Jogira Sara Ra Ra

Jogira Sara Ra Ra (2023) : Movie Review -

Kushan Nandy pairs Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Neha Sharma in his romantic comedy, "Jogira Sara Ra Ra". Nandy comes from a forgettable filmography background except for "Baabumoshay Bandookbaaz," which has fancied some chunks of audiences (including me, somewhat), so this one is a nice break for him as a filmmaker. Since Nawaz plays Jogi and Neha plays Dimple, I really imagined the title as "Jogimple," "JogiDi," or something like that. You see, that's how social media hashtags like VicKat, Virushka, DeepVeer etc. Have spoiled me. I still gave it a moment of thought to understand what the rest of "Ra Sara Ra Ra" means. I wasted a few moments of my life for a regular tongue-twister phrase, Jogira Sara Ra Ra, which hadn't got anything to do with the character names. Anyway, JSRR is a fun film to watch in today's hectic times-especially for Bollywood fans who are craving good rom-coms and comedies. Even a master like Luv Ranjan had to go down with "Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar," then what chance did others stand? Well, JSRR is also on the same level as TJMM, just minus the glamour, vulgarity, and urban humour.

Jogi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) runs a wedding management firm (because he hates marriages), and he believes that none of his Jugaads (tricks) can fail. That's a big misconception, though. He meets a free spirited girl who is beautiful by default, Dimple (Neha Sharma), whom he describes as "nothing simple". Dimple had an affair and ran away from home, only to get ditched by her BF. That one mistake has taken her freedom away, and now her parents have fixed her marriage with Lallu (Mimoh Chakraborty). Jogi gets a contract for her wedding from her uncle, but Dimple insists he disarrange things. Jogi tries all his jugaads and fulfils her wish, but little does he know that things are gonna fall back on him. Jogi and Dimple are set to be married when both of them don't want it. How will they avoid it? Will they manage to get away from this?

Jogira Sara Ra Ra might please a certain section of audiences-sorry, family audiences-who are bored of watching soapy dramas on TV every day. This one will be like a breath of fresh air for them. But for hardcore cinema lovers, who have become tough critics by watching too much content from all over the world, JSRR might not be that satisfying. The screenplay of the film is okay in the first half and then slightly better in the second half. Sadly, it loses the flow in the last 20 minutes and goes astray while trying to end things quickly. You never understand how the love story grew up in this chaos because there were no hints from the screenwriter, except if you had predicted it before, owing a big thanks to old cliches you have been consuming for years. I mean, how can a rom-com not have the hero and heroine fall in love? And I know this "two opposite people liking each other" formula from "It Happened One Night" (1934) or so many Frank Capra, Fred Astaire, and Cary Grant films from the black & white era. Are we still relying on that much old data? If yes, then where the hell is creativity? If no, then why the hell do we not get good rom-coms these days? Jogira is still quite different from those classics as it adds family and a kidnapping angle to it, but don't tell me you haven't seen it before.

Many people believe that Nawazuddin Siddiqui can't be the romantic hero of a grounded rom-com, but tell me one actor who can. Particularly, when you are making an odd pair in the film. What Nawaz does may not be his greatest work, but it's apt for the genre. Those English pronunciations are old but still make you laugh, and the credit goes to Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Neha Sharma looks gorgeous, and her character is damn lovable. I don't know; there is some charm in her voice and face that makes me instantly fall in love with whatever she is doing on the screen. I just rolled down the memory lane of Jayantibhai Ki Luv Story and how sweet she was and is still even after a decade. Zarina Wahab's overdramatic scenes are funny, while Mimoh Chakraborty goes against the tide to take you on the ride. Sanjay Mishra could have done better. You just can't underuse this boss of organic gags like this. The rest of the cast, including Dadi Ma, Dimple's family members, and Jogi's family members, were decent.

Romantic comedies are known for their superhit music. Here, we don't have any chartbusters, but the songs are all right. Shaadi To Hai Torture defines the characters and half the storyline of the film; Babua and Cocktail are okay. Sourabh Waghmare's cinematography is strictly average, while Virendra Gharse's editing is somewhat good. Kushan Nandy had a simple thought process that only tried to create a clean, family film with no brainstorming or intelligent elements. But I believe that even simple stories can be organic and intelligent. There are two or three below-the-belt jokes that stopped me from calling it a clean dish, but I think that's still better than having cheap and vulgar jokes. "Baap ka, dada ka, pardada ka.." cut.. Had there been a dozen more one-liners like this, Jogira Sara Ra Ra would have been the hysterical comedy it wanted to be. For now, it's an average flick with good things and a few bad things. But fairly balanced.

RATING - 5/10*