Kyun "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron"

“Desh ki unnati ki pehechan agar kisi cheez se hoti hai to woh hai gutter(sewer)”

Produced by NFDC (National Film Development Corporaton of India)

“Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron” is a dark satire which sheds light on corruption in India not only in Bureaucratic and Political structure but in Media as well.

Two struggling photographers Vinod Chopra (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir Mishra (Ravi Baswani) start working as investigative photojournalists for a magazine called “Khabardaar” that exposes scandalous life of the rich and famous. Shobha Sen (Bhakti Bharve), The Editor of Khabardaar, assign them a task to expose a scandalous deal between Tarneja (Pankaj Kapoor), an amoral builder and D’Mello (Satish Shah) a corrupt BMC Commissioner to build 4 flyovers in Bombay. Now with a plot twist, Ahuja (Om Puri) another amoral builder tries to make a deal with D’Mello to build those 4 flyovers. The story moves forward, Vinod and Sudhir end up accidentally capturing the murder of D’Mello in a park.

They investigate and report to Shobha, but here comes another plot twist, she double crosses Vinod and Sudhir and join hands with D’Mello’s killers, from here corrupt practices move from one section to the other. It’s better not to reveal the entire story but the climax of this cult classic is extremely hilarious so it’s a must watch.

We’ve always heard of a happy ending to every story, Good triumphs over Evil or Truth only Triumphs etc. There has been a stark difference between fiction and reality and in the real world, if you have money, you can change the end of any story or ensure that the Media changes the end.

Morality and Ethics have gone for a ride in Indian Media, they’ve taken sides, either Left or Right, pro administration or anti administration.

Agreeing to the fact that enforcing objectivity in our lives is very difficult. It’s not a utopian world, we live in a heterogeneous society, with multiple identity markers like sex, surrounding, language, culture etc. We form opinions based on our biases or perception as these markers influence our decision making process. Even Journalists are human beings they cannot remain objective every time but they have a responsibility to not let their subjectivity or biases completely over power them.

As a student of Journalism, it is disheartening to see issues being polarised or communalised on various grounds on multiple occasions like The abrogation of Art. 370, The Ayodhya Verdict, Triple Talak Bill, passing of Citizenship Amendment Bill, Shaheen Bagh protest and protests across India against CAA, attack in JNU, Delhi Elections and the Police attack in Jamia University is soul killing. Media coverage of these issues by some channels have made Professional ethics become a laughing stock. It seems like some journalists have sold the HUMAN inside them on OLX for their personal interests.  

Journalism is about people and their stories, reporting issues strengthen institutions and democratic structures, which ensures nation’s progress. There are some journalists who are fighting a lone battle to uphold the principles of Journalism.

Vinod and Sudhir were honest to their profession but Shobha betrayed them for money, Tarneja and Ahuja tried to get the contract by bribing D’Mello but he died. Everything was on sale because money and power are always lucrative.

Director Kundan Shah’s way of depicting dark realities might be satirical but the issue raised is relevant even in 2020.