Ranbir Kapoor's search for his missing father now takes him to a Mumbai studio
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 10, 2014)

After travelling to Cape Town in South Africa and the picturesque Pai in Thailand, Anurag Basu's detective caper, Jagga Jasoos, has finally landed in Mumbai's Filmistan Studio where the film's shooting is underway.

Mirror 'framed' Ranbir Kapoor as he was stepping into his van for a costume change. A source close to the unit revealed, "Ranbir's look in the film goes through a drastic makeover as he ages from an 18 year old to a man in his mid-thirties."

The film's story revolves around a gifted boy who goes country hopping in the search of his missing father. "The film has a lot of children who play Jagga's informants and help him with clues. After the Mumbai schedule, a major chunk of the film will be complete." the source added.

Jagga Jasoos, which will also mark the debut of Ranbir as a producer, is being planned as a musical with Pritam composing 20-odd songs. In an interview to Mirror (October 6), he had said, "They are small ditties which carry forward a conversation."

The film also boasts of some quirky action-based slapstick comedy. "Both Ranbir and Katrina have trained in the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga for the same," the source concluded.

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; December 10, 2014)


She won’t clarify if her character is supposed to be older than RK or not, saying she would “ask everyone to keep guessing.” And Ranbir? “All I can tell you is that he plays a sort of detective but not in the traditional sense,” she answers.

Calling JJ an emotional venture, she confirms that the film is a musical. “People have asked me if there are 20 songs in the film. I think that’s something totally insane. I cannot tell you how many songs are there but it is a musical film in the traditional sense.”

Our source is confident about what the suspense surrounding the film is. “The entire mystery around Jagga Jasoos revolves around a pen.”

Okay, then!

A Trilogy?

An insider from the sets informed us that the film will be made into a trilogy, on the lines of other popular detective series. He shares, “Anurag Basu and Ranbir have also discussed and cleared out the dates.”

Ranbir, will essay different ages throughout the franchise. “For the first installment, he plays a teenager, for the second, a guy in his mid-20s and for the last edition, he will be in his late 30s”, adds the source.

Tintin in Bollywood?
JJ will initially see the Kapoor boy initially play a teen, so “his character has been written on the lines of Tintin. After bringing Chaplin, Anurag plans to bring Tintin to Bollywood”, quips the source.

Subhash K Jha (DNA; May 19, 2014)

Now it can be told. Anurag Basu’s latest film Jagga Jasoos is a full-on musical with over 25 songs. According to an insider, “The main characters played by Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif even converse in songs in the fashion of the Broadway musicals.”

Says a source working in the project, “It’s like the Broadway musicals where the characters talk in song form. The format was used by Amol Palekar in Thodasa Romani Ho Jayein. Anurag has taken the musical format even further.”

Apparently, Katrina and Ranbir would be seen engaged in ‘conversational music’ throughout the film. “It’s a very innocent film, targeted at Ranbir and Katrina’s younger fans. This is their equivalent of Walt Disney’s films targeted at kids,” adds the source. It is learnt that music composer Pritam Chakraborty has modelled the musical pieces in Jagga Jasoos on Sooraj Barajatya’s Hum Aapke Hain Koun where the characters sang their thoughts and emotions. Using songs to ‘talk’ was last seen in Chennai Express in many scenes filmed on Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.