After watching Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, I've been thinking about other Indian movies that tell stories of corruption and other mishandling of power - whether it's the little guys trying to take on the system, like in this one, or an inside look at the world of the bad and powerful in the government, media, police, military, medicine, education.... The stereotype of Bollywood may be fluffy, but there are certainly films that have a lighthearted touch but discuss difficult or complex themes like this one. Unethical behavior, lying on a grand scale, diverting resources...Bollywood films are definitely capable of covering such ideas in their grand scope.

Two that came to mind are Nayak and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. The new biography of Shahrukh Khan by Anupama Chopra (King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema; several bloggers [myself included] did a round-robin email interview with the author here http://filmiholic.com/2007/07/10/author-blogger-book-discussion-anupama-chopra/) opened my eyes to the box office failure of the latter movie, and I'd love to know more about why it flopped - I liked it, and I thought its interesting topic was handled with moving emotion (and some good comedy too).

Jaman also has some other NFDC films that touch on corruption and/or its effects: Kasba, Public Enemy, Death of a Doctor, and Krantiveer.

What are some other movies that look at corruption? How is this topic received by different Bollywood audiences? Is there a feature that the successful films have in common?