Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro

Professional photographers Sudhir Mishra and Vinod Chopra open a studio in the prestigious Haji Ali area, and hope to make enough money to keep it running. After a disastrous start, they are given some work by the editor of "Khabardar", a publication that exposes the scandalous lives of the rich and the famous. They accept it and start working with the editor herself, Shobha Singh. They also decide to enter their name in a contest to win Rs.5000/- and take a number of photographs all over the city. In one of the photographs they see a man with a gun. Upon enlarging it, they find out that the killer is none other than builder Tarneja. Upon further investigation they find out that he has killed Municipal Commissioner D'Mello and left his body behind some bushes. Before the duo could get to the body, it disappears. Disappointed the hapless duo continue working with Shobha. Then they find out where the body is with Tarneja's rival builder, Ahuja. They locate it and take a number of photographs of the corpse, and wheel it with them with the hopes of exposing Tarneja. They provide this information to Shobha, who in turn starts to blackmail Tarneja, who in turn plants a bomb to kill her and her two associates - but unfortunately the bomb explodes right in the face of Tarneja and his employees' faces. Then the duo take the corpse, and wheel it with them, but not before Tarneja, Ahuja, the new Mun. Comm. Srivastava, Shobha and others also get involved - resulting in a comic mix-up with burkha-clad woman. The climax is set upon a stage dramatization of Mahabharat, which hilariously turns into the ill-fated romance of Salim and Anarkali - with the corpse taking the part of Draupadi and Anarkali, and the vile Duryodan pledging to save Drupadi;s honor at any cost!! What will be the fate of the corpse and our hapless heroes is only seen to be believed!!!

The Mahabharata scene is considered to be one of the major highlights of the film, and has been praised for its humour.[7]

• Naseeruddin Shah as Vinod Chopra
• Ravi Baswani as Sudhir Mishra
• Om Puri as Ahuja, a corrupt contractor
• Pankaj Kapur as Tarneja, a corrupt contractor who murders the Municipal Commissioner
• Satish Shah as D'Mello, Municipal Commissioner
• Bhakti Barve as Shobha Sen, editor of the "Khabardar" magazine (Dubbing by Anita Kanwar)
• Rajesh Puri as Kamdar, assistant editor of the magazine "Khabardar"
• Satish Kaushik as Ashok Namboodirippad, Tarneja's assistant
• Neena Gupta as Priya, Tarneja's Secretary
• Deepak Qazir as Srivastav, Assistant Municipal Commissioner
• Zafar Sanjari
• Ashok Banthia as Reporter
• Vidhu Vinod Chopra as theater actor playing Dushasana
• Anupam Kher. voiceover for Architect Tulyaani at construction site
• Ajay Wadhavkar, Police Constable under the bridge

The film was not immediately successful at the box office when released, but was eventually regarded as a cult classic, which is reflected in a recent comment by Indian Express that the film's high recall value even after 37 years, is due to "it(s) superb satirical depiction of the essential, timeless, human condition: supreme self-interest versus some moral/ethical anchor. What made the depiction particularly powerful was its setting: India of the early '80s".[8]

A digitally restored print of the film was released on 2 November 2012 at selected theaters.[9] The film opened to an enthusiastic welcome from the media[10][11] and discerning filmgoers.

• 1984 : Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director: Kundan Shah[12]
• 32nd Filmfare Awards
  • Won Filmfare Best Comedian Award: Ravi Baswani
  • Nominations
    • Best Movie - NFDC
    • Best Director - Kundan Shah
    • Best Comic Actor - Satish Shah

• Blow-Up, a 1966 English-language film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni in which a photographer believes he may have witnessed a murder and unwittingly takes photographs of the killing, was an inspiration for Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro.[13][14] The filmmakers paid homage to Blow-Up by naming the park in which the murder occurs "Antonioni Park".
• The names of the lead characters – Vinod Chopra and Sudhir Mishra – came from film directors Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sudhir Mishra, who were assisting Kundan Shah in the movie.[15] Sudhir Mishra co-wrote the script and assisted in directing the movie, while Vidhu Vinod Chopra was the production controller of the film.
• Vidhu Vinod Chopra played Dushasana in the Mahabharata play in the climax of the movie. He also played a photographer in the first half of the film, where a group of journalists interviews Tarneja, played by Pankaj Kapoor.

• Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro: Seriously Funny Since 1983, by Jai Arjun Singh. 2010. Harpercollins India. ISBN 978-93-5029-022-4.

• Assassinations in fiction

• What makes a perfect comedy?
• Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro at IMDb
• Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro at Rotten Tomatoes