New Delhi, India
Will the real 'Jigra' please stand up? In Vasant Bala's film, Vedang Raina might be portraying the titular character, but it's Alia Bhatt, who is the heart and soul of the film. Turns out she is a shield not just for her brother, but also for the movie, even as the revenge thriller rests too heavily on Bhatt.
Here's a girl who had to grow up a little sooner than you'd like. She lost her mother when she was young and her father took his own life. It's now on her to parent her brother Ankur. The two siblings are taken in by a relative family - while Satya works as a staff in their home, Ankur is an engineer with an idea waiting to be pitched to his uncle. All through it, Satya is the one who looks out for Ankur and wants to protect him from all the evils of the world. But fate had other plans. Ankur lands up in jail in a foreign land (a fictional Hanshi Dao) on false charges of drug possession. The clock is ticking as the court pronounces the death penalty for Ankur. It's a race against time for Satya who can now go to any lengths to free her younger brother or as she calls him, her 'jigra'.
As Satya, Bhatt is fierce and powerful. She packs a punch - literally and figuratively as she switches on her Bachchan mode. It's a role of a lifetime and she doesn't disappoint. Despite the title indicating a meatier part for Raina, Jigra is an out-and-out Alia Bhatt show. She delivers a nuanced performance - knowing when to emote and when to restrain. The role offers Bhatt ample scope to explore and she doesn't hold back. Satya wears her quirks on her sleeve, and Bhatt encapsulates the essence of the grey area all too well. Several references in the story explain why she makes some decisions the way she does.
Raina, who last graced the screen in The Archies, makes his big-screen debut with Jigra. He does well with the little that he gets - but the script does him a disservice. There are glimpses of his character build-up - a ghazal playing in his room as he skips a big fat Indian wedding, moments where he seems to feel overprotected by his sister, but the makers don't scratch below the surface to share the story of this engineer with an idea. Sadly, Jigra is overshadowed by Satya - even on the paper. However, the two work well together and hit just the right chords with their sibling chemistry on screen.
Manoj Pahwa, who steps into the shoes of a retired gangster whose son is now imprisoned, is an absolute fit. His exchanges with Bhatt make for some of the most moving scenes in the film. Thankfully, even when he brings comic relief, the scenes hold a significant weight. The movie also stars Rahul Ravindran as Mutthu - a police officer who is struggling to free a wronged inmate and Akanksha Ranjan Kapoor as a blink-and-miss air hostess among other actors.
Bala, who has a knack of narrating such tales, makes optimum use of movie references and retro tracks in his storytelling. It's fitting that a song ('Phoolon Ka Taaron Ka') is the foundation of the film because several other retro tracks feature in pivotal scenes and background music and soundtracks, too, contribute immensely to the narration. It's also evident that the makers are heavily inspired by Amitabh Bachchan and his films, especially Zanjeer. At one point, Bhatt's character says, "Ab toh Bachchan hi banna padega" as she decides to give it back to a few bullies in a football court. It's a sharp set-up of the premise and also makes it plausible that Bhatt's Bachchan-esque character is enough to save the day. Yet another moment that is reflective of how self-aware the film is occurs when a character asks another to simplify their jail escape plan, to which, he responds, "Masala movie thodi na bana rahe hai, ye complicated hai..." It's these little quirks that make you want to invest more in the story despite the many flaws of the plot.
Watch Jigra movie trailer here:
Coupling a sibling story with a prison break format, what Jigra gets right is the emotional quotient of the film. But it's the other part that doesn't quite work. Prison escape movies aren't new to cinema and same for its tropes, which is why it's important for the ride to the climax be worthwhile. While the film puts on an earnest attempt, it does lose momentum and pace in a few scenes in the second half. It's established early on that the film is a rather filmy story - almost an ode to Bollywood action thrillers of the 90s - and it makes you wish for the punches to land. But at over 153 minutes, Jigra feels slightly stretched, predictable and monotonous.