Jayesh Bhai Jordaar Review: Hopelessly out of sync

Divyang Thakkar has not seen Mirch Masala. That is the major problem. If he had, he would have understood the nuances of women empowerment and would have kept away from this dramatic big house cinema against female foeticide. Any semblance to sanity in two hours of this entertainment-with message drama is a piece of coincidence. […]

Divyang Thakkar has not seen Mirch Masala. That is the major problem. If he had, he would have understood the nuances of women empowerment and would have kept away from this dramatic big house cinema against female foeticide. Any semblance to sanity in two hours of this entertainment-with message drama is a piece of coincidence. Things seemingly go wrong well before it is executed. This film would have made a great impact if the protagonist was played by Rajkumar Rao or Ayushman Khuranna. They have the capacity to set the context. More on that later.

In a village or town celebrating misogynists we have Jayeshbhai (Ranveer Singh woefully miscast) who has to fight his parents (Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah) who are planning to abort the womb of their daughter-in-law Mudra (Shalini Pandey) who many years ago had delivered her first baby girl and since has been disappointing the family every time she expects a child. Repeated terminations of pregnancy and her system has taken a beating, but the old fashioned prejudiced parents-in-law will accept only a son as their legitimate heir.

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The timid Jayesh is torn between his love for his wife and the fear for his father, the local sarpanch. He is soon made the SP ( Sarpanch ka Pati) as the constituency is reserved for women. They still are collectively subservient to the male folk who treat them badly. Aided by his little daughter Sidhi (Jai Vaidya), how she helps the hapless couple overcome multiple attacks and prejudices is what the two hour film is about.

This Kiss kiss Please Please film also has a whole set of wrestlers who are hardselling peace and are from a village which has no women because one generation ago they too were like the village in question. Then there is Jayesh who is propagating sexual equality through the media of Kiss. Sometimes, you find the narrative insane. It is so hopelessly out of sync with today. Yes, even today we live with the bias for the male child but the manner in which it is portrayed here shows either lack of seriousness or just the fundamental incapacity to understand the seriousness of the issue.

Coming as it does from Yash Raj films, it lacks even the usual rich texture. Obviously Aditya has had a bad day at work. Bomman Irani as the old authoritarian feudal lord adds some value. In arguably one of the worst case of casting, Ranveer simply cannot be the normal person he is required to be. The one bright spot is the young talent in Jai Vaidya who literally navigates the film.

The film is nowhere near preparedness to deal with the issue it raises and lacks the capacity to make even a comical or humorous statement. Resultantly it is Jayesh Bhai Bore-dar.