MAAN GAYE MUGHAL –E – AZAM
The Scoop that fell in the Soup.
by Vishal Verma

Banner: Venus Records & Tapes
Genre: Satire
Producer: Champak Jain, Ganesh Jain & Ratan Jain
Director: Sanjay Chhel
Star Cast: Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat, Paresh Rawal, Kay Kay Menon, Pawan Malhotra, & Zakir Hussain.
Cinematography: Madhu Ambat
Story / Writer: Sanjay Chhel
Editor: Santosh Devdhar
Screenplay: Sanjay Chhel & Sunil Munshi
Dialogue: Sanjay Chhel & Sunil Munshi
Sound: Rajendra Hegde & Alok De
Lyricist: Sanjay Chhel
Music Director: Anu Malik
Singers: Shaan, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Anushka Manchandani, Kunal Ganjawala, Pankaj Udhas, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, Aftab Hashmi Sabri, Anu Malik & Alisha Chinoy.
Background Music: Sanjay Chowdhury
Choreography: Piyush Panchal, Reshma Khan & Saroj Khan
Action: Mahendra Varma
Art: Jeena Shetty
Costume: Ashley Rebello, Rahul Agasti, Kalpana Jain & Uma Biju
Promos: Sawant Ghosh & Amarjeet Singh
Publicity Designs: Marching Ants
Media Director: Raindrop Media Pvt.Ltd.

Technical Analysis
If P.J’s were the winning horses then witty jingles and one liners written by the man would have won the race. The Jain brothers from Venus Records and Tapes come together after the debacle of ‘Aap Ki Khatir’ and join hands with Sanjay Chhel, the man known for his witty one liners right from his small tube days.
Sanjay Chhel who made an impressive debut as a director with ‘Khoobsurat’ starring Sanjay Dutt, however, couldn,t keep the promise with Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa.

Now, he attempts a scoop and eventually lands up in falling in a soup. Another example of a brilliant idea going kaput inspite of fabulous performances by the lead cast and of course witty one liners by the writer director himself.

Unfortunately, its Sanjay who walks with all the bouquets for the brilliant idea packed with smart one liners which bring some really funny moments in the film but also faces the bricks for the crash landing of a jet which took a satirical start.

The film starts with the famous Chaplin quote ‘comedy is a tragedy in long shots’, brilliant take, fantastic beginning but alas in the end its turns out to be tragedy of the great thought of mixing drama with reality with the flavour of sarcasms.

Humour is not just making anybody laugh, its primarily a process were it makes you think after laughing.
Even Mallika’s desperate attempts to stab the audience with her killer assets along with Kay Kay, and Paresh’s fabulous performance could not lift the film from mediocrity.

The Story
Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam is a weak attempt in contemporary comedy about how a small town drama company gets involved in a deadly mission to save the country. Circa 1993 - The country was burning due to the Babri structure demolition and communal riots. A small town like St. Louise near Goa, where Police, CBI and RAW officers were out on high alert due to illegal activities like Rdx and Arms landing at the coastal area! Set up in the same town is Kalakar Theatre Company, a theatre group of self indulgent dreamy actors who are always left with no choice but to perform the same age old period play 'Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam' every time. One fine day, they come to know that, an underworld don is planning a severe bomb blast in the country. The entire drama company designs 'A Deadly Game plan' and gets into the act to save the entire city from this blasts.

Promotion
The promos and outdoor publicity by Marching Ants is interesting and gathers attention.
But surprisingly, media awareness by Raindrop has been highly selective, without realizing the fact that every bit counts.

Business Analysis
Rahul Bose & Mallika Sherawat gave a hit ‘Pyar Ke Side Effects’ that had innovation and the ‘zing’ quotient with good music. Whereas this innovative idea gone down by a baffling execution and the absence of any hit number plus the competition from the other three releases will make the going of ‘Man Gaye Mughal-e-Azam’ tough at the B.O.