Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron

In the 1980s an unheralded Hindi movie made on a budget of less than Rs 7 lakh went from a quiet showing at the box office to developing a reputation as India's definitive black comedy. Some of the country's finest theatre and film talents - all at key stages in their careers - participated in its creation but the journey was anything but smooth. Among other things it involved bumping off disco killers and talking gorillas finding air-conditioned rooms for dead rats persuading a respected actor to stop sulking and eat his meals and resisting the temptation to introduce logic into a madcap script. In the end it was worth it. Kundan Shah's Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is now a byword for the sort of absurdist satirical humours that Hindi cinema just hasn't seen enough of. This is the story of how it came to be despite incredible odds - and what it might have been. Jai Arjun Singh's take on the making of the film and its cult following is as entertaining as the film itself.