An old couple Mohan Joshi (Bhisham Sahni) and his wife (Dina Pathak) decides to sue their landlord, Kundan Kapadia (Amjad Khan) , for not maintaining their “collapsing” chawl. They hire two lawyers (Naseeruddin Shah and Satish Shah) for this case. The court case drags on for years and the lawyers milk the old couple dry , while they become rich.
Bhisham Sahni was brother of Balraj sahni and this was his screen debut at 69. However he doesn’t have charisma like his brother had. Naseeruddin Shah did ok ,nothing extraordinary. Even Amjad khan fails to impress. However this film belongs to Pankaj Kapoor(always dependable ) and Deepti Naval (always leaves a mark). The film is good but it could have been much better . The film is a take off on the housing problems faced by lower middle-class chawl living tenants in Bombay during 80’s era , while at the same time taking a dig at the Indian judicial system where cases drag on and on. There are some songs in the film which seemed unnecessary. However the ending was perfect . It isn’t as powerful as Saeed mirza’s other films like Salim Langde Pe Mat ro or Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastan.
debarshithecinemaniac 