Jigra Review: Alia Bhatt and Vasan Bala’s Film Falls Short of Expectations
Jigra, the much-awaited film by Vasan Bala, whose lead Alia Bhatt touted much, fell short of expectation. In a way, such a storyteller as Karan Vir Ajmera, known for strange and critically appreciated films like Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota and Monica, O My Darling, might tend to bring forth with a versatile actress like Alia Bhatt something unusual off the screen. Weak execution and haphazard pace, however, stand out as an unfortunate outing by both the filmmaker and its lead star.
A promising story on paper
The story of Jigra is about siblings Satya, played by Alia Bhatt, and Ankur, played by Vedang Raina. Satya, who has always been overly protective of her little brother, moves to live with a relative following the tragic suicide of their father. The kind-hearted and innocence of Ankur gets caught in the situation of things when he accompanies his cousin Kabir to Hanchi Dav, a fictional country for a business trip. Ankur gets entangled with a drug case and is given a death sentence. Satya goes all out to save her brother and succeeds in freeing him.
On paper, there is something very appealing about Jigra’s story. On paper, she is the embodiment of an emotional, high-stakes drama, filled with themes about sibling love, loss, and redemption. It is a pity that, while emotions between siblings are played on the right chords in that movie, they are very few and far between and do not make much of the potential in the story.
A Weak First Half and a Messy Climax
The main flaw with Jigra is that the pacing on the whole goes off kilter. The entire first half of this film is dragged out in slow and sometimes completely aimless sequences. Rather than building up toward some tighter suspense or some emotional depth, the narrative meanders, making it tough to hold onto interest even there. Even when the film finally gets going in the second half, the really messy, underwhelming climax undoes all that. In particular, the climax is surprisingly weak: in a film like this, there just has to be tension and resolution.
Though this is a prison break genre film, which generally has a lot of suspense and intricate plotting, Jigra does not seem to sustain that level of tension to keep a viewer glued to the seat. It is very recent, Savi starring Divya Khosla did roughly the same genre but only with better planning and execution. Compared to this, the screenwriting and narration of Jigra seem disjointed and hardly come together to make a coherent and engaging tale.
Alia Bhatt still lacks spark in her performance
As one of the most talented actresses in Bollywood, Alia Bhatt gives a performance that seems pretty average with the bar she has set for herself in other films and though she does shine in a few emotional scenes with Vedang Raina, for the rest of the scenes, Alia’s performance could not carry the film the way one had come to expect from her as the central character in the film while playing Satya.
Nikhil, an assistant director working for Raghav’s film, is a pop sensation too. Vedang Raina as Ankur is a rockstar and proves to be the highlight of the movie with his perfect portrayal of the character. Relatively new in the world of silver screen, Raina masters the intensity and authenticity of his character and, thus, happens to be the most memorable part of the movie. Mainly, it was the chemistry between Alia Bhatt and him as siblings that was a delight, and mostly feel-good moments were from their interactions.
Some decent performances also come courtesy of Manoj Pahwa, Vivek Gomber, and Rahul Ravindran in such fringe elements. When they appear on the screen, one doesn’t really miss them, considering the rest of the narrative is weak anyway.
Music and background score: A lost chance
One area where Jigra could have made up for the deficits of the narrative is in the music. Sure, the film’s soundtrack is quite all right, but it does nothing to prop up this otherwise lackluster film. The background score, at times, manages to catch the attention, but it has a deficiency in terms of tension in offering a performance of a prison break movie. With such weak storytelling and unevenly paced films, even a stellar score couldn’t salvage Jigra from its own inadequacies.
Emotional Moments That Strike the Right Chords
Jigra has many flaws, but it does have a couple of scenes that work. The emotional relationship between Satya and Ankur is well depicted, and there are a few moments that work on a deeper level. These scenes, especially in the second half, provide a peep into the film it could have been if the narrative was tighter and the execution better. Among the film’s strongest assets of course, is the warm relationship that develops between the siblings-though it isn’t enough to carry the rest of the movie.
Missed Opportunity for Vasan Bala
The much-hyped Jigra has turned into a missed opportunity for Vasan Bala. People had already expected Vasan Bala’s unique storytelling and sensibilities in independent filmmaking from Jigra. Alas, Jigra will most probably be remembered as one of the worst films so far as far as Balaji is concerned. Critics as well as audiences are thinking that he must have approached the project in a wrong way.
After Bala’s released Monica, O My Darling with a resounding success, this film doesn’t have the same impact on the audience which is the reason behind disappointed viewers at the end product.
Final Verdict: Wait for the OTT Release
Overall, Jigra doesn’t impress though it boasts a prestige-star cast and a capable director. Poorly executed, with the first half being little more than a slog and the climax rather disappointing, the emotional quotient between the siblings’ displays does manage to make that on-screen worthwhile, which isn’t enough to salvage the film from its disjointed narrative and lackluster performances. Nostalgia would have dictated that Alia Bhatt’s new film with Vasan Bala, whom everybody expected to break fresh ground, should be a blockbuster. Here’s the shocking truth-it is a dud.
If you’re an ardent fan of Alia Bhatt or Vasan Bala’s previous work, then it’s better to wait for Jigra to come to an OTT so that you can watch it peacefully minus the disappointment of a cinema visit.
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