Jagga Jasoos : Its a dreamy World

#JaggaJasoos : It’s a fairy-tale world . A world where Katrina’s acting doesn’t stick out like sore thumb has to be a fantasy world. Ravi Varman’s exquisite camerawork and Anurag Basu’s heady imagination transports one to the land of thousand fables.  But to keep one engrossed for 170 odd minutes the least one requires is an enchanting story.  Unfortunately Basu absorbed in his craft and spirit of experimentation makes the cardinal mistake of being over indulgent. And that is where the film suffers.

Make no mistakes; Jagga Jasoos is a passionate and unapologetic attempt to take us back to the days of child like curiosity and innocence.  Influenced by the story of Feluda, Hitchcock & Sherlock Jagga goes out on a quest to find Badal Bagchi, the man who had adopted him and had discovered the teenage sleuth in him. Their bond has been beautifully exploited.  However Basu stuffs Jagga’s adventurous trip with too many repetitive narratives and that drags the pace of the film and makes it extremely predictable. The film also lacks humour.  Most of the films dialogues are in lyrics form and Pritam and Amitabh Bhattacharya get ample scope to flex their creativity.Ranbir as usual is in top form creating a full bodied character that is smart, vulnerable and whimsical. Saswat Chattarjee, a fine actor, plays the role of Badal Bagchi with aplomb. The film’s music is engaging.

It is frustrating that while Basu transports one to the fairy-tale world , he fails to keep one there for long  or may be just he himself stays there for far too long ! It is a pity considering Jagga Jasoos  is otherwise a bold attempt to exploit a genre whose potential  hasn’t yet been tapped by bollywood . I will go out with 2.5 out of 5 for this Tintin-esque musical adventure. Go watch it, who knows it may rekindle the child hood memories in you. How I wish while Anurag Basu went on a hyper imaginative spree, someone should have focused on the basic essential of a film, the narrative. Taking three years to make a film doesn’t mean its length has to be three hours!