JugJugg Jeeyo Movie Review

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

Director: Raj Mehta

What’s Good: A family entertainer that actually entertains families & isn’t a clickbait to call you just to the theatres

What’s Bad: It entertains you at the cost of 2 divorces & still limits itself from taking the dark-comedy route because apparently, that’s not what the appetite of the ‘junta’ demands

Loo Break: Songs are anyway over-promoted everywhere around you & aren’t even that great to watch something once again that you are watching daily in ads (or if you don’t have YouTube premium)

Watch or Not?: Strictly for passing some time & strengthening the belief that Bollywood is far from over!

Available On: Theatrical Release

Runtime: 150 Minutes

The first 15 minutes of the film pack two different moods which are juggled throughout the story. Kuku (Varun Dhawan) & Naina’s (Kiara Advani) childhood love is fruitened when he tattoos ‘Will you marry me?’ on his abs for a proposal. Years later, they’re in Canada situationally wearing all-black to depict the ‘dark’ things that unfolded between them through their journey from Patiala to Canada. Naina heads the house with Kuku being good for nothing like he’s in the third instalment following Humpty, Badri.

Mehta could have named this “Kuku Ki Dulhania” & no one would’ve asked a single question. The relationship turns sour but Kuku being the responsible elder brother doesn’t want to break the bomb at his sister Ginni’s (Prajakta Koli) wedding, who also isn’t really happy with her decision of marrying. On reaching back to Patiala, Kuku discovers even his father Bheem (Anil Kapoor) wants to part ways with Geeta (Neetu Kapoor). This makes him pause for a while & rethink about the mess going on in his family. What will he do next is what the rest of the story is all about.

Jug Jugg Jeeyo Movie Review: Script Analysis

Though this revives the genre of ‘dramedy’ in Bollywood, the proportion of humour & drama is something Mehta had nailed with his debut film Good Newwz. Here, he turns a little more towards the sentimental connection creating resistance from getting completely intrigued in watching the film. The parameter to judge any family entertainer for me is either to be so good at comedy that the laughs make your stomach ache (Good Newwz, Do Dooni Chaar), or the drama is so good that it makes your heart ache (Kapoor & Sons, Dear Zindagi).

JugJugg Jeeyo struggles with the juggle to maintain the balance at times because though Anurag Singh’s story is good at both but it doesn’t excel at any. The climax soaks in all the melodrama bringing out the real essence of the story, but I sincerely missed the mad crazy laughs I had while watching Good Newwz.

Don’t get me wrong because the screenplay (by Rishhabh Sharrma, Anurag Singh, Sumit Batheja & Neeraj Udhawani) does help in escalating the comical sequences (like Anil Kapoor running away from Varun touching his feet only to indicate how cool of a father he is). Films like Dil Dhadakne Do, Kapoor & Sons have already set a standard of how emotions are used while talking about dysfunctional families but JugJugg Jeeyo does it with certain restrictions (and light-hearted moments).

Jug Jugg Jeeyo Movie Review: Star Performance

Varun Dhawan looks like straight out of ‘Dulhania’ franchise but less funny & more serious. To be fair, he does get a character that has to handle many different moods at the same time & Varun surely excels at doing almost all of it. He shows how switching from drama to comedy within one scene could seem easy but it surely isn’t.

Thankfully Kiara Advani gets some meat after playing a flowerpot heroine in almost all of her projects. She owns an outburst scene which is very similar to what Kareena Kapoor Khan had in Good Newwz. Yes, there’s no comparison but Kiara manages to handle her calm in the said scene portraying the depth she can go to if required.

Anil Kapoor is best when he’s being Anil Kapoor on screen, a character who never plays his age & those are the moments bringing out the gold in him. Kapoor in Drama still feels like he’s going to crack a bad-dad joke any time soon. Neetu Kapoor is extremely subtle & gets the work done of an extremely typical Indian wife while trying to bust some stereotypes because it would’ve been ‘too typical’ otherwise.

Maniesh Paul reminds you of Govinda throughout the film & which could be really dangerous for any actor because no one could match that bar as of now. Maniesh, after Anil Kapoor, gets the most ‘kaamedy’ lines & he delivers it with utmost dumbness as required. Prajakta Koli is natural but you don’t cast her & not let her do what she’s best at i.e. making people laugh.

Jug Jugg Jeeyo Movie Review: Direction, Music

Raj Mehta has tried to mash two films into one which has helped & cannibalized the story at the same time. It gives you a whole load of content to wrap your head around, but then most of it is rushed because of duration control. In other simple words, the film won’t bore you but it won’t either make you go ROFL making you watch it again. It plays fun with the serious topic of divorce without going into its authentic complications for a reason because then people would’ve called it preachy.

Out of the songs, I wish not Guru Randhawa but Diljit Dosanjh had sung Nain Ta Heere because it has written ‘Diljit’ all over it. The Punjaabban Song is no Galan Goodiyaan & is good till it’s on Instagram reels. Duppata is forgettable & Rangisari comes in the rolling credits making this a pretty average album on the whole.

Jug Jugg Jeeyo Movie Review: The Last Word

All said and done, JugJugg Jeeyo delivers what it promises – harmless fun while being a family entertainer & if you’re expecting anything more than that, it’s on you.

Three stars!