I would often run out of patience while working on my school projects. Somehow my mom always kept me going by saying, “Hard work always pays off”. And it did, for me.
Thankfully, Anurag Basu‘s Jagga Jasoos has only reaffirmed my faith on that simple life lesson. After several delays and hurdles coming its way, the Ranbir Kapoor–Katrina Kaif film has finally released. And it has turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Shot across several picturesque locations like Darjeeling, Kolkata, Thailand, Morocco and South Africa – this one’s a visual treat. Cinematographer Ravi Varman has weaved magic with his lenses and is unarguably one of the most important assets of Basu’s magnum opus.
Having said that, Jagga Jasoos is a musical and Pritam is its proud torch-bearer. Mad props to him for pulling this one off. The songs are a part of the narrative and are carefully composed to maintain the flow of the story without hampering its pace. A lot of us have watched and loved Hollywood musicals like Mamma Mia and the relatively recent La La Land. Naturally, it’s a great feeling to witness Basu’s commendable attempt.
Now, most importantly, let’s talk about the supremely talented Kapoor boy aka Jagga. He rocks the Tin Tin-inspired look and gives the audience enough to fall in love with him again (IF you ever fell out of love with him that is).
Jagga dotes on his missing father and often opts to beat box and sing ballads instead of talking to be able express himself better and avoid his stammering. He is a sucker for detective novels like Feluda, Sherlock Holmes etc and is blessed with some impressive investigative skills. So when he’s informed about his father Badal Bagchi‘s death, he refuses to believe the news and embarks on a journey to find him instead.
Jagga always longs for his baba – Tutti Futti (played wonderfully by seasoned Bengali actor, Saswata Chatterjee – remember Bob Biswas from Kahani?). So when he comes across an equally klutzy Shruti Sengupta (a Kolkata-based investigative journalist played by Kat), there’s an instant connect between the two. Both of them set off for a series of misadventures, solving several mysteries about illegal arms trade. While Ranbir carries the film on his shoulders, Katrina lends a strong support throughout, barring a few sequences.
Written by Basu himself, the tale keeps you intrigued during most of the film’s duration. But that’s got less to do with the story and more to do with the visuals, music and star cast. Akiv Ali‘s editing could’ve been slightly more tighter in order to keep the narrative swifter as it starts dragging towards the end of this long movie.
But nonetheless, I had loved Ranbir-Anurag’s previous outing Barfi! and now, I love Jagga Jassoos as much if not more. Kudos to the director for putting his heart, soul and years in making one of the most experimental films in the history of Indian cinema. Brownie points to him for ending it with a rather interesting cliffhanger.
The PR team of Jagga Jasoos has sent out notes requesting us not to give out any spoilers. So I am going to end this here (because I am sweet).
So guys, buy your tickets and hop on for a helluva ride filled with adventures and emotions this weekend.