Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

1983 ‘जाने भी दो यारों’ Directed by Kundan Shah

Two zanies open a photography studio. They score a partnership with a gossip magazine that suddenly thrusts them into a world of corruption, murder, and hijinks.

Naseeruddin Shah Satish Shah Om Puri Satish Kaushik Pankaj Kapur Bhakti Barve Ravi Baswani Deepak Qazir Rajesh Puri Neena Gupta Zafar Sanjari Vidhu Vinod Chopra Dilip Joshi Kishore Nandlaskar

Alternative Titles

Who Pays the Piper, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron

comedy

132 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Milez Das ★★★★ 3

One of the most significant movie in the history of Indian Cinema.
A photographer-duo start a studio only to find wrong things happening right from its launch. However, there photographic assignments lead them to expose shady facts about the city's builders, municipal officers and others.
The film exposes many evils through its hilarious style, which weaves into its narrative, slapstick comedy.
The story telling of this movie is amazing and how it transforms itself from comedy to drama to crime and corruption is enjoyable. The final scene where all they characters meet at a drama theater where Mahabharata is going on, they sabotage the drama and start to play different characters was the funniest scene to watch.
The movies climax…
Review by sydney ★★★★ 7

at least 1/3rd of this went over my head both because of ignorance and imperfect subtitles but i would still watch it over & over again. idk this is like so many other things but also unlike anything else...i don't even have the vocabulary to describe this but i loved it. it's better than blow up!! naseeruddin speaking hindi in a loud obnoxious american accent & shoving cake in his face...i have never felt so honored to be dragged <333
Review by Ashwani Kumar Tiwari ★★

Contrived. Stupid. Juvenile. Inconsistent. And in many places, kahin bhi kuchh bhi. Apne comfort ke hisaab se saare plot points connect hote hain. Har cheez planned flow mein move karti hai. Satire expose kiya jaata hai through active vocalisation. And this mess of a film is the most popular parallel hindi language film. If you're reading my take and feeling anger in your bones, jaake dobaara dekho. They literally made a coffin run on a flat (not inclined), wet road which was dry the next moment. Bin baarish barsaat. That's fine. They allowed a dead body to not be dead actually. It stood when needed, didn't stink, provided balance to others and lightened itself so that people can do whatever…
Review by sahil ★★★★ 2

The satire and the social commentary in the film is so relevant even in today's date, surely ahead of it's time. Superb cast with one of the best cinematography in any Indian film & crazy use of lighting makes the film so much more. It has hands down one of the best one take in Bollywood cinema history.
It's not a comedy, it's a beautifully told tragedy.
The Mahabharata scene is absolute genius, the part where Bheem is asleep and bored while in character tells so much about Indian culture and how bored this generation is with it's own tradition.
Review by Gitesh Deshmukh ★★★½

Still relevant to this day.
Review by sumedha

d'mello in the second half of the film is like the current state of our country
Review by Nim ★★★★★

Rip Om Puri. He just adds so much to this film. But everything is great about it to begin with. Bollywood comedies of the late nineties and 2000’s owe so much to this film. Also the cheeky Antonioni reference is fucking great!
Review by Sherr ★★★★

I won't talk much about my viewing experience because I was having terrible mood swings and was all over the place so maybe I wasn't able to enjoy this movie as much, but it was able to distract me slightly because I can still recall what happens in the movie, with the details and all. All hail the power of retention! Anyway, this movie is super fucking hilarious. The protagonists are silly and desperate in the beginning, but they are the only ones who later go on to give a fuck about doing honest work. This satire attacking corruption also happens to be realistic instead of your typical bollywood happy ending comedy. It's thought provoking, and a very intelligent movie…
Review by Srijan Sinha 1

Really funny, and the final cynical twist hits just right.
Review by Sahin Mondal ★★★★

This movie is so relevant nowadays!
Quite ahead of it's time.
Review by Anupama Chopra

In an interview on the extra features of the Jaane Bhi Do Yoaro DVD, Kundan Shah labels the film 'hungry cinema' because, he says, most of the people who were making it 'were hungry'. The film was made under dire circumstances - in an interview Naseeruddin Shah called it 'the most nightmarish shoot of my life'. There was little money. The locations were rough. Invariably, Naseeruddin said, the 12-hour shifts were extended into 24.
But this madness wrought a film that remains one of the best satires made in this country. Kundan and his co-writers Sudhir Mishra, Ranjit Kapoor, Satish Kaushik - blended many strains of comedy into a farcical theatre of the absurd. The climactic Mahabharat scene, in which…
Review by doinkdedoink ★★★½

had to pause for like three minutes during the mahabharata scene because my mom and I were in SPLITS. we couldn’t breathe (got concerned for my mom’s health for a bit there, we were cracking up way too hard). when they’re acting mahabharata and akbar comes out of nowhere, that shit SENT ME REELING fr. then dhritarashtra goes like “yeh akbar kahan se aa gaya” bruh!!! comedy gold. satish shah stole the show as the dead body of BMC ka commissioner AND draupadi. AND THE THODA SA KHAAO THODA SA PHEKO PLEAAASE I can’t breathe. madness real madness
have fulfilled my duty and have seen this film, my mumbaikar card cannot be revoked now. at least not until further notice. also this is weirdly the first time I ever got to see mahalaxmi racecourse, it’s huge! okay so maybe my mumbaikar card still revoked until I go visit that place lol.

Recent reviews

Review by Anupama Chopra

In an interview on the extra features of the Jaane Bhi Do Yoaro DVD, Kundan Shah labels the film 'hungry cinema' because, he says, most of the people who were making it 'were hungry'. The film was made under dire circumstances - in an interview Naseeruddin Shah called it 'the most nightmarish shoot of my life'. There was little money. The locations were rough. Invariably, Naseeruddin said, the 12-hour shifts were extended into 24.
But this madness wrought a film that remains one of the best satires made in this country. Kundan and his co-writers Sudhir Mishra, Ranjit Kapoor, Satish Kaushik - blended many strains of comedy into a farcical theatre of the absurd. The climactic Mahabharat scene, in which…
Review by Ashwani Kumar Tiwari ★★

Contrived. Stupid. Juvenile. Inconsistent. And in many places, kahin bhi kuchh bhi. Apne comfort ke hisaab se saare plot points connect hote hain. Har cheez planned flow mein move karti hai. Satire expose kiya jaata hai through active vocalisation. And this mess of a film is the most popular parallel hindi language film. If you're reading my take and feeling anger in your bones, jaake dobaara dekho. They literally made a coffin run on a flat (not inclined), wet road which was dry the next moment. Bin baarish barsaat. That's fine. They allowed a dead body to not be dead actually. It stood when needed, didn't stink, provided balance to others and lightened itself so that people can do whatever…
Review by cinemarocks ★★★★★

A satire unlike anyother funny black comedy way ahead of its time dr strangeglove of India. A must watch masterpiece
Review by Debdut Mukherjee ★★★★½

Satire at its smartest
Review by Gitesh Deshmukh ★★★½

Still relevant to this day.
Review by evolkitty ★★★★

Fun
Review by Kumar Rohit Chandra ★★★★

It's the small little things that we bear with. The struggle for earning a basic livelihood, the far-reaching actions of the corrupt, immoral policing, socio-political threats and then finally a tug for our right to freedom.
It only ends when you do. And this is what we live with. The very stark reality of the corrupt system and its vile components. And after all that happens to us, we forget. The strong winds die down and you are left with the daily dilemma.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is a satire on our society's doings. Much of the comedy is contrasted by harsh reality. You are left laughing at what ails you. Ahuja's guard inadvertently asking, "Goli chala du, sir?", is…
Review by saloni :) ★★★★★

when i say quentin tarantino is shaking - i mean quentin tarantino is shaking. probably one of the best dark comedies produced by the bollywood industry ever
Review by Yash ★★★★

Hum Honge Khamyab Ek din!
Review by Supratim Halder

The film takes time to build up and there are quite a few scenes in the first half that could easily have been done away with in order to make the end product more crisp. But the latter half of the film is a laughing riot and the climax gets too realistically heartbreaking after all the fun that ensues.
Review by Chandan ★★★½

"Main Akhir itni Peeta kyon hun."
This was not a laugh out loud kind of comedy for me but just a little smile here and there. Some points of the movie are just outright stupid that you cannot ignore them and also the acting is too loud and in the face at some points. The period in which was shot explains why the way it is and is certainly made for the entertainment purpose of a common man.
But still, this movie is ahead of its time with its commendable cinematography and satire that still holds. I can see why this movie is praised so much due to its social message element and also the famous stage play scene.
All over it was an enjoyable experience and never felt like skipping ahead at any point.
Review by bpatel007 ★★★★½

A