MaxMedia, Sikhya Entertainment and Flip Films’ Jugnuma is the story of Dev (Manoj Bajpayee) who lives in the Himalayas, with his family — wife Nandini (Priyanka Bose), daughter Vanya (Hiral Sidhu) and son Juju (Awan Pookot). He owns orchards but is disturbed by a series of mysterious fires destroying his orchards. He struggles to stop the fires and tries to solve the mystery but is unable to understand who is setting his orchards on fire. The escalating mystery forces him to confront not only the truth behind the blazes but also the long-hidden secrets of his family and his own past.
Raam Reddy has written a story which is so slow-moving and so sketchy that it literally tests the audience’s patience. His screenplay moves at a snail’s pace, adding to the boredom. The drama is so understated and so unclear that it is difficult for the viewers to comprehend what’s going on. Consequently, the audience lose interest quite early on. Varun Grover’s dialogues are only slightly better than the story and screenplay.
Manoj Bajpayee does an ordinary job as Dev. Priyanka Bose is weak in the role of Dev’s wife, Nandini. Deepak Dobriyal is okay as Mohan. Hiral Sidhu lends ordinary support as Dev’s daughter, Vanya. Awan Pookot passes muster as Dev’s son, Juju. Tillotama Shome hardly gets any scope in the role of Radha. Ravi Bisht provides dull support as Keshav. Rampal Kishore Agarwal is natural as Patwari Toot Singh. Viking has his moments as Colonel. JeeWan Adhikary (as the young nomad), Gurpal Singh (as Dr. Jayant), Preeti Arya (as maid Namita), Gulab Ram (as gardener Manju), Raju Goswami (as driver Shyam) and the others barely pass muster.
Raam Reddy’s direction caters to the festival circuit audience only. Raam Reddy’s music is functional. Sunil Ramkrishna Borkar’s camerawork is good. Juhi Agarwal’s production designing, and Anoop Parambath and Rohit Rajan’s art direction are okay. Editing (by Siddharth Kapoor and Raam Reddy) should’ve been far more sharp.
On the whole, Jugnuma is not meant for the cinema audience as it is a film for the festival circuit. It will, therefore, flop at the box-office.
Released on 12-9-’25 at Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Cinepolis India. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.