Jagga Jasoos (2017): When all the filmmakers takes inspiration from Hollywood action films and thrillers,Anurag Basu chose an entirely different path.He got mesmerized by Hollywood comedies and magical adventures and by taking them as inspiration he weaves his own plot.His previous film Barfi! has lot of scenes inspired from several Classic Hollywood films especially Chaplin's.Now Jagga Jasoos is like an Indian adaptation of The Adventures of TinTin. After much complications, several re-shoots and one very public breakup between the lead pair later,Jagga Jasoos came into theaters but became a commercial failure.
Plot: The journey of Jagga (Ranbir Kapoor) who is an amateur detective and someone who has a stammering problem the film essentially revolves around Jagga's search for his father Tutifuti (Saswata Chatterjee) who deserted him at a very young age. Shurti Sengupta (Katrina Kaif) is a senior correspondent who is trying to bust an illegal arms racket and crosses paths with Jagga while both of them are trying to crack the same case.
My Review: For a film industry that got its own certain rules of using music, Jagga Jasoos is an undeniable experiment. The screenplay is structured as chapters from a comic book; the movie uses a classroom full of kids and their teacher, Shruti as its main storytelling device. The films unfolds as she narrates stories from the book, and we're pulled into Jagga's world of makeshift houses, merry characters and rhyming dialogue.
Entire first half is engaging with Jagga's two chapters in his life where he solves two murder mysteries with his detective skills.His musical methods of unravelling mysteries are the most exciting bits.The entire childhood episode of Jagga is dealt emotionally and entry of Katrina at the crucial part and her investigation which was taken into hands by Jagga,all such scenes bring us a real TinTinesque adventure.
But what really went wrong is that Second half which is the main mystery for Jagga is dealt rather childishly than the murder mysteries in first half which was dealt in a mature way.Anurag Basu lost his vision in second half by confusing whether he was making a childish adventure or a matured one because lot of scenes in second half looks outright silly.Even though the film deals with sensible issue like Weapons drop,the way it was dealt looks so rushed.
The major baggage of the film is carried well by music director Pritam. The film is a musical, thus heavily dependent on its music and Pritam has surely justified Basu's hard work with his enchanting scores which is the narration style of the film. It is a standalone success that's cleverly written and perfectly choreographed with foot tapping Bad Lucky, Tukka Laga, Chocolatey Chunnu and Khaana Khaake Daaru Peekey Chale Gaye.The numbers, born effortlessly out of situations in the screenplay, are comical and catchy. Amitabh Bhattacharya, who is credited with lyrics and "rhyming dialogue," is at the top of his game.
Ranbir once again proves his acting prowess as a stammering yet confident Jagga. His animated expressions suit the setup of the film and at no point does he feel too dramatic or over expressive.He manages to make you laugh and tugs at your heartstrings by being goofy and gloomy as suddenly as required.Katrina too is fine as Shruti, and in fact, evoke chuckles as a clumsy yet impressive investigator. Saswata Chatterjee as Tuti-futi Bagchi is brilliant in his role. He is impressive with his emotions and more than his words, it's his eyes that do the talking. Saurabh Shukla as one of the many villains is impressive in his part.
Shining aspect of the film is its cinematography. Ravi Verman's frames feel right out of a storybook and the colours just pop out like any other Hollywood feel-good Disney film. VFX of the film is too bad as I had expected a lot from seeing the trailers.
I think Jagga Jasoos could have been perfect as a TV show with the possibility of Jagga being our own TinTin.
So,Jagga Jasoos is worth watching musical adventure from Bollywood where the music part scores high but adventure doesn't.Ranbir's stellar performance and Ravi Verman's DOP deserves applause.
My rating 6.75/10
