Jagga Jasoos BO/Review Thread[Note pg 24] - Page 56

Originally posted by: Ranbirrocks

JAGGA JASOOS REVIEW SIMPLY MAGICAL

• ADMIN
• JUL 14 / 2017
• FEATURED POSTS, MOST POPULAR, REVIEWS
• BARFI, BOLLYWOOD, JAGGA JASOOS, KATRINA KAIF, RANBIR KAPOOR, REVIEW
• 0

During a press interview for Jagga Jasoos, when asked the overly-repeated question of just how he managed to keep the faith in director Anurag Basu throughout the turbulent (putting it lightly) 3-year making of the movie, Ranbir Kapooranswered that despite everything, this f**ker pulls it off man, when you see the product, you're like how did he do it??'.

That is as apt a description as any to describe the magical, fantastical and wondrous cinematic experience that is Jagga Jasoos. The f**ker' just pulled it off. In spite of the many hurdles both personal and professional, constant media scrutiny, arguments, roadblocks, delays and disruptions, somehow the visionary genius that is Anurag Basu just pulled it off. To say the film is worth the wait and all the hype would be a colossal understatement to its achievement.

Jagga Jasoos is nothing short of a modern fairy tale and is in every way a children's film made with a child-like innocence and purity and aimed at reawakening the child in you. It takes you back to a time when things were far less complicated and engulfs you in imagination, joy and wonder. The film beautifully marries Pritam's music and Basu's storytelling such that you can't tell where lyrics end and dialogue begins, where speech halts and song ensues, where staging ceases, and choreography takes over. The film jumps in and out of song so seamlessly that I found it difficult to keep my foot from tapping or head from bobbing almost throughout its run time and I think it's fair to say Amitabh Battacharya's wonderful lyrics deserve a dedicated screenplay credit.

In its musical style, the film has a number of similarities to Edgar Wright's recent Baby Driver and no doubt Basu would have much preferred his film to have released a few weeks earlier for its concept to have more of an impact. That said, it's important to note right off the bat that it certainly isn't for everyone as its concept and unique style will put-off many as most path-breaking, unconventional films usually do. You'll either entirely buy into its whimsical world or be almost immediately alienated by it.

Basu's Jagga Jasoos in inventive, imaginative and umpteen kinds of innovative with jumping timelines, perspectives, and frequently bordering on breaking the fourth wall. Basu has a distinct ability to make the stale cinematic, bringing to life the smallest of moments of human connection in such a lovely manner, the way only the most gifted storytellers can. His film has an enchanting, otherworldly charm in every single aspect from music to narrative to acting to its radiant visuals. Damn, those visuals. In cinematographer Ravi Varman what you get is a true artist who enhances the beauty of locations in a way that, travel as you might, I doubt you'll find these places as alluring in real life as they are in Basu's world.

But the film isn't all rhythmic narrative, visual flair and technical showboating. At its centre, it offers some truly unforgettable and gloriously quirky characters who steal your heart the kind that can only come out of Anurag Basu's colourfully vivid imagination. Particularly by way of Ranbir Kapoor's Jagga who is as endearing as he is enigmatic with Kapoor delivering a performance to remember, doing what only he can. Kapoor is also a producer of the film for which he deserves further applause for championing this kind of cinema while most stars are scared of breaking convention in any way.

Arguably the most pleasant surprise, however, is Katrina Kaif who is actually well cast here and doesn't miss a beat. Now there's something I never thought I'd say. Basu extracts a winning performance from her, doing well to play to her strengths. Both she and the wider of cast courageously commit so entirely to what could have just as easily become a silly mess. Special mention also of Saswata Chatterjee (Kahaani's iconic Bob Biswas) who is heartwarming in his portrayal as Jagga's father. The film also includes one of the most unforgettable cameos from this year which I will leave for you to discover and enjoy. Due credit must also be given to producers Disney who have taken a leap of faith backing this. It's clear no expense was spared in bringing Basu's vision to life and it's not often you see a big studio willing to take a risk such as this, and man has it paid off.

However, the film isn't without its flaws. While it has everything you might think to ask for from a fantastical family adventure and more, from quirky ingenious good guys to two-headed bad guys to giant fruit sling shots and adrenaline-fuelled car chases, between these and the enchanting musical charm, Basu crams in a lot, arguably too much. At a running time of 3 hours, it struggles at points to maintain a consistent level of engagement. However, in Basu's defence, whenever you feel yourself coming out of the film, particularly in the far lengthier second half, he always manages to yank you back in somehow. I imagine, It must be difficult for a director to keep reigned in when you know you're onto something truly special, which Basu clearly was, but a more restrained approach would have certainly done the film some favours.

It's also not the easiest thing to follow with perhaps one too many showdowns to keep the adventure going and the chase on. There's are also a number of jumpy action sequences and moments of poor CGI, but Akiv Alis smart editing manages to cover those up for the most part. These don't, however, take away too much from the magical, musical, fairy tale of an adventure that is the film.

In one of the final scenes, we see Jagga with a deep smile on his face which just refuses to budge one of resounding relief after a long, arduous adventure had. This is a look I'm assuming Ranbir Kapoor shares today and is indeed one I had on my face by the film's end.

Jagga Jasoos is a triumph of imagination and visual storytelling offering a gloriously unforgettable experience, I'm going with four and a half stars.

Originally posted by: Kara_R

Yay for Katrina👏👏👏

Yay for 4.5 stars👏👏👏

Sorry RR, I can't help reading these reviews😳

Originally posted by: .Omkara.

Komal Nahta @KomalNahta

More

Flop #JaggaJasoos is a blot on the reputation of everyone associated with it. Read my review at

JAGGA JASOOS

Posted on July 14, 2017by komalreviews

UTV Motion Pictures and Pictureshuru Entertainment's Jagga Jasoos (UA) is the story of detective Jagga, narrated like a musical opera.

Jagga (Ranbir Kapoor) is a detective, who studies in school. An orphan, he has been raised by Tooti Footi Bagchi (real name Badal Bagchi; Saswata Chatterjee). Right from childhood, Jagga has been stammering. As a child, Bagchi had explained to him that those who stammer while talking don't stammer while singing, and so, he should sing to express himself uninhibitedly. In fact, Jagga has gotten over his problem to a large extent by singing more than talking.

Unknown to little Jagga, Bagchi had been an eyewitness to arms being airdropped at Purulia in West Bengal. In fact, it was soon after witnessing the airdrop of arms by illegal arms dealer Bashir Alexandra that Bagchi had been seriously injured by the wrongdoers and saved by little Jagga. Bagchi had adopted Jagga soon after recovering. Bagchi had gone away after some time, promising to return.

But years had passed and Bagchi hadn't returned. Jagga's only connection with Bagchi over the years had been the annual wishes which the latter used to send him on his birthday. Jagga had grown up to be a handsome young lad who was a sharp detective.

One day, Jagga meets Shruti Sengupta (Katrina Kaif), a journalist by profession. Shruti has written a couple of articles against illegal arms trading and is being hunted by the arms traders. Her fianc, also a journalist, had to pay with his life for exposing the arms mafia. Shruti has come to Jagga's town from Calcutta in connection with the arms story and has, therefore, put her life in further danger. She is framed for a crime she didn't commit, and Jagga comes as a saviour in her life. Shruti is so indebted to Jagga for coming to her rescue when she was arrested that she promises to help him if he ever needed her.

It is Jagga's birthday and for the first time in many years, the postman doesn't bring Bagchi's wishes. Jagga is sad and fearful about Bagchi's well-being. And then comes the news that Bagchi is dead. Intelligence officer Sinha (Saurabh Shukla), for whom Bagchi used to work, had actually ordered his men to kill Bagchi after he (Bagchi) had delivered a VHS cassette which would expose the illegal arms dealers. But in a case of mix-up, Bagchi had delivered the tape containing his birthday wishes for Jagga, to Sinha. An exasperated Sinha is sure that the VHS cassette with the incriminating evidence would be with Jagga and so he contacts him. But Jagga does not have the tape. In his meeting with Sinha, Jagga gets a clue which convinces him that Bagchi isn't dead.

He takes Shruti and goes to foreign land Mombaka in search of Bagchi whom he considers his father. He takes Shruti along because like Bagchi, Shruti is also clumsy, and Jagga has seen that Shruti makes the same mistakes as Bagchi used to make when he (Jagga) was a kid. This similarity as also the fact that both, Bagchi and Shruti, are born unlucky convince Jagga that Shruti would prove to be an asset in tracking Bagchi.

From Mombaka, Jagga and Shruti go to Sundi in search of Bagchi. They are shocked to see that Sundi is the hub of illegal arms trading. The arms mafia is busy replacing Christmas goodies, meant to be airdropped by the Pope, with guns and other arms and ammunitions. Jagga resolves to stop this and expose the illegal arms trade while tracing his father.

Do Jagga and Shruti succeed in their mission? Does Jagga unite with Bagchi?

Anurag Basu's story is different from the usual romantic or even detective films. This is designed as a fantasy drama and written like an opera. And that is the unfortunate part because fantasies are often not accepted by the audience, and a musical opera is almost an alien concept for the Indian viewers. The structure of the story and the screenplay (also written by Anurag Basu) is such that they don't reveal everything in one go. Who is Bagchi, whom does he work for, who is Sinha, why did Sinha ask his men to kill Bagchi, who is Bashir Alexandra all these questions are answered much after they crop up in the minds of the audiences. The drama, therefore, tests the viewers' patience because nobody enjoys watching a film with so many questions remaining unanswered for a long time. Perhaps, the most terrible part of the story and screenplay is that Jagga sings while he speaks and so do several other characters while interacting with him. Even this experiment may have worked if the singing was used within bearable limits and if the film was not made on such a huge canvas. But to expect the audience to lap up so much singing and senseless rhyming, that too, in a big film such as this, is nothing but foolhardiness. What's more, the drama seems to be so stretched that the viewer actually feels exasperated and completely helpless.

Since Jagga is much younger than Shruti, there is no romantic angle between them through most of the film. The comedy is kiddish and so, it may be liked by only the kid audience. Emotions totally fail to touch the heart.

Samrat Chakraborty's dialogues are hardly funny. As for the song-dialogues, penned jointly by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Anurag Basu, Samrat Chakraborty and Debatma Mandal, they are not half as interesting as they should've been.

Ranbir Kapoor acts ably and sincerely but he ought to realise that if he continues to associate with such trash subjects as Jagga Jasoos (and Bombay Velvet, Besharametc.), even his fantastic acting will not win him fans. Rather, he may lose his fan following if he doesn't select the right script. One more point Ranbir has been made to stutter way too much for the first alphabet, making it look gimmicky rather than natural. Katrina Kaif is cute and performs well. But a few of her dialogues are not dubbed in her voice. It is an ear-sore to find her dialogues in the same scene dubbed partly by her and partly by a dubbing artiste! Saswata Chatterjee is very good as Tooti Footi Bagchi or Badal Bagchi. Saurabh Shukla fails to impress, probably due to uninteresting characterisation. Master Saravajeet Tiwari has his moments as little Jagga. Nawazuddin Siddiqui has nothing to do except make an appearance in the final scene. Chitrak Bandopadhyay (as Debu), Sayani Gupta, Md. Sarwar Mir, Denzil Smith, Bijou Thaangjam, Rajatava Dutta and the others lend the necessary support.

Anurag Basu's direction leaves a lot to be desired. What comes out loud and clear in the film is his over-indulgence. He has committed a blunder by making an opera film', that too, at an investment of around Rs. 125 crore (including promotion and marketing)! This is one very expensive experiment which will cost him and all the others associated with it dear. Pritam's music is very good. Two songs Galti se mistake' and Ullu ka pattha' are very well-tuned. A couple of other songs are good. Amitabh Bhattacharya's lyrics are so-so. The picturisations of Galti se mistake' and Ullu ka pattha' songs are eye-filling but because the rest of the film is so bad, the choreography (by Shiamak Davar; additional choreography by Vijay Ganguly and Ruel Dausan Varindani) looks like a mismatch. Pritam's background music could've been better. S. Ravi Varman's cinematography is splendid. Locations are simply terrific. Allan Amin's action scenes are good. Production designing (by Rajat Poddar and Parijat Poddar) is of a fine standard. Ajay Sharma's editing ought to have been sharper. Frankly, so much footage is used to establish things that major chunks of the film could have been deleted to advantage.

On the whole, Jagga Jasoos is a very costly experiment and a classic case of over-indulgence in a film which hardly has audience to lap it up. It is a terrible waste of resources and it should never have been made in the first place at least and definitely not at the cost at which it has been made. At the box-office, the film will prove to be a major debacle and will be remembered as a blot on the reputations of all the people connected with it.

Komal Nahta @KomalNahta

More

The opening of #JaggaJasoos is way below the mark.

___

1st Day hasn't completed & Film is declared FLOP by KOMAL Saab =)) 🤣

Originally posted by: .KING.

@komal nahta didnt trash katrina 😃