REVIEW: JUG JUGG JEEYO

Producer- Karan Johar

Director- Raj Mehta

Star Cast- Anil Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Neetu Singh, Kiara Advani, Maniesh Paul, Tisca Chopra and Prajakta Koli

Gene- Social

Platform of Release- Theatrical

Rating- ***

A TREATISE ON MARRIAGE & DIVORCE

Jyothi Venkatesh

Five years into the marriage, things begin to fall apart between Kuku and Naina. So much so that the two decide to part ways, but the biggest challenge is to break the news to their families.

When the warring estranged couple Kuku (Varun Dhawan) and Naina (Kiara Advani) come to India from Canada, hoping to break the news of their impending divorce after the big fat desi wedding in Kuku’s house of his younger sister Ginni (Prajakta Koli) is over, little do they know that there is an even bigger shocker, waiting for them back home- that Kuku’s parents are also on the verge of divorce.

The biggest trouble with the film is that it sets out to throw light on several issues softly, albeit always with a sense of humour.

However, to the entire credit of the director, it must be said that the entire narrative is nothing short of a roller coaster ride of relationship issues that aren’t easy to be solved, but handled with enough tact to never make this film a tedious or for that matter a boring watch.

At times the director lets logic slip too, with the screenplay going awry; especially when for no major reason Bheem’s extra marital affair with Tisca Chopra goes kaput, just because Bheem’s wife tells Tisca about her husband’s flaws, though Bheem is ready to seek divorce with his wife of 35 years Geeta (Neetu Singh).

Also I found the reason for Kuku and Naina not getting along after five years of marriage, though they are childhood friends, quite flimsy and unbelievable.

There are far too many characters which tend to spoil the broth and really do not contribute to the movement of the plot. Like that of Maniesh Paul who plays Kiara’s brother and the half-baked roles that Kuku’s sister Ginni and her groom play in the film.

The plot tends to drag a little by the time the film is halfway through and reminds the viewer of films like Hum Saath Saath Hain and Hun Dil De Chuke Sanam.

As far as the performances are concerned, I’d say that Anil Kapoor steals the scene with his scenes as the father in distress because of his extra marital relationship, while Kiara Advani renders a sterling performance and that includes her monologue with her husband Kuku.

Varun Dhawan underplays his role as the son who is tormented by his split with his wife while Neetu Singh scores with her underplayed performance and zest.

Tisca Chopra does not get score to perform and her role gets an overhaul all of a sudden making her a vamp in front of Bheem.

While Prajakta Koli is a delightful newcomer with a lot of promise, her potential has not been exploited properly while Maniesh Paul proves to be a powerful situational comedian.

Though the runtime is a bit too long and it could have been slickly given a tighter edit. What saves the film which could prove to be not so palatable to the conservative audiences and associate the word divorce with something bad are wonderful performances and incisive as well as quirky dialogues.