JAGGA  JASOOS- A BLAND  MUSICAL  JOURNEY

Arrogance takes the better of us sometimes; and this time it is Anurag Basu who is victim of excess and indulgence. Bad films are caused  by creative failures, essentially; however sometimes our sympathies with the star or the director dilutes our response and understanding specially in an emotionally buoyant  country as ours. Anurag Kashyap   indulged in ‘Bombay Velvet’ his brother in 'Besharm’ on both occasions Ranbir Kapoor  suffered the most. There is History of such indulgence and failure. Guru Dutt failed in ‘Kagaj ke Phool’ which in my opinion was flawed.  Devanand  indulged in ‘Ishq Ishq Ishq’ touted to be   another Musical but the very music fell short of expectations. Ram Gopal Verma also experimented with musical in ‘Mast’ which failed.

  

The problem with’Jagga Jasoos’ is that there is no foundation. The story/screenplay is very thin. The so called selling point-Music/Musical is prosaic , but for few independent songs. The premise of this musical is western as we have seen in ‘My fair Lady’/’Sound of Music’/’ Fiddler on the roof’. But the western musical outfit does not jell with Indian emotion/setting and after sometimes gets on your nerves!! It seems flat and routine. Anurag Basu should have taken a page from our cinema and noted that we have made many musicals( our roots are musical) ; but on solid story foundation- Barsaat by Raj Kapoor; ’Baiju Bawra’ starring Bharat Bhushan and Meena Kumari. ‘Heer Ranjha’ of Chetan Anand was truly musical and despite having  Priya Rajwans ( a weak heroine) was a success because of its strong foundation.Here  the filmmaker mounts the film on the shoulders of Ranbir Kapoor and proceeds on musical cartoon journey  with erratic structure  which  falters from the beginning.It also reminds of ‘Barfi’ in terms of setting ( here he moves further from Darjeeling to Manipur)/Ranbir’s inadequacy/father-son relationship and music

  

The only source of happiness is Ranbir who emits such subtle emotions that one feels sad for his choices and luck. He seems to have been conned most by mediocre filmmakers posing as creative masters- ‘Roy’;’Aye dil hai mushkil’’Bombay velvet’,’Besharam’. As far as Mr Basu is concerned this is his second big indulgence in terms of failure, money and time. ‘Kites’ was the first one!! 

NEHRU- ‘THE VARIETY AND UNITY OF INDIA’

NEHRU- ‘THE  VARIETY   AND   UNITY   OF   INDIA’

Jawaharlal Nehru in his book ,’Discovery Of India’ writes the following in the section titled, ’The Variety and Unity Of India’:

“ All of us , I suppose have varying pictures of our native land and no two persons  will think exactly alike .When I think of India ,I think of many things ;of broad fields dotted with innumerable small villages ;of towns and cities I have visited ;of the magic of the rainy season which pours life into the dry parched -up land and converts it suddenly into a glistening expanse of beauty and greenery , of great rivers and flowing waters ; of the Khyber Pass in all its bleak surroundings ; of the Southern tip of India ; of people ,individually and in the mass; and, above all of the Himalayas, snow capped ,or some mountain valley in Kashmir in the spring, covered with new flowers ,and with a brook bubbling and gurgling through it. We make and preserve the pictures of our choice , and so I have chosen this mountain background rather than the more normal picture of a hot , subtropical country. Both would be correct, for India stretches from the tropics right up to the temperate regions , from near the equator to the cold heart of Asia.”

Now ;how much of the leader and the person could be ascertained from his writing. The very start of the paragraph shows his inclusive and  diverse  world when he says that all of us  have varying picture of our native land and that no two persons  would think alike. Then he describes his picture of India and it is complex and wide. He talks of villages because he had been to many villages campaigning for Congress for 1937 elections. He talks of rains as he liked the rainy season and in fact had  visited Mumbai once only to observe the  monsoons! He talks of villages because he had visited rural India not only during his initial years in United Province but later as the primary leader of his party. He talks of people both ‘individually’ and in ‘masses’ for he had addressed numerous meetings and was always in eye contact with the ‘masses’ who were his source of energy and inspiration and  who were the foundation of the movement and who loved him. And then he talks of Kashmir which was dear to him and he had been there visiting many times and though liberal and democrat had always wanted the valley portion of Kashmir in India for its beauty and uniqueness and where from his ancestors had arrived in to the plains! It is  a mixed picture even though he picks the picture of Kashmir as  his choice. He is never definitive; always weighing all sides and views . Accommodative and restless ,concerned of the opinion of others as he says that even though he had chosen the snow-capped  Kashmir the ’picture’ of others would be as right( Both would be correct) because India stretches from tropics to temperate to cold .Such was Nehru!

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