Chala Mussaddi - Office Office

wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable ^(?)

quick review:

If I tell you that a social message saga about how to handle corrupt bureaucrats was awfully tiresome, your first guess would be that it must've been preachy. Well, Chala Mussaddi - Office Office does not sermonize and yet is a mind-numbing bore.

Director: Rajiv Mehra

Cast: Pankaj Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Deven Bhojani, Gaurav Kapoor, Asawari Joshi

Running time: 100 minutes

Genres: Comedy, Docu-drama

More Movie Info

A film supposedly about the common man represented by Mussaddi did not make me identify with him, even though I've gone through situations as Mussaddi. What could be a bigger failure of the film?

Have there been times when you are watching a film and there is a side-story interesting enough that makes you say, "wow, that can be a film by itself." Looks like, the makers of Chala Mussaddi - Office Office had a similar epiphany when they were watching Lage Raho Munnabhai's pensioner scene. Unfortunately, they have made an awfully pale tale out of it.

A tale that a talent like Pankaj Kapoor couldn't do anything to help. I look forward to Pankaj Kapoor films and somehow even as I watched the trailer of Chala Mussaddi - Office Office, I cringed at the stereotypical babu (bureaucrat) representation.

The irony is that had I heard just the concept, it would have excited me. I don't think there can be enough films made about how deeply engrained corruption is. But we don't really want our films to be an exaggerated and repetitive staging of reality.

The characters are all caricatures and the regular amount of disgust-inducing. While I liked the fact that the same actors appeared in various roles, there was no theme to it and soon that too became boring.

The one good thing about the film is that characters don't suddenly transform. The good-for-nothings and dishonest remain so. No amount of speeches and appeals move the hard-hearted bureaucrats.

It can also be said that the climax is sort-of, kind-of redeeming because of the circular reference it gets into. Also, it takes the action to a high after the recurring theme of Mussaddi going from office to office to get what is rightfully his in the first place. But, then again the answer is too idealistic and simplistic.

Then again, maybe the solution is simple. Maybe our work against corruption starts at home with simple things. Maybe the point is to not let the problem become so big that we have to stage a theatrical climax as our solution. Sorry to digress though, these thoughts of mine are despite this inconsequential film.

- meeta, a part of the audience

27 reviewers^(?) - 5 yays 3 so-so 19 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Smita, Desi Martini : ...The Common Man's fight ... full review

Thumbs up, Free Press Journal : ...Despite the weak and repetitive links, the film is kept going by the cast's sterling efforts in rising beyond the script. ... full review

Thumbs up, by Nupur Barua, fullhyd.com : ...Pankaj Kapoor plays his role with ease, and showcases his talent as a retired school teacher. ... full review

Thumbs up, by Pankaj Sabnani, Glamsham.com : ...Gaurav Kapoor acts really well.... full review

Thumbs up, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ...The good news is Mussaddi isn't alone anymore. The Anna brigade is firmly behind him. ... full review

So-So, by Anna Vetticad, annavetticadgoes2themovies : ...The strength of Chala Mussaddi, as in the case of the serial, is that its point is conveyed through humour with scenes and dialogues that are deliberately exaggerated yet not of the slapstick variety.... full review

So-So, by Bobby Sing, Bobby Talks Cinema.com : ...As a film its just an extension of the serial but as a moral lesson it should be shown in every Government Office, School, College and Hospital with a compulsory attendance... full review

So-So, by Sonia Chopra, Sify Movies : ...Some dialogues have the cutting edge of the TV series.... full review

Thumbs down, by Nikhil Kumar, Apun Ka Choice : ...repetitive... full review

Thumbs down, by Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama : ...CHALA MUSSADDI OFFICE OFFICE releases at a time when corruption and bribery are piping hot topics, but the impact it ought to make is missing... full review

Thumbs down, by Charu Mahesh, Buzz in Town : ...The situations look familiar, specially the hospital scene and the main plot of ‘proving Mussaddi alive’ is a repetition of the TV serial. ... full review

Thumbs down, Daily Bhaskar : ...Rajiv Mehra should realise that TV and films are two different mediums. Even if he was thinking of transforming a tele-series into a film, he should have taken extra care of the smaller nuisances.... full review

Thumbs down, by Ankur Pathak, Desi Martini : ...More a Stage-show than Film... full review

Thumbs down, by Payal Khanna, Desi Martini : ...Good ideas dont work without innovations! ... full review

Thumbs down, by Aniruddha Guha, DNA : ...not a patch on the TV show... full review

Thumbs down, by Divya Solgama, Gomolo.in : ...Pankaj Kapur is an ace actor and when he did this serial he took black comedy to another level. Out here too he does his part with total conviction. But the half baked role does not support him.... full review

Thumbs down, by Shubhra Gupta, indian express : ...Satire needs sharpness, or it can just end up as a stretched out sit-com : Mussaddi Lal is saying things we all need to hear, but the film manages to make the cut only some of the time. ... full review

Thumbs down, by Komal Nahta, koimoi : ...Deven Bhojani acts very well. Manoj Pahwa shines. Sanjay Mishra is first-rate. Hemant Pandey is efficient. Asawari Joshi leaves a mark. Gaurav Kapur does a fair job.... full review

Thumbs down, by Shubha Shetty-Saha, MiD DAY : ...Gaurav Kapoor as the son is very good. The rest of the cast -- the corrupt gang of Asawari Joshi, Sanjay Mishra, Deven Bhojani, Manoj Pahwa etc. -- perform well.... full review

Thumbs down, Mixed Bag : ...Gaurav Kapoor is quite good, easily identifiable and the only prominent actor except for Pankaj Kapur in CMOO who doesn’t seem like an exaggerated narration... full review

Thumbs down, Movie Talkies : ...Kapur puts on a master class in acting every time he's on screen in any film and it's the same here, with his helpless and hopefulness in the worst of circumstances coming across in every scene.... full review

Thumbs down, by Saibal Chatterjee, NDTV : ...Pankaj Kapur, as competent as ever but for a lost cause... full review

Thumbs down, by Mansha Rastogi, Now Running.com : ...There are a few jokes here and there that too a few giggles but they don't have a lasting effect and the weight of sitting through the entire film comes down heavy on the audience.... full review

Thumbs down, by Preeti Arora, Rediff : ...Apart from Mussaddi Lal and his son Bunty, the entire cast behaves in an idiotic fashion bordering on lunacy. Mussaddi Lal's interactions with the bureaucracy give an impression of a clown entering a circus ring. ... full review

Thumbs down, by K N Gupta, SmasHits.com : ...editing by Manish Jaitly needed to be tighter and Ashwini Dhir a little more specific in his script.... full review

Thumbs down, by Reel Reptile, Upper Stall : ...Pankaj Kapoor is, well, Pankaj Kapoor and he makes it hard to not feel for him inspite of the juvenile characters that surround him.... full review

Thumbs down, by SpiceZee Bureau, Zee News : ...But the problem lies when the saga becomes unending with numerous twists and turns. ... full review

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This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

Mussaddi Lal (Pankaj Kapoor) stops getting his pension. Chala Mussaddi - Office Office is an attempt to engage us in his fight to start getting his pension again.

What Worked

The length - the yawns stop in about 100 minutes.
The different situations that a common man goes through.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

Almost everything actually, anyway here's what I remember.