Jhund Review

Director Nagraj Manjule is a well-known name in the Marathi film industry, with both his films Fandry and Sairat being wildly successful. His work is raw and hard-hitting, and often addresses uncomfortable truths - and his debut Hindi film was always going to be of interest.

Unfortunately, maybe due to the constraints of making a movie in Hindi, Manjule loses that sharpness along the way, and Jhund does not quite seem to have its mind made up - is it a social commentary on the upliftment of dalit youth, or a sports film, or the biopic of Vijay Barse, the founder of the NGO Slum Soccer?

Prof. Vijay Borade (Amitabh Bachchan) is on the verge of retirement, and observes that football can be used as a tool to save the kids of the local slums from a life of petty crime. He organises this "jhund" into a proper team, and the kids help him come to the realisation that his work is not done - there are plenty more kids from across the country who have never been given an opportunity to play. He sets out to do just that, and the film observes the journey of these slum-dwelling kids as they are finally given a goal to chase, an opportunity to break down the walls that they have been confined by.

Jhund explores social divides based on caste, class, wealth and education - and there's nary a filmmaker in this country who can capture these differences with the sincerity of Nagraj Manjule. The movie is excellent when it is in full flow, especially when the young actors are allowed to freely interact with each other. There is an especially touching scene where the kids are sitting in Borade's home as he enquires about their lives, and one of them remarks that this was the first time that someone had asked him how he felt. It is such a raw display of emotion that it stops feeling like an act, and the documentary style angles it is shot in beautifully complement the scene. This is the first time Manjule has worked with a star actor, so it is quite commendable that Mr Bachchan's larger-than-life presence is toned down, and his character of Prof. Borade is always on the periphery while his young wards are the focus of the film.

The film, like the other movie we reviewed this week, has a running time of almost three hours. Like we pointed out there, very few films manage to do justice to that duration of time, and Jhund is no different. At times, though, it feels like some of the characters could have had more time to have their story told - the goalkeepers, for example, as one of them is not even remembered, while the other one has you wondering who he is (or what his backstory is). And some long scenes feel like time well spent, such as the story of the girl who can't prove her existence - it is a harrowing experience, but often darkly funny, and very memorable. The movie also suffers from uneven pacing - with the first half being frenetic and very high energy, while the second half is drama-filled - a better balance would have kept the attention of the audience that the film manages to grab with such élan.

Amitabh Bachchan gives another powerful performance, hampered only by some decisions such as him being required to give a speech in the courts. The real stars of the movie, though, are the kids, with Don (Ankush Gedam) being the centerpiece.

The score by Sanket Kanetkar is rather loud, drowning out the dialogue at points. There are not many tracks in this film, thankfully, as duo Ajay-Atul have toned down the song-and-dance for the most part. We were also grateful for the absence of any item numbers or provocative dance sequences, thank you very much.

Jhund is worth a watch, because of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan playing "Vijay" again, and making more of a difference than ever. Watch this one because it is the complete package (hell, it is often larger than a complete package with various bits and pieces tacked on) - being entertaining as well as eye-opening, giving you an insight into issues such as systemic oppression. At the very least, it will leave you more aware of issues that millions of Indians face on a daily basis.