Jayeshbhai Jordaar is a family dramedy that concentrates on social issues mainly around the misogynistic approach to society. A young couple, Jayeshbhai (Ranveer Singh) and Mudra ben (Shalini Pandey) are expecting a child while living under a constant bombardment of questions from their elders. The film is set in a village in Haryana.
Ranveer Singh does not go on with his charismatic flirtatious attitude, being proud of titled as a stud, rather he takes the role of a mature man ready to re-think all of the notions established by the society.
With Jayeshbhai and his wife already having a nine-year-old daughter, the disappointment of this child being female might be amplified in the eyes of his Babuji (Boman Irani) and Ba (Ratna Pathak Shah). What’s more, is that Mudra had gone through numerous illegal abortions before due to conceiving a girl child.
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Jayesh tries all he can to protect his expecting wife and his daughter from the onslaught of his family and the patriarchal society he is living in.
This change comes when his nine-year-old daughter asks him to combat the societal pressure and protect Mudra from encountering another painful abortion.
The views of this generic “samaaj” strengthen the older protagonists by providing them with an excuse to do what they are currently doing. Moreover, his Babuji is the Sarpanch of the village and accordingly, should set an example for others by not deterring from the wish of a grandson.
Set in a conservative environment where genders still matter, the most common pressure from the elders is, obviously, for the sex determination test.
From fertility issues to surrogacy, and homosexual couples to unconventional marriages, Bollywood has performed well with its blend of comedy and social drama.
However, even with a virtuous objective, Jayeshbhai Jordaar was unable to place a constant tone. Swirling between humorous, light-hearted, matter-of-fact, or vague to leave for the audience to decide, the filmmakers ruined the plot’s core.
The screenplay written by the director Divyang Thakkar was only partly successful in delivering the dialogue on the spot.
The film marking the directorial debut of Thakkar was unable to stick to a single theme or even present a medley of both earnestness and comedy that you can expect from a family drama.
It does deal with issues that need to be talked about in a country like ours with a decade of problematic sex ratio, especially in the state of Haryana.
The smooth progression we expected from Jayeshbhai Jordaar disappointed us where a satirical drama turned quickly into an exaggerated melodrama.
Coming to the performance of the film, Ranveer Singh delivers the best he can and tries hard to merge into the background and allow others to shine. Shalini Pandey, marking her debut with this film, does well on her part.
Boman Irani portrays the role of a regressive village headman who cares more about the opinions of society rather than the betterment of his own family. His role as a fearsome Sarpanch appears more like a pretense.
Ratna Pathak Shah as Anuradha Patel, mother of Jayeshbhai and wife of the village headman, constantly struggles between obeying her husband and suppressing her motherly emotions.
Nevertheless, her character could have been portrayed in an in-depth manner and somehow came out as shallow. The actor did whatever she could for the underwritten character. Jia Vaidaya (daughter of Jayeshbhai) also gives an excellent performance.
In the end, Jayeshbhai Jordaar does tackle an issue that is prevalent even today. No matter how the story turns out to be, what matters more is the underlying message.
Even if the film was not able to meet the expectations of the audience, it still gave a path for the upcoming movies to take on the subject for the betterment of society.
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