phir democracy kaa faaydaa kyaa hai

Film : Baat Ban Jaaye

Year of release : 1986

Spoken by : Mr Singh (Utpal Dutt)

Spoken to : Aruna (Aruna Irani)

Dialogue writer : Dr Rahi Masoom Raza

Mr Singh is Nisha Singh (Zeenat Aman)'s uncle. He is trying to hook her up with a poor boy. After his second attempt fails, as the poor 'boy' Yashwant Bhonsle (Amol Palekar) hits paydirt with his latest invention, he goes to Hyderabad to search for the next target. 

He is sitting in the lobby of the hotel in Hyderabad with Aruna and remarks 

"छी छी अरुणा, ये कहाँ आ गए हैं हम. आधे घंटे से ढूंढ रहा हूँ. एक भी ग़रीब नज़र नहीं आया. फिर डिमॉक्रसी का फ़ायदा क्या है?"

"chhi chhi Aruna, ye kahaa.n aa gaye hai.n ham. aadhe ghanTe se DhoonDh rahaa hoo.n, ek bhi Gareeb nazar nahee.n aayaa.

phir democracy kaa faaydaa kyaa hai?"

Of course, he finds more 'Gareeb' targets as the comedy develops further. This could have been a great film with a younger star cast. Apart from Mithun, all the other actors were well past their prime. One of the cast actually died during the making. It affects the timing. And comedy is all about timing. If this film was made with the same cast in 1977, it would have been in a different league. 

Satire in Hindi film is rare. And in the hands of a master craftsman like Rahi Masoom Razaa, it does create the desired effect.