirani’s storyline aces in its mission of reviving the Mahatma’s values and principles in the hearts of Indians. The storyline touches across the themes, ranging from bad manners, dishonesty and bribery, neglecting one’s parents, and even superstitions, without coming across as didactic.

The interactions between Dilip Prabhavalkar as Gandhi (Munna’s hallucination) and Munna bring the right mix of Gandhism and Bhaigiri together. Jahnavi and Munna’s non-violent protest against Lucky Singh serves as a metaphor for the Indian Independence movement and the battle against the British Raj. Arshad Warsi as Circuit provides the much-needed comic relief with his unbeatable chemistry with Munna.

The film is timeless in its appeal. Hirani and the team take us on a journey on which we are savouring a platter full of myriad emotions. It is not preachy or moralising but appeals to the inherent goodness in each of us. The inherent Gandhi in each of us. That’s what the storytellers were aiming at all the while — for us to seek and find the Gandhi in us.

Watch it today or over the weekend on Amazon Prime Video and replenish your dose of Gandhigiri. After all, Bande mein tha dum.

Also Read: Why Gandhi's relevance cannot be debated