Movie review: 'Jigariyaa'

Jigariyaa
U; romance-drama
Dir: Raj Purohit
Cast: Harshvardhan Deo, Cherry Mardia
Star rating:

Jigariyaa stands out in the clutter of over smart, over hyped movies simply because of its, well, simplicity. Call it old fashioned if you like, but this film manages to touch a chord because of its realistic style of storytelling and the obvious sincerity with which it is made. Jigariyaa also stands out because it doesn't seem to be made to compete with the other releases of the week, but simply because the filmmaker (Raj Purohit) wanted to tell a love story.

Inspired from real life events, Jigariyaa is an innocent (or a tad naïve by today's standards) love story between Shamlal Gupta (Harshvardhan Deo), the son of a local ‘halwai' and Radhika Sharma (Cherry Mardia), the daughter of a wealthy, influential family. There is nothing really novel about this ages old rich girl-meets-poor boy story - boy sees girl, falls madly in love, woos her, she resists but gets wooed after reading his poems and then the girl's parents put up a stiff opposition. But even then Jigariyaa makes a delightful 120-minute-plus viewing as you go feel the trauma and turmoil that the young couple in love goes through.

As the director and cinematographer takes you through the bylanes of Agra, Mathura and then Mumbai, this story grows on you. All credit to adept direction, good casting (including the character actors who look like they belong to the world that the director weaves for us) and real locations make this film believable and, at the same time, moving.

This is the love story of a couple belonging to a small town with a different kind of mindset about love and romance and so it might resonate better with the youths from there than those belonging to metro cities.

A special mention has to be made of the competent lead pair, Harshvardhan and Cherry, who, in spite of being debutants, seem pretty comfortable in front of the camera. Every love story has to have great music and in this regard, Jigariyaa doesn't disappoint either (music directed by Agnel-Faizan, Raj-Prakash).

The big drawback of the film, however, is its pace. While one understands the need to go slow for the love story to develop, the film would have held the curiosity and attention longer if it moved faster as today's audience is far less patient than those that loved and revered films like Ek Duuje Ke Liye and the likes from the 80s. Do watch if you are an incurable romantic and are looking for something other than the usual fare.