JugJugg Jeeyo review: Neetu Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani deliver wholesome entertainment without getting preachy

3/5

The story is set in the centre of Patiala, and like the city, it is bursting with romance and humour as well as colour and drama. After almost spending their whole lives together, Kukoo (Varun Dhawan) and Nainaa (Kiara Advani) got married five years ago, and now they must inform their families that they want a divorce. Nobody's favourite parents, Kukoo and Naina's Bheem (Anil Kapoor) and Geeta (Neetu Kapoor) have any intention of making life simpler for their children. Amid Kukoo's sister Ginny’s (Prajakta Koli) wedding, they have their preparations and surprises in store for the young couple. It deals with family and the values it upholds unfulfilled longings and unforeseen reconciliations.

The normalisation of divorce as not being a taboo subject anymore has been explored in Hindi movies for quite some time now. In 2020, we saw Thappad touch upon the topic with a top-notch emotional angle by talking about how one incident is enough for a partner to separate. But JugJugg Jeeyo takes a kinder approach. It's the premise that sets an amazing tone for the film, wherein two couples from different generations want to get separated, but the reasons are different and justifiable too.

It's the genre which works well for the film: family drama, but with some comic relief. Since the OTT era began, we have seen a couple of family dramas, namely Hungama 2 and Hum Do Hamare Do, but none of them created an impressive impact on the viewers. This genre is perfectly defined by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, and maybe that's something the audience needed to re-invest in this genre.

On top of that, it's the perfect ensemble cast, and for sure, that takes the cake for the whole film. Having Anil Kapoor as the patriarch who is comfortably cheating on his wife of 35 years seems like an extended version of his character from the 2005 hit film, No Entry. The senior actor gets everything and ends up becoming the "love to hate" character in the film.

From the word go, Anil exudes that vibe, and as a viewer, you will wish, "Oh man, I hope his wife leaves him soon."

Talking about his on-screen wife is Neetu Kapoor, whom we are seeing on the big screen after ages. The veteran actor is beautiful and marvellous as a performer. She gives that emotional depth in the film but with a practical approach. One of the most important scenes from the film of hers is with her on-screen daughter-in-law Kiara Advani, and all I can say is, so relatable!

With her character, it touches upon the fact that arranged marriages, which took place decades ago, are nothing but compromise. Over the years, it's the habit that makes the partners stay with each other, and it has nothing to do with love.

Talking about the other couple, Kiara Advani is yet another strong performer in the film, and it shows the actor has come a long way. While the film is a comedy, the young actor is more about drama here and in a better way. She does her best in the film as she struggles with her separation from Varun Dhawan and also wants to come to her mother-in-law's aid.

Not only that, but Kiara's scenes with Varun are also enjoyable to watch as they delve deeper into how a millennial views marriage. Love is never enough, and it's the miscommunication or lack of talking to each other that leads to a crack in the relationship of a young couple.

Varun, on the other hand, effortlessly gets into his character's failure in his marriage but also comes to terms with the fact that his parents are also separated. The whole burden is shown on his shoulder with the unravelling that takes place eventually.

The beauty of his character is that he doesn't shy away from talking about the fragile male ego or the fact that his unhappiness has nothing to do with his wife being more successful than him. The pivotal scene between Varun and Kiara also demonstrates how, in the professional world, marriage is not always about equals. Their problem is more on their emotional wavelength, on which they can't bow down or think of doing it for once.

Moreover, Varun's camaraderie with his co-stars, especially Anil and Maniesh Paul, is a fun ride to watch as it brings more comic relief.

Maniesh Paul as a supporting actor is surely entertaining. But you might end up having a straight face in a few sequences where the humour is being induced unnecessarily.

On the other hand, YouTuber Prajakta Koli is making her big-screen debut with the film after her Netflix debut with Mismatched. Although we expect her to also bring her trademark dry humour, the actor is given an emotional ride with how Gen Z looks at marriage altogether.

Director Raj Mehta marks his second directorial with JugJugg Jeeyo and, like his debut vehicle, Good Newwz, the film is also more on the dialogue front, especially in the confrontational scenes.

The story idea is by Anurag Singh, who is also the director of Kesari (2019), along with a screenplay penned by Rishhabh Sharrma, Anurag Singh, Sumit Batheja, and Neeraj Udhawani. Meanwhile, Sharrma has written the dialogues for Jugjugg Jeeyo.

The writing department has done a great job of bringing together the emotional angle of the film. However, a few jokes seem only like WhatsApp forwards and bring out forced humour.

The main issue is also with the background score, which adds a humorous punch to the serious sequences, giving the audience the impression that they are watching a comic scene with heavy and emotional dialogue.

JugJugg Jeeyo is also musical, so to say. However, none of the songs is appropriately placed in the film. Although most of the film is set against the backdrop of wedding festivities, the songs don't give an upbeat mode to the movie.

If you found Good Newwz bizarre to some extent, Raj Mehta makes a course correction with JugJugg Jeeyo. He creates a messy ball of wool with the first half, while the second half, although it starts in quick succession, clears out all the mess in the right way.

After Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, JugJugg Jeeyo is yet another refreshing family entertainer that hopefully pulls the crowd as it did for the former film. With star performances by all the four lead actors, the film doesn't give much scope for boring moments and is a whole-hearted entertainment, hands down.