Jail is a been there, done that prison story that has nothing new to offer.

Madhur Bhandarkar is back with yet another expose, this time about life behind bars. The director trudges on to known territory with a plot similar to many prison flicks made in the past. The audience already knows that there is an underworld don working from within the jail, they know that the judicial system in India works at a snails pace along with several other known nuances of life behind bars. Jail is nothing close to his earlier films where he threw light on areas never covered before in cinema, such as fashion, corporate life, dance bars and life on the street.

Parag Dixit (Neil Nitin Mukesh) lives a picture perfect life with a beautiful, independent girlfriend (Mugdha Godse) working up the corporate ladder simply on his hard work and talent. However due to some unfortunate events he lands up in Jail with no fault of his own and comes to term with the gritty life that awaits him behind bars. His only salvation is convict Nawaab (Manoj Bajpai) who believes in his innocence and provides him with the will to survive.Do we smell a Shawshank Redemption here? Well!

To start with performances, Neil Nitin Mukesh is sadly mistaken if he feels he is a method actor. Not only is he stone-cold expressionless, even his body language in the movie seems forced to stiffen up - no reason why confinement should make you so rigid- given that its a hostile atmosphere and one should be easy and learn to adapt. One feels sorry for the supporting actors, who have more sorrow and grimace on their faces than Neil who's just so stunned with his sudden change of fate - and which makes him so taut and unpliable, he's almost like concrete putty for a clay model workshop . They feel he’s innocent just because he’s got a pretty face but that’s all he’s got in the movie. Mugdha has no scope whatsoever in the movie and their chemistry is plain corblimey! Manoj Bajpai gets a tad bit repetitive and boring with his sermons but does justice to his part. Surprisingly the two underdogs of the movie Rahul Singh and Arya Babbar shine in their respective roles and truly deserve a mention for their performances. The others are plain annoying and clichéd.

Jail has hardly any effort put into it. If Madhur felt picking up known prison clichés and predictable storytelling would have him another winner, he was sadly mistaken. The documentary type film-making has no impact and limps in its 2 and half hours of run time. You don’t gape with awe when Neil is stripped off his clothes and dignity; or the many times he’s left without hope of a proper trial brings a tear to your eye. Even the climax falls flat on its face. The dialogues are a major let down with the direction and cinematography being the only saving grace. Saiyyan Ve is the only hummbale track but the annoying eerie background score can leave you with a headache.


The type of patience you would need to sit through Jail is worse than babysitting a whiney hungry toddler. So ditch this trip to Jail and go get a hearty laugh out of Ajab Prem instead!

Samiya Shakir/Hill Road Media