Jigra Movie Review — Sucharita Tyagi
It’s bhaari cool to observe how Vasan Bala’s work is immensely inspired by so many different films and filmmakers that have come before him,
And yet he goes ahead and makes films so uniquely his own. Each time.
Satya and Ankur are sisters and brother, who have grown up without parents. Additional trauma, as kids they saw their father right before he jumped off the balcony of their home. As first-born daughters are prone to do, Satya assumes the parent role, becoming even more protective of her little brother than she would have otherwise. They’re taken in by their relatives. An adult Satya is now head of hospitality at this humongous and rich household, Ankur seemingly a fresh graduate, on his way to starting a career in tech.
How from HERE they land up in the made-up country of Hanshi Dao, where Ankur is in prison and Satya is plotting to break him out, allow Vasan and co-writer Debashish Irengbam show you.
When offered group counseling, Satya refuses steadfastly to go through many stages of grief. Her turn from stern and disciplined older sister to full-blown anarchist doesn't have the time to waste on indulgent things like displays of anger or vulnerability. Always a woman of action, her expression of it becomes increasingly literal as the story progresses. Alia Bhatt plays Satya understated for the most part, holding herself back, tightly wound, prepared for the worst. Alert like a cat, but not on edge like a rabbit. She doesn’t want to pick a fight, because she knows if she made to, she has the capability to lose herself in it entirely, setting herself and the world on fire. Her pent-up rage stems from anger at her father, exacerbated by her having to be a staff member at her own home, and being constantly aware of how fickle it all is. Playing a woman who has trained herself to actively, pointedly, not allow any emotion to cross her face, is some advanced, sublime acting. This is the thriller film deserving of Alia Bhatt’s capabilities, not whatever they made her do in Heart Of Stone.
Despite the stoicism, there ARE many faces of Satya. She is kind and forgiving, illustrated in an early sequence, she intercepts some drugs at a party, hides them in her palm, and quietly tells her junior staff to flush them away. She allows herself to feel the full extent of her emotions, only when whatever job is at end, is done to her satisfaction. Before arriving in Hanshi Dao, she knows she won't allow herself a moment to respite, so on the flight she stuffs her face with whatever food and drink she can lay her hands on. Desperate to will into reality that like a machine, this food will keep her body fuelled for however long it takes for her to bring her brother home.
Vedang Raina is Ankur. Embodying the literal meaning of his name, Ankur is a freshly sprouted young adult. Shielded by his sister, when on his own, he stumbles and rummages. The actor is particularly good when depicting physical turmoil. A small subtle gap in between when a lash hits his body and when he lets out a scream, allowing his body to feel the pain, in contrast with his sister outside the prison. I appreciate Vasan Bala’s decision to not give into the Bollywood requirement of a leading man who gets at least ONE moment of machismo, ONE slow-motion shot where muscles bulge, ONE shot where anger in the eyes finally gets its physical manifestation. Even when Ankur is throwing punches, it's evident he has never done this before, not knowing where his blows are landing if at all. Standing taller than his sister, Ankur doesn’t take over, nor does he try.
The other character who you will hear chatter about soon is Vivek Gomber as warden Hans Raj Landa. We will talk about this name shortly but let me first speak about Vivek Gomber. A long way away from Chaitanya Tamhane’s court, this Gomber is a man of Indian origin who speaks in a mixed Indian/Hanshi Dao accent, and extremely skillfully manages to keep it from becoming unintentionally hysterical. In a moment he says to Ankur when the latter tries to talk to him in Hindi, ki my Grandfather might have understood what you're saying, I don’t. Don’t let his Indian blood fool you, Hans Raj Landa is no friend. Landa wears headphones seemingly listening to music each time he happily walks over for yet another execution, I was curious to know what he was listening to. Gomber pulls off a spectacularly kooky and terrifying portrayal of a man drunk on power granted to him by the state. Legal but immoral. Much like another movie villain who shares this name, Hans Landa, the Nazi played by Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds.
This is one of many signature Vasan Bala easter eggs. During an assignment roll call in prison you hear an officer looking for Wong-Kar Wai, John Woo, Kim Ki-Dook. A young Ankur complains Amrish and Jeevan, names of two famous Hindi cinema villains, are also names of boys beating him up, as Satya casually drops ‘Zakhm’ and ‘sadak’ in a sentence. Earlier collaborators Radhika Madan, Sikander Kher, and Akansha Ranjan Kapoor show up in a scene each. Now I am a FAN of Vasan Bala easter eggs, I love having a puzzle to solve in a film. But Jigra is not Monica O My Darling. Moments here might be tongue-in-cheek, but the film doesn’t carry any undertones of comedy or satire. Hence to see Alia Bhatt’s real-life best friend turn up as an air hostess serving her food, only sort of serves to take you out of the illusion, rather than enhancing it. Hearing Wong Kar-Wai’s name only generates images of this Hong Konger film making great behind bars, confused about how his life has lead him here. Fun little bits to observe, but overall adding to the jigra experience? Im not sure.
The screenplay does suffer from loopholes and is given to convenient co-incidences a bit. The same group of people planning the jailbreak outside, incidentally, happen to be all related to the group of friends that had formed inside. One major death, and how that impacts the larger plan is never quite explained. One of the build-ups in the screenplay promises you an inbuilt countdown, how many days are left for the death sentence to be carried out, an important thing the film wants you to keep in mind, but one which sort of ceases to matter after a while. However, thanks to some immense editing by Prerna Saigal, Swapnil Sonawane staggering’s camera work, Achint Thakker’s music, supported by stellar Manoj Pahwa, Rahul Ravindran, I found it easy to overlook these minor annoyances.
The joy of watching a Vasan Bala directorial for me stems from my anticipation to see how the filmmaker attempts to push himself with each outing. The climactic jail-break sequence, moments of which you see in the trailer is an immense achievement, mounted on a scale the filmmaker has never had access to before. And even within that, he brings Alia Bhatt to a moment where stood atop a burning car she yells on a megaphone “Inquilaab Zindabad”. Go watch, and then come we’ll talk more.
