A Gandhian-gangster-comedy. This may sound like a strange genre for a film, but that it precisely what Lage Raho Munna Bhai endeavours to be.

Munna bhai, a Mumbai based goon who had barely heard of the Gandhi, unwittingly ends up as an expert on the Mahatma after entering a Gandhi Radio Quiz to impress his love interest. All of a sudden Mahatma Gandhi himself appears, multitasking as a relationships councillor and conflict resolution expert, with remarkable success!

The film is a sequel to 'Munnabhai M.B.B.S', a comedy in which Munna (Sanjay Dutt) is a Mumbai goon, whose father believes he is a doctor. When his father shows up to visit him in Mumbai, Munna with his loyal friend Circuit (Arshad Warsi) uses every trick in the book to emulate the life of a doctor. Eventually the inevitable happens and all truths are unleashed. Consequently the film was about how Munna earns his father's forgiveness and shows him that though he may not be a doctor, he is a good human being at heart.

The sequel has a lot in common with the first, but far surpasses its predecessor both in terms of humour and substance. Here, Munnabhai once again pretends to be somebody he is not, in this case a university professor. He does this to try and impress a radio show presenter, Jhanvi (Vidya Balan), who he is desperately smitten by. His façade cannot last, and eventually leads to big trouble, solved only by the help of Mahatma Gandhi!

Parallel to the love story, there is Munnabhai's life as a gangster. A friend of Munna's, Lucky Singh (Boman Irani) ends up conning him badly. Munnabhai's initial response was to thrash the living daylight's out of the unscrupulous Lucky Singh. But with his newfound affinity with Mahatma Gandhi, he tries a totally different approach to try and resolve the seemingly irresolvable conflict. In classic Gandhian fashion Munna sets out to try and convince Lucky of the error of his ways. After repeated attempts to do this Munna finally succeeds, thus vindicating the Gandhian methods of conflict resolution.

On the humour front, Lage Raho Munna Bhai really delivers the goods. A lot of the jokes are stupid, but nonetheless you will find yourself laughing almost the whole way through, and rightfully so. The acting was impressive, especially the lead pair played by Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi as Munna and Circuit. I still haven't made my peace with Sanjay Dutt after his implication in the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai (killing over 250), a case which is still pending in the snail paced Indian courts. Nonetheless, it has to be conceded that he really has shone in his role as Munna.

As well as comedy, Lage raho Munna Bhai gives plenty to think about, and will be sure to revive a genuine interest in the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi in at least a few individuals. Interest in Gandhi has waned considerably in modern India, a fact that is alluded to in the film on a number of occasions. Lage Rao Munna Bhai is crafted to try and reverse that trend.

On the whole, Lage Raho Munna Bhai is worthwhile viewing for all, being one of the few films that combine a good laugh with an intelligent message.