'Jugni' - Movie Review

'Jugni'
U/A; Musical-drama
Director: Shefali Bhushan
Cast: Sugandha Garg, Siddhant Behl, Sadhana Singh
Rating:

A still from 'Jugni'. Picture courtesy: Jugni The Film's Twitter account @JugniTheFilm

Great intention, a contemporary story, good execution and soul-stirring music. What else could you want in a movie? 'Jugni' more or less captures your heart and imagination like a solid movie should.

A thoroughbred city musician, Vibhavari (Sugandha Garg), goes to Hassanpur in search of a famed Punjabi folk singer, Bibi Swaroop (Sadhana Singh). But she is more fascinated by Bibi's son Mastana (Siddhant Behl) and his talent.

The best thing about Jugni is the ease with which debutant director Shefali Bhushan introduces us to the two dramatically different worlds; the charmingly slow, lingering world of Mastana in direct contrast with the ambitious, swift and somewhat fake urban life that Vibhavari belongs to. Their individual body languages reflect the conflicting worlds that they belong to.

So when their conditioning and conflicting thought process collides after a passionate night together, they are left confused and indecisive. The thought-provoking and refreshingly different climax to their story adds to the allure of the film.

However, there are certain niggling issues that work against the film. Like Garg is competent, but a little more subtlety in her performance would have worked to match the mood of the film. Also, not much thought seems to have been put in to cast her boyfriend Sid (Samir Sharma), who's stereotypical and predictable as a model-turned-actor. The star of the film, of course, is Behl. Exceptionally convincing as a naïve, small town boy, who lets his heart do all the thinking for him, Behl is simply fantastic. A special mention has to be made of Anirutta K Jha, who is easy and endearing as Mastana's sweetheart, Preeto.

And, of course, it is the soulful music that makes this movie difficult to forget.