Jhund Movie Review: Empathy’s the ultimate goal!

JhundUA Biography dramaDir Nagraj Popatlal ManjuleCast Amitabh Bachchan Ankush Gedam Priyanshu KshatriyaRating 35Totally love the title Jhund It literally means a pack in reference to animals usually Theyrsquore anonymous to humans by nature By which one implies here a large group of equally replaceable generic invisible voiceless men and women That is precisely what the poor in India or Third World in general look like when observed from a distanceIn fact thatrsquos probably the point of this picture itself mdashto put a face to the faceless Which the upperclass eyes are trained to look through mainly on the streets but otherwise too Writerdirector Nagraj Manjule zooms in allowing the camera to linger on some faces for just a little bit longer mdash just so they register among audiencesIt could be completely inconsequential moments mdash whether itrsquos the CISF cop frisking at the airport or the fellow playing actor Rinku Rajgurursquos father who if he wasnrsquot in this movie would simply merge among the proverbial unwashed massesThe actual lsquojhundrsquo here mainly boys picked off the street to play football in this picture are also precisely that mdash up until theyrsquore separated from the pack as legit personalities of their own with names professions histories and mostly muted aspirations This happens much after an hour of the film although the intervalrsquos still aheadJust so you know this is also an exceedingly long movie mdashthree hours flat In the context of a theatrical release it means almost half a workday dedicated to a jhund of nonprofessional actors as rough lsquofikrrsquofree street boys Lending enough authenticity that it looks like theyrsquore playing themselves The silences casual lsquohuhrsquo and lsquohmmrsquo in the performances decidedly belong to cinema veriteMira Nair pulled this off back in 1988 with Salaam Bombay mdash showing first to Bombay the capital of showbiz what was ldquoright under their noserdquo Although packed with montages itrsquos hard to equally grasp the geography of this film It is set in Nagpur alright More specifically in a slum that shares its wall with a college compound mdash manned by security staff through a sidegateA slum is usually the eyesore for such gated communitiescampuses mdash that lsquoapproachrsquo road you canrsquot avoid and who knows what happens inside Even as random men stare at the posh women So does the hero here named Don Ankush Gedam mdash routinely eyeing a girl driving her Merc which is quite reminiscent of Rajguru on a motorbike from Manjulersquos sleeper superhit Sairaat 2016This setting couldrsquove easily been Slumdog Millionairersquos Mumbai which has been so done to death glad that this isnrsquot The jhoparpatti Gully Boys go about their usual chorichapati petty crimes including jumping off trains when theyrsquore not whiling away leisure hours pursuing their drughabit alcoholism and whitener addictionThe point still is that the level of reflexes and athleticism required to surviveace the streets mdash being always on the run as it were mdash ought to be an advantage if they played sports instead no You see that point As does a philanthropic professor behind the wall from where these chindi chors liveHe groups them into a jhund to play ball Which is all you need to know This story Irsquom told is based on one Vijay Barse sports teacher at Nagpurrsquos Hislop College who spent his life making sports stars out of street kids Amitabh Bachchan best known over years as Vijay on the screen himself plays Barse named Borade instead This is of course a very different kinda VijayLike the rest of the film mdash he more or less desists from much bhashanbaazi Old understated there is an inherent goodness about this gentile character that comes through As an audience you feel inspired to make life more than only about yourselfThat Bachchan whorsquos dominated Indiarsquos popular culture as himself for so long manages to so convincingly hide behind a character still mdash among this jhund that look like Nagpurrsquos TikTok stars to me mdash is a huge feat for the almostoctogenarian superstar He rarely takes the spotlightThis isnrsquot quite Dead Poets Society 1989 or even To Sir With Love 1967 as such Neither is this strictly speaking a sports film with its own predictable tropes of quite simply the victory of the underrated mdash what with multiple obstacles between the underdogs and the goal Which is also why there are a series of great moments and multiple sidebars not as much a tight plot hence the inevitable issue with the durationWhat you observe throughout are strong yet subtle statements on caste and religion identity and politics anonymity and hierarchies Few contemporary entertaining filmmakers so accurately survey Indiarsquos underclasses as Manjule Fandry short film Vaikunth Vetrimaaran down South is another This film feels like a lived experience Class is obviously at the centre of the script The only way to rise above it as per the bookfilm The White Tiger 2021 is through crime and politics To that one can add talentWhich is what you see in the performers here mdash whether as footballers on the field or actors in this film That the slumhero called Don manages to sorta impress the posh girl in the Merc was absolutely my favourite takeaway

Jhund Movie Review: Empathy’s the ultimate goal!

Jhund
U/A: Biography, drama
Dir: Nagraj Popatlal Manjule
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ankush Gedam, Priyanshu Kshatriya
Rating: 3/5

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Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / Jhund Movie Review: Empathy’s the ultimate goal!

Jhund Movie Review: Empathy’s the ultimate goal!

JhundU/A: Biography, dramaDir: Nagraj Popatlal ManjuleCast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ankush Gedam, Priyanshu KshatriyaRating: 3/5

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Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Jhund
U/A: Biography, drama
Dir: Nagraj Popatlal Manjule
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ankush Gedam, Priyanshu Kshatriya
Rating: 3/5