 "As
expected, Jail is a dark, brooding and morose film on the injustices
of life and how human dignity can prevail despite bleak circumstances
through resilience, perseverance and hope. Like all Bhandarkar films,
Jail too is a social commentary akin to a documentary on the deplorable
conditions within jails and most importantly the injustices endemic
to the system. As a documentary, it does a great job of showing
a slice of life that ordinary cinemagoers are (hopefully) not too
aware of, but the masses just might be too well acquainted with.
Precarious power play, exploitative class dynamics and general combat
between justice and injustice are a major focus of Jail; achieving
agonizing profundity by depicting the microcosm of society jail
communal life is and can be: a mafia boss operating the underworld
through the jail, for instance. Of course, like all Bhandharkar
films, Jail is rich in desi street language, expletives and dialogues
like “jail ki pehli raat aurat ki suhag raat jaisi hoti hai.
Kitnee bhee koshish karo neend nahin aati.” (The first night
in Jail is like a woman’s wedding night. However much she
tries, she can’t go to sleep).
The heavy publicity that the stars of this film embarked on - including
an appearance at Wills India Fashion Week - showed how much work
they had put into the film. Particularly Neil Nitin Mukesh - who
plays the lead role and manages to do relatively well if one over
looks Neil’s character, Parag Dixit as an extension of John
Abraham’s character in New York. But to give credit where
its due, Neil matures tremendously in Jail with Parag. His dialogues
are minimal and its all about his hard expression carefully crafted
to deliver an abysmal despair that leads him to the brink of insanity.
His anguished screams when he is put in solitary confinement, and
when he attempts but fails to kill himself out of sheer despondency,
are perfectly executed. If this performance doesn’t get Neil
an award, we certainly don’t know what will.
 However
as much as the story is about Neil, it is equally about Nawab (Manoj
Bajpai,) the silent butcher who has risen amongst the ranks with
his superiors over the years on his sentence. With Nawab one sees
the return of the hugely talented but terribly miscast Manoj Bajpai
doing what he does best: flawless expressive acting. Manoj’s
character is the voice of reason and goodness that guides Neil towards
the right path and ultimate freedom. Credit is also due to Bhandarkar
for getting melody queen Lata Mangeshkar back to render a soulful
track for the film’s score.
Mughda Godse, though, as Neil’s supportive girlfriend, is
a wasted character and a totally unnecessary appendage, whose character’s
purpose could have easily been fulfilled by Neil’s mother.
Nonetheless, Mughda’s bagged herself an award for Bhandarkar’s
Fashion and probably chose to stay part of the production to continue
the trend.
All in all, Jail is an intense and powerful film that is certainly
a must watch, when and if one in the mood to be educated. However
be warned that the entertainment quotient in this film is zero.
The logical inconsistencies in Neil’s trial, such as the most
obvious facts of his case, and subsequently his innocence are proved
a bit too late. It was perhaps a necessary evil for Bhandarkar to
propel the plot along, but it leaves the audience feeling that the
film is being unnaturally stretched.
– Hani Taha Salim
*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****awesome
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