It’s often seen in our Hindi cinema that even when a film has a quite familiar tale to tell, it still largely works because of its likeable treatment, fresh faces and good music. The most recent example of this is the new release JUGNI that apart from having the above mentioned merits has also got an unexpectedly mature ending too, that is actually more authentic in comparison to any previous film made on a similar concept.
In fact the best part of the film is unarguably its brave culmination which neither offers a happy or sad ending, but unapologetically remains much closer to the reality, as it mostly happens in life in such relationships formed. Based on the plot of a music composer finding and then (positively) exploiting a raw talent tapped from the interiors of Punjab, the second mature feature of the film is how it so sensibly presents the ‘unintentional sexual relationship’ between the couple from the girl’s perspective in particular, representing the changing mindsets of the generation living in metro cities.
The third merit of JUGNI lies in its genuine performances led by the sweet Sugandha Garg along with Sadhana Singh, Siddhant Behl and Anirutta K Jha. Plus its the natural feel of the beautiful locations and spoken local language (Punjabi) that successfully creates a special mood in the film as required. The songs as its fourth worth-mentioning feature add a lot to the musical base of the subject sounding extremely fresh and great weaved into the fast paced narration. Still it’s a kind of soundtrack that might turn out be more enjoyable as an individual creation, not related to the film as I strongly felt.
Having mentioned the merits, JUGNI yet cannot be termed as any path-breaking, novel attempt basically because of its routine subject that doesn’t provide the film an exceptional edge (apart from its climax) in absence of any big known name adding a commercial value. Secondly though debutant director Shefali Bhushan does a worth noticing job in her first attempt in terms of treatment and extracting lovable performances from the talented cast getting the perfect feel, still the film lacks that authentic Punjabi touch which might not be an issue for the non-Punjabi viewers watching it in the different states.
For instance, Siddhant Behl tries his best playing the local Punjabi singer, but at times he tends to go overboard too, turning it all into a forced act. The humour looks like intentionally added in some sequences not generating the expected response. Plus in a music based film, it isn’t expected that the sound comes of a piano when the guitar strings are being played by a character on screen.
In addition, in every Hindi film featuring Punjab and Punjabi characters, a special care needs to be taken in pronunciation of words having letters like ‘Jha’, ‘Dha’ or ‘Bha’. Because just the spoken way of these letters clearly reveals that the actor or the writers do not actually know the exact sound of these words in Punjabi and they have simply added them on the basis of how they have been earlier used in other Hindi films in the same wrong manner.
In all, JUGNI is a fine musical attempt with a bold, mature end and a likeable lead performance by Sugandha Garg. But I wish they had chosen a completely different novel storyline using the same premises of the local Punjabi music scenario and the realistically raw characters.
Rating : 3 / 5
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