Jayeshbhai Jordaar review: A 'vigorous' Ranveer Singh packs a punch with his firecracker performance

3/5

The film, directed by Divyang Thakkar, is a witty comedy set in Gujarat, with Ranveer Singh playing a Gujarati man. In this film, the actor plays Jayeshbhai, an unlikely hero who champions the cause of female empowerment. A timid guy must summon the bravery to protect his pregnant wife (Shalini Pandey) and daughter (Jia Vaidya) in the fight of his life.

Oscar Isaac once said, "I like being a chameleon who transforms himself with each role." Well, the only one in Bollywood now who hits the right spot with this quote is Ranveer Singh. The actor cannot be put in any box, but only one that we saw in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, that of being a boggart. Although it's not a dark phase for the actor, he can take himself anywhere and everywhere while getting into the skin of his character.

Jayeshbhai Jordaar is touted to be entertaining and it has stuck to being of that genre to the fullest. Without becoming preachy, the film tells the story of a naive and feminist man who puts on his alpha persona in front of his family and the entire world. The Divyang Thakkar directorial immediately establishes the story of female infanticide with the very first scene of being in the hospital.

No time is wasted in showing what one can expect from Jayeshbhai Jordaar as it touches upon the gut-wrenching subject of pre-natal sex determination and how it's a crime in every way. However, the film sticks to the subject so much that it's dragged till the climax.

Other issues are addressed, but with the way it shows, the heinous crimes are posed as funny sequences and are too superficial. For example, there's a scene where Jayesh's sister is a victim of domestic violence by her husband, who happens to be Mudhra's (Shalini Pandey) brother. Thus, without bringing their daughter home, Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah (Ranveer's parents) ask him to seek revenge by hitting his wife. Jayeshbhai, who can't even hit a fly, plays garba inside the room to prove to his parents standing outside that he is also a misogynist like them.

This is just one of the many sequences where Jayeshbhai shows his dual personality but fails to show guts in front of his hot-headed Sarpanch father.

Many dialogues and sequences seem unoriginal as the subject is also not new. The fictitious village brings super fictitious sequences, setting unrealistic expectations in the second half. The intention of showing Jayeshbhai as a superhero without a cape makes the film lose its charm by the time it touches the second half.

The only thing that saves Jayeshbhai Jordaar is the performance of the actors. As mentioned above, Ranveer shoulders the film extremely well and makes sure that he is not entirely the show-stealer. To match up with him is his on-screen daughter, played by Jia Vaidya, who is shown as a bindaas girl living in a misogynist and sexist household. Her role shows how her father, despite being a timid man, is the wind beneath her wings and helps her soar high from childhood.

So is the Arjun Reddy girl, Shalini Pandey. Throughout the film, she is shown as a pregnant woman, and she delivers a pretty good performance. Her character is knowingly and unknowingly shown as a woman who has a feminist husband; thus, she need not worry.

Ratna Pathak Shah and Boman Irani are both seen as the creators of this misogynist world and they are par excellence. However, their character arc towards the end just loses the plot. I am not sure if that can be explained well without giving away a little about the plot.

The laughter quotient looks very high on the paper, and so does the emotional quotient. However, only a few sequences have been well translated on the screen. The well-intentioned second half seems to fall flat and refuses to pick up in the climax due to its high predictability.

One of the best scenes in the film is a monologue by Ranveer on "pappi" (kiss). The whole shot is beautifully staged with metaphorical dialogue. Well, it seems to have become the norm for many films to have a monologue nowadays. Does this one create an impact? Well, it tries hard to make one.

Jayeshbhai Jordaar is a subtle attempt at an important and well-explored subject in Bollywood. However, it just becomes a little bit of a drag in the second half and is very unrealistic, so to speak.

Ranveer Singh is jordaar in the film, and his onscreen daughter Jia Vaidya is a firecracker. while Shalini Pandey brings more subtlety to both of them. In times when Bollywood is questioned for its content, Jayeshbhai Jordaar is not an answer to it. Well, we have to trust and wait for Bollywood to deliver better.