Anurag Basu Cooked Up A Sudden Story and It Isn’t Delicious Enough! Jagga Jasoos Review

So Anurag Basu finally has arrived with a new film after years and I was too excited to try my luck. So right after a hectic day, I hopped into a nearby theatre for a quick dose of relaxation and what did I get?

An utter plate of disappointment offered to me with some peppy, melodious music.

So let me elaborate a bit so that you understand what’s in store for you when you walk into the theatres with some incredible expectations.

Plot

I won’t unfold you the entire story but would share tits and bits and believe me these bits are enough strong to forget your movie plans. So Katrina Kaif adopts a storytelling mode to reveal the mysterious tales of Jagga aka Ranbir Kapoor. And there we come to learn how Jagga met his father “Tooti Frooti”. It was under his mentorship Jagga could learn the most significant chapters of life. But unfortunately, one fine day,  Tutti Frooti aka Saswata Chatterjee leaves behind Jagga in a boarding school without any further explanation. And then on, Jagga became the mystery solver, Jagga: the Jasoos.

From solving trivial mysteries like murder of his English teacher to the cracking of the secret route for arms migration, Jagga had established himself as quite a professional detective. And one fine day, Jagga comes to know that his father Tooti Frooti is no more. But the detective instincts in Jagga make him believe that his dad is still alive. And then begins his journey to search Tutti Frooti and in this course he finds a bigger mystery is waiting for him: The case of Mr. Bashir Alexander.

Who is he exactly, I won’t reveal, but all I can say is it is this thread that Anurag Basu leaves behind unstitched probably to bring out a sequel to this one.

Katrina and Ranbir’s meeting seem to be accidental but in the due course they become great friends and definitely mutual love interests develop( quite predictable ). Shruti Sengupta aka Katrina is a journalist whose latest story centres around the illegal migration of arms and during this episode she happens to meet Ranbir, who not only helps her getting her story bites but also saves her from the possible life threats. Later Katrina accompanies Ranbir in his journey to find out “Tutti Frooti” his dad, as she is the only one he can look upto for help and also a complete replica of his dad in her attitude and behavior.

The problem is if the narrative had been plain even with a pinch of flashbacks then still it could have been acceptable. But Anurag Basu decides to disclose the mysteries of arms and ammunition through the narrative of Katrina and that too in front of kids who fall between the age of 6-10 years. And just like us, they too were completely bored by Katrina’s story.

What Could Have Been Great:

As soon as you move into the theatres, you are into the world of lyrical ballads. Ranbir is unable to speak smoothly and he stammers, but surprisingly when he sings, he does it like a pro. Moreover even in some serious situations, Ranbir tends to forget his stammering and speaks in his usual flow. The problem is despite there’s some great music in the movie but there’s excess of it. But as the saying goes: Nothing of excess is never good enough.

The movie takes us to different locations from the scenic landscapes of Manipur to the traditional streets of the City of Joy and even to destinations of Kenya and Morocco. But nothing seems to impress us much.

As usual Katrina falls short of her acting skills and seriously adds to the disappointing soup.

Still Commendable:

Ranbir Kapoor perhaps had taken over the responsibility to compensate for the loss and thus his flawless acting does make you feel that your ticket money has not been a complete waste. Even Saswata Chatterjee had been a source of great inspiration with his commendable acting.

After Barfi, I was really looking up to Anurag Dada for some real good script but unfortunately all expectations went in vain. Had the script been a little more powerful, then definitely the film would have left a greater impact on our mind.

Rating:3.5/5