Chala Mussaddi - Office Office (Hindi)
Release Date:
August 05, 2011Retired schoolmaster Mussaddi Lal Tripathi, the quintessential "Common Man" troubled by his wife's serious illness takes her to the hospital where the utter negligence and vested interests of the doctors result in her untimely death. Mussaddi then along with his young unemployed, drifter son, Bunty he sets out for his pilgrimage to the four Holy sites for the immersion of his wife's ashes.
In his absence, pension officers arrive at Mussaddi's house to enquire his status. Musaddi's neighbour Gupta tells them that Mussaddi has gone far away, and the Pension Officers interpret that Mussaddi Lal has expired, and report him dead in their files.
When Mussaddi returns he discovers to his utter shock that he is dead according to Government Files. He tries his heart out to make the Pension Office staff believe that he is alive, but they are not convinced at all as they want proper proof. Mussaddi Lal bemused and dejected by the irony of the situation sets out on his mission to gather proof that he is alive while the Pension Office employees resolve that whatever proof Mussaddi brings they will not allow him to be officially alive since they have already mopped up his pension money.
Mussaddi decides to revolt in his own way and decides to take the law in his hands. ......
Does Mussaddi finally get his justice or does he remain a dead victim of the bureaucracy? Can Mussaddi overcome the corrupt system and its officials and be triumphant, and alive, if so how?
Even though, to an extent, the film tries to mirror the sheer haplessness and delicious satire associated with the now-cult Khosla ka Ghosla, the makers may have missed a crucial trick or two as far as authenticity (production design) and characters go. And that, (un)fortunately, is where the strength of most capital-based films lies.
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.
A movie is different from a TV series by the very fine line distinguishing them from each other. Little does the storywriter care to pay attention to this fact. He tries recreating the magic of the sitcom “Office Office” from the good old Doordarshan days in a 111-minute movie. He tries cementing a social message in this poor imitation resulting in neither a “3 Idiots” nor a “Double Dhamaal”.