For a movie that slots itself as comedy/drama, GALI GALI CHOR HAI leaves a sobering impact. In fact, it has you tottering out of the auditorium after having driven home its point with such finesse that it makes you wonder how Rumi Jaffery managed this Houdini act!

While credit must be given to writer-director Rumy Jaffery for focusing on the issue of corruption noble intentions don’t necessarily make a notable work of art. Certainly Gali Gali Chor Hai(GGCH) must have sounded amusing and topical on paper.It is a savagely stinging satire on the harassment of the average law-abiding middleclass man, played with arresting earnestness by Akshaye Khanna, in the hands of various touts, middlemen, law enforcers, goons and politicians all of whom infest the tranquil city of Bhopal with the destructive determination of termites eating into a ‘system’ that has long ceased to be if any consequence , moral or ethical.

The common man might have upgraded from newspapers to television and cinema. But his chronicle continues to remain common. In a country governed by corruption, the common man is still ruled by red-tapism. The maximum that he can do is hurl a shoe at bureaucracy or slap the system. And that’s precisely what the hero of the film does. Beyond that he and his story are as powerless as the common man.

Straight-forward, middle-class fellow up against the big, bad system. `Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai’ pours old wine into a cracked bottle, telling us everything we’ve always known even if we were afraid to ask. Corruption is all pervasive. Public servants—cops, lawyers, netas– do what they know best : extort, harass, intimidate. `Ek thaali, sab chatte batte’. Sigh.

The year 2011 was termed as the year of revolution and yet, in India, revolutions failed to go beyond morchas and candle-light vigils. As the year 2012 kicks off with civic polls in Maharashtra and various states gear up for legislative assembly elections, many groups are trying to speak-up against corruption and bring the political office holders to the book. In April, a man named Anna Hazare gave Indians a hope by demanding a strong Lokpal bill by using Gandhian techniques. And while his bill might render the Lokpal powerful, one can’t help but wonder what would happen if the person appointed Lokpal were to abuse the power bestowed upon him.

Bollywood has seldom come with a film based on the trials and tribulations of the common man. Given the fact that cinema is the reflection of society, the anti-corruption wave led by Gandhian Anna Hazare made some filmmakers realize their greater role in society, who have decided to come out with films that both entertain and send across a strong message to society. Director Rumy Jafry is one such filmmaker whose film deals with the dilemma of the common man. Starring Akshaye Khanna, Shriya Saran, Mugdha Godse, Satish Kaushik and Annu Kapoor, ‘Gali Gali Chor Hai’ is a light-hearted yet realistic take on everyman.

One Up Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.’s Gali Gali Chor Hai (UA) is about the problem of corruption in India and how the common man’s life is affected because of this menace. Bharat (Akshaye Khanna) lives in Bhopal with his wife, Nisha (Shriya Saran), and father, Shivnarayan (Satish Kaushik). Bharat, a straightforward and principled guy, works as a cashier in a bank and also doubles up as Hanuman in the local Ram Leela stage-play because he loves acting. Playing Lord Ram in the play is Tripathi (Amit Mistry) whose elder brother, Manku Tripathi (Murali Sharma), is the local MLA. One day, Tripathi comes to Bharat’s home, asking for a room in his house to be allowed to be used as the election office in the area for his MLA-brother because elections are just around the corner. Since Bharat’s wife is not in favour, he refuses to let Tripathi use the room. Bharat has a paying guest in Amita (Mugdha Godse).

A number of films portraying the common man’s fight against corruption have been attempted in the past. But GALI GALI CHOR HAI arrives at the most opportune time. Corruption is fiercely debated and the most discussed issue today and the fight against corruption has already hit headlines, courtesy social activist and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.

Fade in. Film starts. Camera zooms in on a mysteriously undivided Madhya Pradesh on the Indian map. Either the movie’s set before 2000, or the related stories Meet Veena ‘Channo’ Malik Satish Kaushik as common man in Gali Gali Chor Hai Don’t want to associate with every film: Akshaye Khanna filmmakers don’t know better. Singer Kailash Kher cranks up the volume with a noisy song that suitably goes, “Corruption, corruption, corruption ka shor hai,” referring to how those who should’ve stayed back in Chambal live in Delhi now. The person you probably think of is bandit queen Phoolan Devi – once a member of parliament, now no more.

Anchored in the David Dhawan-style of filmmaking, director Rumy Jafry turns a new leaf in this career with Gali Gali Chor Hai, in which he casts a satirical eye on the pressing social concern of our times — the common man in the grip of corruption.

Setting up the sort of premise that’s usually treated with a much lighter hand in the popular television sitcom Office Office, the makers of ‘Gali Gali Chor Hai’ construct a well-intentioned but labored tale of the common man’s vulnerability against day-to-day corruption in society.