Jigra

What could have been one of the year's most heartfelt films unfortunately settles as a popcorn entertainer with technical brilliance, but ultimately offering little to no food for thought.

That said, it still justifies its ticket price with numerous strengths-well-fleshed-out characters brought to life by applause-worthy performances, a riveting score that elevates the film, and Hollywood-level art direction making full use of the Dharma budget. The brilliant use of colors adds a nostalgic - campy vibe. Flawless editing lets the scenes breathe, but also tightens the story's grip when the script demands. The fast pacing leaves no room for dullness throughout.

However, all these strengths are thrown out the window in the final act. While the film's technical brilliance kept me engaged in the theater, in retrospect I realised that it merely acted as a bandaid on a lackluster script.

The film suffers from repeated exposition, convenient plot devices, and a tonal conflict where forced comedic moments undermine the story's serious elements.

At one point in the third act, a character essentially declares, "I'm going to commit war crimes and look cool while doing so, and you won't question it." This sudden shift fails miserably. Characters break out of their established personalities, and the film loses all moral grounding, embracing and glorifying war and terrorism. The once-grounded brother-sister story becomes over-the-top and comical, with characters inexplicably mastering military weapons and vehicles with no prior experience. It really feels like it went big, for the sake of going big. You can count plot holes on both hands and still run out of fingers.

The first half is exceptional, with few sequences that rank among the best this year. But the jarring finale completely undermines the journey that led upto it.

While "Jigra" may not fully align with the usual standards of Vasan Bala that I have come to expect, I must commend his adept portrayal of the brother-sister dynamic, which without a doubt stands as the highlight of the entire presentation.

Had Mr. Bala dedicated a bit more time and resources to deepen the showcase of these siblings' unbreakable bond, the impact would have been something truly remarkable.

Additional scenes illustrating their tumultuous childhood, particularly within the confines of their distant relative's home where they were raised, would have significantly enriched the narrative.

Now I do not wish to imply that the 'Jailbreak' drama lacked excitement; it certainly had its moments. However, the happenings often felt like an elaborate collection of fillers rather than an integral part of the core narrative.

Because ultimately, the essence of the story revolved around the bond between Satya and Ankur and I longed for a greater emphasis on that particular aspect.

#Jigra is a term for courage or mettle. The heroine, a young woman named Satya, does possess plenty of it. From an early age, following the death of their parents, she takes complete control of her kid brother. She fulfils all his needs and is almost a mother to him. When he travels to a foreign country and gets wrongly implicated in a narcotics case, she goes all out and rescues him. The story did have potential, but the convenient script and some illogical sequences have ruined the film. In addition to Alia Bhatt, Vivek Gomber, Rahul Ravindran and Manoj Pahwa deliver good performances. Running time needs to be reduced by 20 minutes. Rating 2/5.

I got hooked with the trailer. Mindblowing.

Then I felt bombed by the film. Underperforming to put it in one word.

Alia delivers, all other actors seem to have skipped acting school. Maybe it's also the dialogues which are just week.

The main problem is that the entire story is event driven. One event and song chases the next one.

What about a character driven story once in a while? Character development not stupid stereotypes with punchy lines just to get to the next scene.

Who is writing those dialogues?

I watched 20 minutes and then skipped through the rest.

Sorry, but it did not catch me.

The movie started off strong with an exciting and fast-paced first half that kept me thoroughly engaged. The action sequences and plot development were well-executed, setting high expectations for the rest of the film. However, the second half felt unnecessarily stretched, introducing random subplots that didn't add much value to the overall story. Some of the scenes and character actions lacked coherence, making it hard to stay invested. Overall, while the movie had a promising start, it struggled to maintain its momentum and fell short in delivering a satisfying conclusion. That said, the acting was solid throughout, and the cast did a commendable job with the material they were given.