Review: JUGNI

A Brilliant Start. A Spectacular Fall.

2.5 stars


Mini Review:

To watch the beginning of the film was a joy one has seldom experienced. The music is superlative and it has to be, because the film is about a music producer in search of that elusive melody that will make her famous. But the story soon loses its edge and become so bad bollywood, you begin to squirm in the seat and watch the disaster slowly unfold in front of you.


Main Review:

What amazing music this film offers you. What an amazing premise: A dream to bring music from the unknown villages and mix it and fix it to modern instrumentation and bring it to modern audiences! To watch it unfold on the big screen was a pleasure. 

A girl and her backpack leave the comfort of home and relationships going nowhere to the land of sarson ka saag and makke di roti in search of that elusive sound which makes a difference to her belief in music. She meets so many characters who are as colorful as the music they make. She is adamant. She is looking for Bibi Swaroop who sings sufi music. This is where Bibi Swaroop's son ensnares her with his voice. He's Master Mastana who sings lewd shaadi songs, songs for heartbreak, songs to insult too. His main man is Jeeta Jazbati who can play just about every instrument there is.

Now the girl from Mumbai produces a laptop and recording paraphernalia which sort of freezes Bibi who has a voice of the angels. Mastana has a plan. They ask for blessings from a baba whose mazaar is a journey away. Now this journey is momentous for the two of them. Although the music is phenomenal, this is where the downfall begins.

The story has a huge potential. The mother sings beautiful traditional songs, and the son accompanies her but reluctantly. The mother teases him about selling his talent to shaadi songs, but knows that the money to run the household comes from the 'modern' songs. By introducing a 'Let's have the hero and heroine get into a passionate one night stand and let's twist the way the two feel'

Aah, the Twist. The ordinary Bollywood movie of the 70s would have the 'pardesi' leave the village girl pining after him, with the subsequent insult to the girl and her family, then the girl comes to the city in search of the pardesi... The stories were so boring and predictable you were glad the seventies and eighties were over.

Unfortunately, this film becomes just one of those stories, and you walk out wondering why they could not stay edgy...