Jaggu Ani Juliet (2023) :
Movie Review -
Mahesh Limaye has directed a sensitive film like "Yellow," and now he returns with a lighter genre, the rom-com, with "Jaggu Ani Juliet." The film has a fresh pair of Amey Wagh and Vaidehi Parashurami in the lead roles, along with a big bunch of senior and young actors from Marathi cinema. From the title, Jaggu Ani Juliet looks like a romantic film inspired by Shakespeare's work, but it ain't. It's miles away from the dystopian work of William, away from the intense and dark tones of his, and mostly away from his brutality and vulgarity. It's pretty much like a childish version of the old classic rom-coms that established the genre way back in the 1930s in Hollywood. Sadly, we are still trying to catch up with their 90-year-old content, be it Bollywood, Tollywood, Marathi, or any other cinema industry in India. Jaggu ani Juliet is atrociously funny, sometimes irritating, and extremely weird, but it does make you smile. A weak climax spoils the entire mood and motive of the film, though. I wish it had been something different.
Jaggu Ani Juliet is set over a trip of 5 days in Uttarakhand. Jaggu (Amey Wagh) is a queerly funny guy from Versova's Koliwada with never-ending happiness in his heart, looking for a female attraction. He takes the challenge to set up a girl in 4 days and sets out for a lookout. He meets Juliet Chitale (Vaidehi Parashurami), a traveller from Los Angeles who is not on good terms with her father. Jaggu and Juliet ride together, stay in the same hotel, and roam together, and as expected, Jaggu falls in love with her. Juliet, who has a rule of "no strings attached," slowly starts getting attracted to him, but suddenly her past trauma of her mother and father's relationship makes this love story go bizarre. Will we see the happy ending again? You'll find out in the movie.
Jaggu Ani Juliet is a banal script for today's time because all it has is unbearable, outdated theories. We were done and over with Marcel Pagnol, George Cukor, and Frank Capra's rom-com almost a century ago; why should someone still copy the same tricks now? Bollywood makes mediocrities like "Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani" and "Tamasha," and Marathiwood attempted a mix of these two with Jaggu Ani Juliet. This is 2023, not 2013. Cinema and audiences have changed for generations in this decade because of OTT's rise and language-breaking movies. Also, the climax is damn too weak. If Jaggu knows why she left, then why the hell would he miss her? Knowing that the "return-of-the-queen" for the sake of a "happy ending" is coming anyway. Nonetheless, I must say, it's a freaking hilarious film. The comedy is atrocious but funny. Ambar Hadap and Ganesh Pandit are some writers, and I must appreciate them for going wild with this one.
Dear Amey Wagh, what have you done? I have never seen this man in such a hysterical mode before. Aagri people are going to put up his posters in Versova and maybe in Worli too. He is astoundingly funny, with almost every dialogue having a spoof, PJ, or some disgustingly comic rhyming. Vaidehi Parashurami's accent is pretty kiddish; such a peculiar and unacceptable mix of Marathi and English it was. However, while you ask about her looks, I am lying in bed dreaming about her. A big group of known Marathi actors is there, but they don't get enough scenes, and whatever scenes they have don't sound plausible to Jaggu and Juliet's story because they are not present there with them. Pravin Tarde, Avinash Narkar, Savita Malpekar, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Hrishikesh Joshi, Upendra Limaye, Jaywant Wadkar, Sameer Chougule, Abhidnya Bhave, Renuka Daftardar, Angad Mhaskar, and Manoj Joshi, they all have their own moments-inspired by their own images (something what we usually see in Chala Hawa Yeu Dya)-but they are just not enough to leave their impact in a typical rom-com lead by a couple.
The film has some breathtaking locations, and the cinematography is fantastic-exactly what's expected from the king behind the camera, Mr. Limaye. This is an Ajay-Atul musical you'd like to forget. The expectations are always higher from the Rank #1 musical duo in Marathi cinema, so this one is certainly below the mark. Jaggu Ani Juliet is almost two-and-a-half hours long, and that's a bit too much for a light film like this. The editor could have made it more concise by trimming some useless stuff, especially in the first half. Magesh Limaye has entered an easy zone of Rom-Com, but I think he was better in a difficult one like "Yellow." This pink, breezy film is easy to make, but that's the biggest disadvantage. All those classic rom-com theories began and ended with "It Happened One Night" (1934). No matter how hard anyone tries, that film or those golden touches by Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, and George Cukor just cannot be matched. Today's filmmakers should accept this fact, just like many have since the 1960s, and go ahead with something different. Because if you try it, the best you can make is an 'average movie'. That's what Jaggu Ani Juliet is. Enjoy some abnormal gags, even if you are a normal person, and there is no harm in it for you.
RATING - 5/10*
