Dharma Productions, Viacom18 Studios and Eternal Sunshine Productions’ Jigra (UA) is the story of a sister saving her younger brother from the jaws of death.
Satya (Alia Bhatt) is Ankur’s (Vedang Raina) elder sister. They had been orphaned when they were little kids. Their filthy rich uncle, Mehtani (Akashdeep Sabir), had raised them but the two were always treated as outsiders. One day, Mehtani’s son, Kabir (Aditya Nanda), and Ankur go abroad on a business trip. While there, they are caught by the police and a packet of drugs is found on Kabir’s person. Mehtani uses his money and contacts to get his son freed from jail while the incarcerated Ankur is tricked into taking the blame upon himself. Convinced that Ankur is innocent, Satya reaches the foreign land to free her brother who has been held guilty by the court and sentenced to death. While Satya is struggling to get justice for Ankur, she meets Shekhar Bhatia (Manoj Pahwa) and Muthu (Rahul Ravindran). Shekhar Bhatia is a retired gangster whose son, Tony (Yuvraj Vijjan), is also on death sentence in the same jail. Muthu is an ex-police officer who is trying hard to have the death sentence on Chandan (Dheer Hira) cancelled as he had wrongly implicated Chandan in a crime while he was a police officer. Chandan is also serving jail time in the same prison. While Ankur, Chandan and Tony become friends in the jail, there’s a fourth jail inmate, Rayyan (Ankur Khanna), on death sentence, who is also a friend. How Satya attempts to get justice for brother Ankur by means fair and unfair is what the latter part of the film is all about.
Debashish Irengbam and Vasan Bala have written a story which is heavily inspired by Mahesh Bhatt’s Gumrah (1993). The story moves on a single track and is both, depressing and monotonous. The duo’s screenplay is very class-appealing. While it does have poignant moments, the overall appeal of the drama is restricted because the masses among the audience will not find much entertainment in it. While the first half of the drama is a bit boring, the post-interval portion is better. However, the second half appears implausible because in a foreign country with draconian laws, nothing seems to be impossible for Satya. Agreed, Satya is a go-getter and can do anything for the safety and security of her brother, but her daredevilry in the foreign land is a bit too much to digest. Debashish Irengbam and Vasan Bala’s dialogues are impressive. But the many dialogues spoken in English and in the foreign language restrict the drama’s appeal to the classes only.
Alia Bhatt is outstanding as Satya. She lives the role and performs so extraordinarily that she could pick up many best actress awards this year. Vedang Raina is endearing in the role of Ankur; his acting is nice. Manoj Pahwa performs ably as retired gangster Shekhar Bhatia. Vivek Gomber is fantastic as jailor Hansraj Landa. His demeanour and performance spell the desired terror. Rahul Ravindran is good in the role of Muthu. Ankur Khanna stands his own as Rayyan. Dheer Hira is effective as Chandan. Yuvraj Vijjan is very natural as Tony. Aditya Nanda has his moments as Kabir Mehtani. Akashdeep Sabir and Sheeba Sabir are adequate as Mr. and Mrs. Mehtani. Natranjan Balakrishna (as the lawyer) makes his mark. Aashna Vaishnav (as young Satya) and Ayaansh Kireet Solani (as young Ankur) are pretty expressive. Sikander Kher, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor and Radhika Madan are seen in bit roles. Others are adequate.
Vasan Bala’s direction, like the script co-written by him, will appeal only to the classes. Achint Thakkar’s music is very good. One song (Chal kudiye) is composed by Mxrcy, and that’s also nice. Varun Grover’s lyrics are wonderful. The lyrics of Chal kudiye (by Harmanjeet Singh) are also appealing. Vijay A. Ganguly’s choreography is alright. Achint Thakkar’s background music is outstanding. Swapnil Suhas Sonawane’s cinematography is lovely. Action and stunt scenes have been beautifully choreographed by Vikram Dahiya, but they are rather unbelievable. Mukund Gupta’s production designing, and Yogesh Bansode’s art direction are of a fine standard. Prerna Saigal’s editing is sharp but could’ve been crisper.
On the whole, Jigra is a film for the class audience only. It will do well in the high-end multiplexes and single-screen cinemas of the big cities. The Dassera holiday tomorrow (Saturday) will help. Masses will not appreciate it. Since Alia Bhatt has worked in the film without charging her fees as she is one of the producers, recovery of the moderate cost of the film will not be a problem. But the box-office business will be ordinary.
Released on 11-10-’24 at Inox (daily 9 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Viacom18 Studios. Publicity: so-so. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was fairly nice at places.