Jayeshbhai Jordaar Movie Review — Sucharita Tyagi
Ranveer Singh…jordar. Picture ki story…jordar.
Poori picture as a whole? Padho, batati hoon.
Hey, y’all! my name is Sucharita. Welcome back, you're reading a movie review and today I’m talking about Divyaang Thakkar’s ‘Jayeshbhai Jordar’.
Now, Ranveer Singh is Jayesh, a young married man in a Gujarati village. His wife has had 6 forced abortions in an attempt to have a son, they already have a 9-year-old daughter, maaney Jayesh has been complicit in this family’s ill-treatment of his wife Mudra, played by an excellent Shalini Pandey.
On finding out they’re having another girl, something snaps in Jayesh’s head and he convinces his wife and child to pack their bags and run. A YouTube video has told him of a village in Haryana Ladopur where women have all but vanished due to female foeticide, and hence the men in that town have become repentant and are promising a haven for any women fleeing the patriarchy.
Jayesh ke haath mein plan ki jagah ek rough hand-drawn map hai, ghar ki gaadi churaa karke they escape.
The movie exists in a place between slapstick and dark comedy. Ranveer is up to his usual high-energy antics, jumping, dancing, pulling faces, sometimes it's Charlie Chaplin, sometimes it's Ayushman Khurana. Rooted in reality, we get to see the drama behind the façade as well — the hurt behind the hilarity. See, Jayeshbhai isn’t in distress, uski zindagi overall toh sahi hi chal rahi hai abhi tak. Par yeh superhero origin story abhi zara around the corner hai, kyunki he’s seen the error of the system he’s very much a part and upholder of.
The trigger is when a female gynecologist secretly reveals to Jayesh that Mudra is about to have another girl, for finally, the doctor is hoping Jayesh will do the right thing and not let his family inflict more torture upon his wife. The jordar superhero he turns into, kyunki that’s who he is in the eyes of his daughter, doesn’t have rippling muscles, knows very well usko outside help ki zaroorat padegi kyunki woh khud kisi ko lapda nahi sakta, he can barely look a stranger in the eye.
Toh mota-moti yeh kahaani Jayesh ki hai, Mudra ki nahi. Jiske oopar ye sab beeti, she is but a mere spectator in the film, like she is in her own life.
Screenplay by writer-director Divyang Thakkar and Ankur Chaudhry taut hai, aur engaging bhi, kyunki ek-ke-bad ek mishaps hote chale jaatey hain, each nicely tying into what's coming up next. The writing keeps you guessing which horror is about to unfold but remains light-handed enough for the film to pass off as comedy.
It also helps that Jayesh has been given a pre-teen daughter with whom he shares a relationship of equals kyunki Jayesh aaj tak wahee karta raha hai joh usko mummy-puppa ne sikhaaya, toh he’s also been a child only. Jia Vaidya is very sweet in this role and seems to share a lovely relationship with co-star Ranveer.
While the writing kept me guessing agli dikkat kaise ayegi and Jayesh kaisey uss se deal karega, the film is let down by the caricature evil villain character, Jayesh’s father, gaanv ka sarpanch, played by Boman Irani, with a very unpleasant scowl stuck to his face. The character offers no new insight and once you know what pappa is about, pappa has no internal arc right until the end. Boman Irani could have played this in his sleep.
Ratna Pathak Shah does get an internal arc but that too is highly predictable and follows a template we’ve seen before. Having said that, woh actor itni incredible hain, when she yells at her husband to speak to her with love, I cried y’all. Main literally ro padi, I was as surprised as you.
The “road movie” bits of the film arevery enjoyable, you're rooting for these people, and are in the dark, same as them not knowing who can be trusted, because pappa has reached far and wide, and everyone, like Jayesh so far, follows his every command. One Bengali woman who helps them escape from one such moment of captivity is a fun little detour on the way, but did she really have to say “aami monjolika” with a knife in her hand?
Where also the writing falters is in failing to give credit and thanks to the village’s local ghoonghat clad rebellion. A group of women bandying in the night to all cry together, but also a group ready to jump into action under the right leader. While Jayesh doesn’t assume a leadership position here, he does mansplain to them, through tears, the importance of a tender kiss between a couple.
A spectacular Ranveer Singh performance moment is also simultaneously the movie’s weakest scene. To me a homage moment to ‘Mirch Masala’ at the end, where the gaaon ki auratein instead of kuti hui mirch toss scented saabun from a dupatta into the group of women jinhe khusbhudaar sabun se nahane kke liye manaa kiya gaya tha so far, that works better than Jayesh’s various monologues about things which need to change and how they should change.
‘Jayeshbhai Jordar’ the movie is an attempt to draw attention to a still all too common problem in India, hoping the film’s treatment will not just appeal to, but also have a recall with a huge audience, mostly because it’s Ranveer Singh talking. Female infanticide is grotesque and barbaric, but the film is making a larger point about the way women are still treated as secondary in their homes, before and after marriage. The movie is not subtle or complex, it’s rather simplistic, very much within the Ranveer Singh cinematic universe.
But does it work? Yes, yes it does.
On a scale of 1–10, Jayeshbhai Jordaar is…1 day 1 hopes not just 1 but all men will stand up to fellow men. 1 day. Tab tak, filmien dekho, Ranveer Singh toh kar hi raha hai.
Jaane se pehle subscribe karke jaana, theek hai? Modern Love ka review dekha?
