Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai, directed by Rumy Jafry, is a satire on the corruption in today’s society. India has been plagued by the issue of corruption from time immemorial and this film is an earnest attempt by the Director to seize the moment and issue a war cry to the masses to rise up against corruption, but of course Bolly style! Given the latest fad in Bollywood to cash upon yesterday’s headlines, a feature film dedicated to fighting corruption is very much on the expected lines.

The story revolves around Bharat (Akshaye Khanna), the common man, a cashier and a part time Hanuman at the local Ram Leela. Residing in the city of Bhopal, he lives with his father Shivnarayan (Satish Kaushik) and is married to Nisha (Shriya Saran), a school teacher. A politician wants to set up a room in the Bharat’s (Akshaye Khanna) house for his election office. Bharat refuses to entertain the corrupt politician’s demands. To teach Bharat a lesson, the politician's supporters embroil him in a bureaucratic nightmare where he is forced to retrieve a table fan, supposedly stolen from him, by bribing his way through the judicial system.

What seems very odd is that the main protagonist has to get hold of a fan, that doesn’t belong to him in the first place. After pleasing many lawyers, thieves, witnesses and policemen, Bharat finally manages to take into custody, the fan! All through this, the viewer is subjected to immense torture. After the interval, one would expect this common man to blow up and fight injustice but no such thing happens. The comical flow continues as he tries to rid himself of the said fan and lands in a far bigger bowl of soup. Beyond a point, attempts by the Director to induce laughter over Bharat’s misery becomes plain monotonous and as the viewer, you can only wish your misery gets over soon!

The central theme of the film based on corruption and the film as such has the scope to transcend the run of the mill films that Bollywood churns out every day. What could have been a completely new wine in a new bottle turns out to be a rather cheap imitation of a high class product, but in an expensive package. Incorporating Ram Leela in the background of the film was a good move, but alas, the full potential of the Ram Leela analogy ( Ram is Ravan in real life and vice versa) or Akshaye’s character Bharat as metaphor for India remains un utilized. Director Jafry was clearly not interested in touching on these themes deeply. The common man's rage, which you expect to enthrall you, doesn't happen right until the end of the film. But by then, you are in a semi-comatose state where you are waiting to clap in delight that the film is over!

The timing of the film couldn't have been more correct, with the public mood so intently focused on corruption. That, sadly, is the only good thing one can appreciate about this film. Otherwise, mediocre writing, insipid direction and sincere but ineffective acting spoils the soup. When you do laugh, you don’t laugh at the jokes, but at the churlish attempt to make the scene funny! The film simply drowns in its own incompetence. It neither mesmerizes you, nor does it entertain you. Gali Gali Chor Hai is a sure Cant Watch!