Movie Review - Jagga Jasoos by Suhel Johar.

Jagga Jasoos Is An Unique Experimental Musical Film That Takes You On A Roller Coaster Ride of Entertainment.

Almost all standard Bollywood film or a standard Bollywood masala film is like a musical, some films featuring even up to 10 songs.  The very genre, however, encompasses much more than song and dance routines.  With Jagga Jasoos we see the entry of musicals in Bollywood. 

Musical as a genre hasn't been explored enough in Bollywood and in a way; Jagga Jasoos is one of the few films that presents it wonderfully. However, one can't deny the fact that it may not be everybody's cup of tea. The film targets a niche audience, which enjoys regular bursts of music and / or experimental storytelling. Thus the narrative and overall presentation is a breakaway from what we usually get to see in Bollywood.

Jagga Jasoos is the story of Jagga, a boy with a pronounced stutter, who is adopted by Prof. Badal Bagchi aka Badluck Bagchi aka Tutty Futty (Saswata Chatterjee), and taught to sing to be able to communicate. But Bagchi is involved in a very sinister plot and vanishes without warning Jagga leaving him behind at a boarding school. Unsolved mysteries intrigue him and he starts helping the local police inspector in solving cases. Shruti (Katrina Kaif) is a school teacher cum part time journalist who narrates Jagga’s stories to kids. Jagga, who has grown into an intrepid boy detective, enlists the help of a clumsy Shruti, to help him search for his foster father.

The film begins in West Bengal in the mid-nineties, opening with the infamous Puralia arms-drop incident that made headlines at the time. From there Jagga Jasoos evolves into a rollicking adventure through Manipur, taking a pit stop in Kolkata, before moving to picturesque locations in Africa.

There’s a good film and a solid story somewhere in Jagga Jasoos, but it can be only accessed beneath its layers of indulgence, confusion and ambition. Jagga Jasoos is caught in a bog of its own making.

The vision is admirable but the execution is indulgent. Basu stuffs the narrative with too many ideas and as a result the film is an overlong mess. After opening nicely with charming scenes between a young Jagga and the father figure he knows as ‘Tutti Futti’, the film piles on the pounds. A track in which Jagga solves the mystery of a school teacher’s death plays on far too long, and the continuing subplot about spies and arms dealers is drawn-out and distracting. There’s a rogue intelligence officer (Saurabh Shukla), bumbling cops, and even a reference to Subhash Chandra Bose and the Independence struggle. Basu also throws in a two-headed villain for good measure, by which point I suppose it’s fair to make the joke that just one focused head would’ve been enough to fix the problems with this film’s script. The sound mixing and design is very amateur. There are moments in Jagga Jasoos when the sound just doesn't seem right for the scene at all. Same goes for the VFX which is brilliant in some parts and lacklustre in others.

Jagga Jasoos is never more than the sum of its parts. The film’s heart – the moving father-son dynamic – is buried somewhere under all the manic Tintin-like adventure and the sensory overload it triggers. Another major confusion being the locations, in one moment it’s Moynaguri, the next moment it’s Purulia and then Manipur’s Ukhrul. At times it’s difficult to make out where they are.

The film does not have any narrative dialogue. Ranbir from his young age stammers and he is comfortable only while singing and conveying the message. So, it might be a little annoying or boring to a few sections of audiences as the film has about 29 songs. Jagga Jasoos has too many detailing, and the script loses its core plot time and again which is a major drawback because of which it does not have engagement factor convincingly.

Anurag Basu takes you on a musical adventurous journey. A sing along musicals are a Hollywood forte. Hindi films may have their share of singing and dancing, but to have a full blown musical with very little spoken dialogue, is a unique and rare proposition. Anurag Basu's Jagga Jasoos is a certified Disney powered children's musical film. Sadly, it's not as polished as usual Disney products. Full marks to the filmmaker for trying, but this whimsical adventure story panning across continents is not exactly as good as it could have been.

The film does begin on a promising note and manages to capture your attention. However, it tends to stretch at the beginning of the second half and it could be tiring to hold your patience from here on. From an ambitious film it starts getting transformed into an exhausting musical. A little more effort was needed on the film’s editing. Jagga Jasoos loses its audience somewhere in the second half.

Sing along musicals are a Hollywood forte. Hindi films may have their share of singing and dancing, but to have a full blown musical with very little spoken dialogue, is a unique and rare proposition. Anurag Basu's Jagga Jasoos is a certified Disney powered children's musical film. Sadly, it's not as polished as usual Disney products. Full marks to the filmmaker for trying, but this whimsical adventure story panning across continents is not exactly as good as it could have been. Clocking in at 2 hours and 49 minutes, much of what’s good in the film is lost amidst the many indulgences.

Writer- Director Anurag Basu’s own fertile imagination combined with the ability to take on an ambitious but certainly risky project certainly earns him brownie points. But the director in his attempt to keep the creative juices flowing loses track of the plot at times. Going overboard is another pitfall Basu should have avoided. Unfortunately, Basu could not that manage it at many places.

S. Ravi Varman’s outstanding cinematography creates magic, as we explore scenic parts of Morocco, Thailand and the gorgeous north eastern parts of India through his perfect frames. Each shot fills the screen with stunning colours and vivid sights. Cinematography is certainly one of the key highlights of this film, which makes it visually stunning. Akiv Ali’s slackness of editing is a major flaw. Production Design by Rajat Poddar and Art Direction by Parijat Poddar is good. Lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya are good and go well with the film.  

Pritam’s music is inventive and infectious; and the film’s format really gives the composer an opportunity to fly. The songs are quirky and fast and are quite capable of whisking you away into the make-believe world of Jagga Jasoos. Songs Galti Se Mistake and the rap song Khaana Khaake are the pick of the lot from the album. Pritams’s background score is effective.

Performance wise, Ranbir Kapoor is spontaneous and full of energy. He has come up with a stellar act and proves yet again why  he is considered as one of the finest actors of today’s generation.  RK as Jagga is a pure delight to watch on screen. Katrina Kaif as Shruti looks adorable but as a performer she is just about average. Adah Sharma has nothing much to do in the film. From amongst the rest of the cast, Saswata Chatterjee as Professor Bagchi is excellent, Rajatava Dutta as police inspector, Saurabh Shukla as the antagonist and Govinda in a cameo are good.

On the whole, Jagga Jasoos brings to Bollywood a much needed genre – musicals and despite its drawbacks is a good one time watch.

 

 

 

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