Janhit Mein Jaari (2022/ Comedy/ Social Drama/ Cinema Release)
Writer – Raaj Shaandilya
Director – Jai Basantu Singh
Cast – Nushratt Bharuccha, Vijay Raaz, Paritosh Tripathi, Anud Singh Dhaka, Ishtiaq Khan, Brijendra Kala, Sapna Sand
One thing that you can be sure about for a Raaj Shandilya film is the fantastic comic punches.
And when you have a superb set of actors voicing them with their own nuanced touch, the results are a notch higher.
And that is the trump card of this film.
Despite a many-times-seen small town premise and desi dialect combo, what made it most delightful for me was the entire cast, each of whom made it a pleasure to watch.
Manokamna is a sassy small town girl who in a desperation to escape marriage, lands up a job of marketing condoms.
Ranjan is a small town boy belonging to a large family and an extremely dominating regressive chauvinist father.
When the two fall in love, her job is about to create upheavals, some hilarious and some life changing.
The film follows a simple and somewhat predictable storyline lingering on characters and their mutual interactions, smartly using the dialogues and the performances. And thereby the first half is a breeze and you thoroughly enjoy the quirky, funny and adorable characters.
With the latter part of second half, they kick in the social message about the taboo around condoms and importance of protection and avoiding unwanted pregnancies.
And in trying to induce that aspect and the social activism part, the story comes across as slightly off the mark and lagging. But even then, the performances and the relentless touch of humour acts as a boon and keeps you hooked.
And of course no denying the fact that the message is quite bold. Balancing it along with humour must not have been an easy task.
Music is another element that I liked about the film. The songs are a good combination of peppy (the holi song), melodious (the punjabi number) and trendy (the rap in post film credits) .The lyrics were good too.
Speaking of performances would be a good long list.
Nushratt Bharuccha rules all the frames with aplomb . She looks great.
Absolutely loved Paritosh Tripathi as the cute and funny Devi.
Sapna Sand as the mother was adorable and hilarious. Loved every scene of hers.
Vijay Raaz is great as always and adds zing to his character.
Anud Singh Dhaka does justice to his role though I admit I liked him more in Tajmahal 88.
Ishtiaq Khan and Brijendra Kala were great.
All the actors in support cast added to the film in their own ways.
Even though I feel the film could have been crisper and its duration shorter than 2 hr 27 minutes, I was thoroughly engaged and invested through out.
The makers make a daring attempt at a taboo topic and deliver a film that is not only entertaining but conveys important messages (sometimes too preachy, sometimes laced with sarcasm or humour, but all well meant). It was full of chuckling moments, many laugh aloud ones and emotional ones too.
On the whole, I think the film was wholesome entertainment worth recommending. Total paisa vasool and you walk out of theatres happy.
Score 3 on 5