Jhund Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan and team score the perfect goal in Nagraj Manjule's underdogs drama
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Loading... - Amruta Sultana
- 02 Mar 2022
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Movie Name: Jhund
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan
Director: Nagraj Manjule
In the 1995 Michelle Pfeiffer film, Dangerous Minds, there is a song titled Gangsta's Paradise that goes by the lines, ‘As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...I take a look at my life, and realise there's nothin' left’.’ The lyrics to Gangsta's Paradise ran through my mind during the opening shots of Nagraj Manjule’s Jhund. Those who have watched his earlier breakthrough hit Sairat (remade as Dhadak with Ishaan Khatter and Jhanvi Kapoor) will know that Manjule has an appetite for using raw, uninhibited emotions and dialogues in his films. His characters don’t carry fancy tags or baggage and feel like everyday people you might bump into on an overcrowded ride to work. With Jhund, starring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, the director goes all out to achieve this feeling of familiarity and chaos.
Jhund, like its title, is the story of a group of misfits, society outcasts, a downtrodden bunch of young boys and girls who have no place in the corridors of everyday life. They are not known by their names but the drugs they peddle and the police records on their names. Manjule’s lens introduces us one by one to these dishevelled and unkempt teenagers going about their day in the bylanes of Nagpur. Their day begins with snatching chains, hunting for scraps in the garbage and getting high on cheap drugs near railway tracks. However, it doesn’t take too long for this scenario to change. With the entry of Vijay Borade (Amitabh Bachchan), a sports coach nearing his retirement, the film’s narrative gets its much-needed push. Wearing a blue tracksuit, Bachchan towers above these kids with a sense of curiosity as to how and when their lives took this downhill tumble. You know where the plot goes from here, but the beauty of Jhund is in its journey and not so much in the expected outcome.
Beneath the simmering anger, the frustration and the insecurity depicted in Jhund lies hope and faith. Vijay’s constant effort to find the light in the dark crevices of this pitch-black world is what makes the film a winner. Manjule touches upon several subtexts during the course of the film. Religious bigotry, infidelity, casteism, and inequality are weaved into the plot organically through parallel conversations between supporting characters. Vijay’s interactions with these slum kids are never laced with judgement or contempt, and that’s where his character wins us over.
Jhund hits you in the gut when you least expect it. You want to cheer for these kids who are being trained to play professional soccer by Bachchan, yet there are several moments where you realise that these two worlds collide to create chaos, not peace.
Manjule brings in his Sairat leads Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar to play cameos in Jhund. Even though their screen time is limited, just to see how far they have come, from the starting point to now, is exciting. Read More…
