Hum Chaar (2019): A friendship movie which works as a time capsule

The trailer of Gully Boy, i don't remember. But thanks to Zee5, i finally got to watch the film and i must say it brought so many memories back.

The story revolves around 4 medical student Namit Gupta (Prit Kamani), Surjo (Tushar Pandey), Abeer (Anshuman Malhotra) and Manjari (Simran Sharma). Namit, Abeer and Surjo are in second year and are best friends. These three will perhaps remind you of your college days. 3 good friends, but one friend lives in another room (he just goes to his room to sleep) but spends the entire day and semester in your room and you pay for his food also.

Manjari is in first year (fresher), but as soon as she enters the campus she gets trapped by a devil called Ragging! Here, Namit and his friends rescue Manjari from the ragging and after much ups and downs they become best of friends.

Over time, with friendship bond getting stronger from Manjari's side, the love bond from the boys' side keeps getting stronger. Maybe, 'Ek ladka aur ladki kabhi dost nahi ho sakte' is still there in Rajshri house. All three boys fell in love with Manjari at the same time and wanted to confess their love to her on her birthday. But, things take an untoward turn which badly affects their friendship. All of them get expelled from the college. That's an end of road without any closure.

The story jumps four year ahead and the trio gets a message from Manjari that she needs their help. They reunite at the same old campus which saw the beginning and end of their friendship. From here on, the story builds up for our friends to find a way to re build their friendship.

Talking about the performances, i would like to congratulate everyone for their work, especially Anshuman Malhotra for his role of Abeer. You would remember Tushar Pandey as Mummy from Chhihhore where he has done exceptional job, in Hum Chaar also he has done an applausable job.

Simran Sharma is a Rajshri 2.0 heroine, who drinks and who loves to live her life on her own term. But, she needs to work up on her dialogue delivery scene. She fumbled during an important drunk scene and during the climax of the film. Prit Kamani, is a man of eyes. Yes! He can act with his eyes. Look for him during second half where the friends reunite.

Hum Chaar is a simple story of found-lost-found friendships. It may work for some of you like a time capsule which will give you a nostalgic ride back to your college times and even if you don't, it will surely make you call your friends and make a reunion plan.

It will not be wrong to call that with Hum Chaar, Rajshri Production has ventured in to Rajshri 2.0. From making movies on family issues to making movies on friendship, Rajshri surely is thinking for a make over.

I loved the simplicity of the script and how smoothly the director (Abhishek Dixit) has shown the beauty of a simple yet complex yet necessary for a human to survive i.e Friendship.

I think, after i finish writing the review, i would go and call up my college friends and will plan a reunion or probably a zoom meeting.

Jagga Jasoos: From a poet's mind to cinema screen.

Directed By: Anurag Basu

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Saswata Chatterjee, Saurabh Shukla, Katrina Kaif

Streaming on: Netflix

“A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet”.

-Orson Welles

Jagga Jasoos, a 2017 film came as a diappointment for many. I heard people bashing the makers for wasting their money and time. With a heavy heart, i went for it. 3 Hours later, i came out of the audi and perhaps, it was only me who came out, but my mind and heart both were lost somewhere in the world of Jagga. Again, almost after 3 years, i stepped into the universe that Jagga created for me. This time with a hope to get my heart and mind back. But, Alas! This time i lost my soul there. This is not a review of a film, but a kind of love letter to Jagga Jasoos for creating an universe where both children and adult could leave in harmony.

This movie was a brain child of Anurag Basu, whom i admired for his musics. KITES, GANGSTER, BARFI and many more. You just scroll through his cinema journey and you will find how much he loves his film’s music and how much he is capable of communicating his script with his songs and musics. Anurag is a poet, a poet with director mind, with a passion to dream.

The moment first frame drops in, you will fall in love with the cinematography of the film. Jagga Jasoos is one such film which has received contribution from each and every department of film making. From Direction to Acting, From music to cinematography, Jagga Jasoos has everything . Everything coming staright from the heart.

Jagga Jasoos revolves around the life of Jagga (Ranbir Kapoor). He stutters as he speaks, so he choses to remain silent untill he meets Tuti-Futi (Saswata Chatterjee). Tuti-Futi teaches him the concept of Left Brain and Right Brain and this is where a dream ride starts. A musical journey into the life of Jagga. Tuti-Futi adopts Jagga and fills Jagga with hope of living life, no matter what happens. There are two stories running simultaneously in the film. After Tuti Futi adopts Jagga, the first thought that would have come to your mind or will come to your mind is that ‘Okay! Now we are in for some old hindi cinema drama’. But, this is where the story takes a turn. Tuti Futi had to leave and he left Jagga behind in a boarding school. This created a lot of questions in Jagga’s mind, and the quest to solve or get the answers of all the questions. He wanted to solve all those unsolved mystries and this is where a teenage Jagga became Jagga Jasoos. At first it may seem like a next door movie of bollywood but as the story progresses, you will be charmed by acting, cinematography and the emotional context of the movie.

You can not judge Jagga Jasoos from a regular movie point of view. It will demand your patience, your love for art, your love for poetry. Jagga Jasoos has not come from a script, it has come from a mind of a poet.

The beauty of Jagga Jasoos lies in its story and execution. If you have watched the film then you will realise that how artistically the script has been conceptualized with songs to express oneself. Talking about beauty of the script, there are many stories running simultaneously. One story is of Jagga and his wait for Tuti-Futi to comeback, another story belongs to Tuti Futi and his work and his eagerness to go back to Jagga, then there is a separate story of Shruti (Katrina Kaif) where she tries to expose the illegal weapon business. All these stories are running at different place, pace and time. But, eventually all these stories merge and become one hell of a ride. This is Anurag Basu of post Barfi! era for you.

Now, looking at the song placement in between scripts. Lets take a moment and applaud Amitabh Bhattacharya and Pritam for creating a musical ride for us. To put a song which will proved to be a catalyst to say what you want to say, is a truly commendable job. For example, there is a scene where Shruti burns down the entire hostel room of Jagga, and Jagga bringing out his frustration and anger on Shruti with a song will give you an idea of how poetically the entire movie has been imagined. You will not be able to decide that whether you should fee for Jagga or Shruti. With all the efforts in vein, i am sure that you will finally decide to fall in love with both of them.

Jagga Jasoos is not a typical bollywood film where you go and watch the film and at the end you forget about it but rather a cinematic experience which will come back to you everytime you hear the words Beautiful, Poetic or Art or any other that you use to define a beautiful experience.

Jagga Jasoos is like that ghazal of Jagjit Singh or is like a whiskey that you like to listen or sip at a weekend evening. I am a big Jagjit Singh fan, so i would compare the movie with ghazals of Jagjit Singh. If you are too a Jagjit Singh fan, then you must know how it feels to discover a new ghazal of Jagjit Singh that you have not heard and then you feel guilty. Well, Jagga Jasoos is that ghazal. If you like to sip on whiskey on a weekend then Jagga Jasoos is like that whiskey which will slowly and steadily start to wave the magic. But in both cases (Ghazals or Whiskey), at the end you will want more of it!!!