Very soon to ‘Dasvi’which should ideally be spelled “Dasveen” to match “chandra-bindu” in the word, Ganga Ram Chaudhary (Abhishek Bachchan), Chief Minister of the “eighth pass” Harit Pradesh (representing Haryana, given the number of Jat accents and jokes ) is in prison.

Kya prison hello, sirjee. It gives the impression of a modest resort, where Chaudhary sports in a room with mod cones and aids, which is supervised by an obedient jailer (Manu Rishi Chaddha). All the prisoners are orderly and well-mannered, no gangs, no admissions committee, no frightening sense of imprisonment. No one is a bit; grunge and grime are carefully kept out of sight. The only one barking at orders is the newly arrived prison warden Jyoti Deswal (Yami Gautam) and they all go in line, except, of course, our hero, who roars when one fine day he starts purring. She too. Padhaai-likhaai to the rescue, understand?

Alert viewers capture attempts at subversion through cunning excavations. Here are some examples. “Fit India, hit India, so jao India, jaag jao India” is such a waste of time, the character claims. Another is called “international” and another “liberal ki aulaad”. For a film that has a new stamping on top ‘dasvi The pass of a politician whose election plan is “education free” is in itself a very subversive idea given the current state of the nation. Nehru and Gandhi find a mention; as well as the famous revolutionaries and freedom fighters. The cowardly babu (Chittranjan Tripathy), who served Chaudhary and is now busy serving his wife, is the target of bureaucrats who are not good jokes, and a few of them land.

But in the way it’s played, mixed signals come to the fore, these things get lost. Furious Khap leaders swallow “mixed marriages”, giving Chaudhary a chance to fight “jaatiwaad ka jahar (zeher)”: everything will be done in an instant, without any rebounds. This is not the only fairytale element. In a few days, our hero will gather around his faithful tribe, who will start teaching him lessons about trials and life: a vertically handicapped man (Arun Kushwah), a friendly librarian (Danish Hussain), who is serving a sentence for “copying expensive books”. What?

Like Bimmo alias Bimla Devi, who quickly learns to play political games and goes from tacky salwaar-kameez to stylish saris and expensive handbags, Nimrat Kaur gets his oar right into the game. Too bad the plot depicts a little villain: why not? does he have the right to be ambitious? Abhishek Bachchan he has the rare gift of not being taken seriously, and he’s a perfect fit for the character he’s playing: it’s a pity that the material never fully knows whether it’s an exaggerated parody or a sharp comedy with a realistic overlap. For the film, which wants to nod to inclusiveness and gender enhancement with the “female logo” as figures of authority, Nimrat and Yami are limited to the state nearby (the latter even joined the club of cheerleaders), while Bachchan gets all the smart lines.

Will Bimmo be able to seriously attack the course? Maybe it can be a pin for ‘Baarveen’. That would be an idea, madam.

Dasvi film cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Yami Gautam, Nimrat Kaur, Manu Rishi Chaddha, Danish Hussain, Arun Kushwah, Chittranjan Tripathi
Dasvi film director: Tushar Jalota
Dasvi movie rating: 2.5 stars