Madhur Bhandarkar is getting too repetitive and as a result, Jail turned out to be a drag.
Bhandarkar's banal way of storytelling has lost its appeal and originality. Consequently, Jail is boring, tediously slow, extremely clichéd (the bane of our movies) and way too predictable.
The story doesn't need an elaboration, but the situation Neil Nitish Mukesh's character finds himself in isn't one that garners sympathy. You feel sorry for him because he is falsely accused, but the cops don't know that and they gotta investigate. Only he and his roommate (who goes into a comma) know that the drugs found in his car weren't his. But it was his car; hence, he is an offender. So his having to go to prison makes sense. You don't feel the kind of sympathy for him that the director wants you to feel.
Life in prison is shown at its worst, but then being in prison is supposed to suck. What was ironic was showing inmates getting together to pray to God. OK, we have killed a few people but now please get us out of this hellhole so that we can be nice for a week and then start killing again.
Performance-wise, Neil Nitish Mukesh (all three of them ;-)) is very good. His previous films have proved that he is a good actor, and Jail vindicates that. The dude if felt sorry for was Manoj Bajapayee. It was totally sad to see him in a single-expression side role, although it's good to see that he's back in the movies at least. Mughda Godse is unglamorous for a change but doesn't get enough screen time to show her acting prowess. The other characters are the usual bunch of Bhandarkar's real-life-type actors.
Overall, you won't miss anything if you don't go for Jail.
