Wait: There is a pink and white wall, most of which is covered with an iron fence. It has a gate, which has been closed and guarded to prevent people from moving to the other side from the adjacent slum, where educated and wealthy families live. That image, symbolically, indicates the territory this film is venturing into. This is further underlined with the closing scene of the film, where an airplane is seen flying right over the slums of Mumbai’s slum area.
Nagraj Popatrao Manjule’s Jhund is not a purely sports biopic even though it follows the usual beats of a good sports drama. The film is a commentary on what we can do as a society to help the underprivileged identify their plus points and cross boundaries to leap onto another, brighter side. Amitabh’s Vijay Borade (based on Vijay Barse, a retired sports professor who has coached countless street kids in football and formed an NGO Slum Soccer) features a significant portion of the film set in the suburbs of Nagpur. Suffice it to speak, it has been shot wonderfully. (Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti). The camera subtly romances the city landscape, especially the jhopadpatti (slums) where much of the film is set.
Although the proceedings in this part start out on a modest pace, they catch wind in no time. Vijay Borade is on the verge of retirement from his job as a sports professor at the college, but is in no mood to step down as of now. He inspired enough to conduct adult education classes in his home for the local people at his own expense. His son’s opposition to education abroad is obvious, but underestimated. When children from the neighborhood slum catches Vijay’s attention by playing football with plastic barrels, he begins to train them in the game, which gradually distracts from their lives that are full of crime and drugs. Suffers from addiction. But how far does he actually go? Do they all lay down their lives in the dark alleys of crime and addiction? Do some or all of them get a chance to leap to the other side? All of this and more is answered in the film’s nearly three-hour runtime.
As a writer and director, Nagraj Popatrao Manjule manages to grab one’s attention for the most part of the film, however, the pace slows down in the second part, and it could do with a tighter editing. Plus, there’s a point that the pre-intervals have more energy and the post-interval races are higher on drama—a balance that could have earned the film a few more brownie points. The first half spills some colorful characters which add to the energy and even inspire the humour. While the narrative addresses many issues, there is enough effort to show some engaging on-field games as well. Well-crafted arcs and story-loops for each spotlighted character; Again, it would have had a much bigger impact if the editing was more focused.
One of the centerpieces of the film is the subtlety with which a range of issues including caste divisions, social judgments, class differences, economic differences and women’s education and rights are incorporated into the screenplay. The downside is that some of these issues distract the focus of the proceedings, breaking the overall rhythm of the story.
Words seldom suffice to describe how many wonderful roles Amitabh Bachchan chooses to play. This time, he is a retired sports professor who invests himself and his hard earned money to protect and raise children from the slums of Nagpur, despite odds and financial constraints. Here again, he has complete and complete command over every scene where he appears – never dominating his team of players, always adding more power to them. Your attention is also drawn to the confidence with which over a dozen kids and young adults, like Ankush (also Don/Ankush in the film) exhibit. They take good care of you. Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar (seen in Nagraj’s Sairat), despite the short screen time, give able support to the rest of the cast.
In short, it is a theatrical sports film which may not have thrilling moments around every corner for you, but the point at which it tries to drive home will surely hit the inside of you hard.