Zoinks! It's a gh-gh-gh-gh-Gandhi!

Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) is one of Bollywood's indirect sequels; several of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S's cast members return, but the only recurring characters are Munna and his faithful friend Circuit, and there are no references to the events of the previous movie.  It's also a solid improvement over the original film, which was already pretty good.

Regardless of continuity, Munna (Sanjay Dutt) is always Munna, a charming gangster who make shis living kidnapping people for profit and clearing houses at the behest of crooked real estate developer Lucky Singh (Boman Irani.)  As always, Munna is assisted and supported by his loyal right hand man Circuit (Arshad Warsi.)  They're not exactly gangsters with hearts of gold; the pair are funny, even affable, but they still make their living through the judicious application of violence, and they aren't sorry about it.

Munna's a bit distracted these days, because he's fallen in love with the voice of radio DJ Jhanvi (Vidya Balan.).  Munna refuses to work during her show, instead sitting by ocean and listening while Circuit handles all of their criminal duties.  So when Jhanvi announces a Gandhi trivia contest, with the winner having the chance to meet her in person, Munna has to win.

As always, Circuit makes it happen, organizing a phone bank to flood the lines so that no one else can get through and a small collection of kidnapped history professors to feed Munna the correct answers.  (The professors are sent home with a collection of nice prizes afterwards.)  Munna wins, obviously, and when he meets Jhanvi and she asks him what he does for a living, he blurts out that he's a history professor.  Jhanvi is delighted, and invites Munna to deliver a lecture to the residents of the retirement home she hosts at her house.  Before Circuit can stop him, Munna agrees.

There's no obvious way to cheat his way through a lecture, so Munna decides he has to learn something about Gandhi.  He heads to the library for five days of intensive study, and within a few days, he can see a vision of Gandhi (Dilip Prabhavalkar), who agrees to help him in exchange for a price to be named later. Nobody else can see Gandhi, though Circuit politely pretends. (Gandhi is quick to point out that he is not a ghost or a spirit, he is "inspiration."  This will be important later.)  With Gandhi's help, Munna delivers a rough but stirring lecture, impressing Jhanvi in the process.  Things are going well, and then Gandhi names his price: Munna must tell Jhanvi the truth about who he is.  Munna refuses, and Gandhi leaves, promising to return when he's called.

Meanwhile, Circuit has accepted a job from Lucky Singh to clear out an old folk's home.  Lucky needs the land as a gift, or perhaps dowry, for the future father in law (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) of his daughter Simran (Dia Mirza.)  Of course it's Jhanvi's house, but Circuit doesn't realize that.  Lucky does, however, so he offers to send Munna, Jhanvi, and all of the home's residents on a trip to Goa; after they're gone he quietly sends Circuit to clear out the house and take possession.

Munna and Jhanvi have a wonderful time.  He's about to propose when she gets the call that the house has been seized, so everybody hurries back.  There are legal remedies but they would take years, and if Munna tries his usual extortion on Lucky, his secret will come out, so only Gandhi can help them.  Gandhi promises to help, as long as Munna makes up with Circuit.  He does, and the dispossessed old folks begin a campaign of "Gandhigiri," camping out on the street in front of Lucky's house while Munna and Jhanvi host a radio show offering Gandhilike advice to the people who call in.  The show becomes a huge hit, and Munna and Jhanvi ask their fans to send flowers to their friend Lucky along with messages urging him to "Get Well Soon," because dishonesty is a disease but they will be there for him until he recovers.

Lucky makes Munna a fairly generous counteroffer and when Munna refuses, threatens to reveal the truth to Jhanvi at seven o'clock the following morning.  Gandhi offers Munna the only possible advice in that situation: tell her first.  he does, she slaps him and leaves, and suddenly Lucky is dealing with a determined (if peaceful) protest from a man with nothing to lose.  And the radio show is such a hit that Munna is allowed to keep doing it even without Jhanvi.  The only problem is that Munna told Lucky about Gandhi, and in a battle of public perception, knowing your opponent is getting advice from his imaginary friend is one heck of a weapon.

Lage Raho Munna Bhai was written in part as an attempt to rekindle public interest in Gandhi and his teachings.  And it worked!  The film sparked a wave of Gandhigiri style protests against various injustices across India and in the US, and many of them were successful.  The film also prompted a rise in public service projects by young people.  It's a good movie in the artistic sense, but it's also a good movie in the moral sense, in that it inspired actual people to do good in the real world.

It's still a movie, though, and the characters need to be as interesting as the politics.  Munna and Circuit start out as charming rogues living a life of apparently consequence free crime.  Their violent antics are funny up until the point when they are not, and they have to face the people they've hurt.  Fortunately Gandhi is here to help with that, too, and he gives some pretty solid advice.  Tell the truth.  Say "sorry" when you've hurt someone, and mean it.  let yourself be vulnerable, and take care of the people you love.  Caring about people and being open and honest with the ones you love is presented as an act of courage, a challenge that our heroes learn to meet.  Turns out this Gandhi fellow has some good ideas.