Title: Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 2 Stars
Alia Bhatt and Vasan Bala—mention these two names in the same breath, and there’s no reason to believe that this isn’t a winning combo. Bala is a fine filmmaker with a vision and a lens that many envy. Bhatt is a rare talent with a range that is both staggering and unmatched. Put them together in an endeavor that has its ‘Jigra’ (heart) in the right place, and chances are slim that the winning combo won’t work, especially under a stable that is both massive in terms of story-churning and success-inspiring! And yet, Jigra fails to inspire or succeed, even if you want it to, given the eagerness to tell a ‘different’ tale, poised to be narrated differently.
One wonders what is more disheartening then? Is it the production that seems so impressive in terms of the mounting, the scale, the texture, as indeed the design—the promise (in general) and the ideation (in particular)? Or is it the film’s protagonist, the otherwise ever-so-terrific Alia Bhatt, who strikes the perfect balance between the restraint expected from a talent of her caliber with the sheer brilliance of a movie star of her stature? The answers are not really hard to find in a story that looks as muddled as a performance that is as lackluster!
The brother-sister bond between Alia and Vedang Raina is the soul of the film. The essence of their relationship lies in how far the two can go for each other—one in terms of action while the other in terms of anticipation (read: conviction). The brother is falsely implicated in a crime scene, and the sister leaves no stone unturned to ensure that she reclaims the lost ground in what has been mounted as a revenge drama.
Sadly, for Alia, this is not the classic case of the material on offer, usually replete with its inherent shortcomings that eventually become a cause for concern. The fault lies equally in performance this time around. Even if it is firmly established that the action-and-reaction interplay doesn’t rely heavily on emotions alone, the mere subtlety projected here is not enough for the kind of revenge a film of this nature demands. So much so that you wonder if the incoherence lies only in the screenplay and character sketching, or does it lie in equal proportions at the communication level between the makers and the protagonist, for things look lost in translation.
There are moments in Jigra that choke you—in a good way—but there’s no storytelling that tugs at your heart for you to feel the sister is seeking revenge with all the limitations of her moral compass and the shortcomings of her strength. Of course, there’s a firm resolve, but the vulnerabilities remain way too underdeveloped. Jigra surely marks a ‘hatke’ choice in Alia’s impressive portfolio, but the film and her performance, per se, are a colossal disappointment. The makers don’t give us enough emotional backdrop on which the foundation of the revenge saga could be built—slowly, surely, and intensely. All we get are mere proceedings, albeit sleek in terms of action-mounting and designing, but that’s that! The film becomes a predictable watch, even if Vedang Raina does whatever he can with the limited material and screen time, and Alia simply struggles to shine.