Showing posts with label Jugnuma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jugnuma. Show all posts
(Crisp) Movie Review: JUGNUMA by FENIL SETA
11:00 PM
Jugnuma is directed by Raam Reddy, who made the brilliant Thithi. This film also seems promising at the start. The first scene transports you to a different world like never before. But soon, the film gets very slow and boring. It becomes tedious to sit through the whole narrative. A few scenes are arresting, but it's too little to impress. The finale is bewildering and would leave most of the viewers confused. Manoj Bajpayee is great, while Deepak Dobriyal is too good and his voiceover is very impressive. Priyanka Bose (Nandini) and Hiral Sidhu (Vanya) are fine in supporting roles. Technically, the film is top-class and the Godfather-style visual effect is striking. But due to several minuses, Jugnuma is avoidable.
My rating - * ½ out of 5!
My rating - * ½ out of 5!
Fenil's Bollywood Talk # 899
9:19 AM
JAPANESE ANIME FILM TO DOMINATE BOX OFFICE THIS WEEK; OPEN IN DOUBLE DIGITS
The Japanese anime films have always had a passionate but minuscule number of fans in India. A few of the films have opened in the range of Rs. 1-2 crores, which was quite good, considering the niche appeal. But all beliefs have been changed in the last few days with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle.
This film, believe it or not, has sold more than 1 lakh tickets in the national chains on the first day and the number keeps growing as the release date nears. The demand was so huge that exhibitors decided to play shows at 5:00 am, a first for a Japanese film in India. Even that wasn’t enough to cope with the demand. As a result, the theatres are now playing round-the-clock shows, with the first show starting at midnight.
The advance booking is possibly the highest this year, and might surpass films like Chhaava, The Conjuring: Last Rites and Saiyaara, among others. As of now, it’ll open around Rs. 14-15 crores, but the number can go higher.
There is an audience that’s dying to see the film but there’s also a section of the audience who’s still not interested, as they haven’t possibly followed the series or are not into anime at all. Hence, the next few days will be huge for the film, but at some point, it’ll face a drop. Whether it happens on weekdays or next week remains to be seen. Nevertheless, with such an opening, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle is all set to be one of the highest-grossing films of the year in the country.
The other significant release of the week is Mirai. It is a Telugu film starring Teja Sajja of Hanuman fame and is backed by People Media Factory, producers of Jaat and the upcoming Pan-India flick, The Raja Saab. In Hindi, the film is presented by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. In Telugu, it seems like it’ll open on a healthy note. But in Hindi, excitement is negligible. The opening will be weak, and it’ll need a strong word of mouth to make a big jump on Saturday.
Meanwhile, several small Hindi films will be up for release tomorrow like Ek Chatur Naar, Heer Express, Love In Vietnam, Mannu Kya Karegga and Jugnuma. Ek Chatur Naar has some chances, but the rest of the films will face a tough time getting an audience.
The Japanese anime films have always had a passionate but minuscule number of fans in India. A few of the films have opened in the range of Rs. 1-2 crores, which was quite good, considering the niche appeal. But all beliefs have been changed in the last few days with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle.
This film, believe it or not, has sold more than 1 lakh tickets in the national chains on the first day and the number keeps growing as the release date nears. The demand was so huge that exhibitors decided to play shows at 5:00 am, a first for a Japanese film in India. Even that wasn’t enough to cope with the demand. As a result, the theatres are now playing round-the-clock shows, with the first show starting at midnight.
The advance booking is possibly the highest this year, and might surpass films like Chhaava, The Conjuring: Last Rites and Saiyaara, among others. As of now, it’ll open around Rs. 14-15 crores, but the number can go higher.
There is an audience that’s dying to see the film but there’s also a section of the audience who’s still not interested, as they haven’t possibly followed the series or are not into anime at all. Hence, the next few days will be huge for the film, but at some point, it’ll face a drop. Whether it happens on weekdays or next week remains to be seen. Nevertheless, with such an opening, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle is all set to be one of the highest-grossing films of the year in the country.
The other significant release of the week is Mirai. It is a Telugu film starring Teja Sajja of Hanuman fame and is backed by People Media Factory, producers of Jaat and the upcoming Pan-India flick, The Raja Saab. In Hindi, the film is presented by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. In Telugu, it seems like it’ll open on a healthy note. But in Hindi, excitement is negligible. The opening will be weak, and it’ll need a strong word of mouth to make a big jump on Saturday.
Meanwhile, several small Hindi films will be up for release tomorrow like Ek Chatur Naar, Heer Express, Love In Vietnam, Mannu Kya Karegga and Jugnuma. Ek Chatur Naar has some chances, but the rest of the films will face a tough time getting an audience.
Manoj Bajpayee feels the country's top film awards need to be corrected: "The systems must look within"
9:33 AM
Ahead of the release of Jugnuma, Manoj Bajpayee feels that the top film honours in the country need correction as he reflects on the National Award snub for Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; September 8, 2025)
Pondering about the past is not in Manoj Bajpayee’s nature. Why should he when the present holds so much promise? But, at a point in our chat, we take him back to Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023), which won Deepak Kingrani the National Film Award for best dialogue. The writer had told mid-day, at the time, that he wished Bajpayee too had won the gong for his powerful performance. Did the actor wish the same?
“More than me, the people associated with the film were sad. I don’t feel sad because a few people [comprising the jury] have decided not to give it to me. They must have their own reasons, with which I may or may not agree. It has happened in the past, even at National Awards, where one truly deserved it, but didn’t get it. If I complain about it, I will sound like a loser. All the award systems in the country have to look within. They have to correct their system. I can’t correct it, right? I’ve moved on,” he says.
He certainly has moved on to a glorious project, Jugnuma — The Fable. Twice in our conversation, he mentions that Raam Reddy’s directorial venture sits right at the top of his three-decade filmography. That’s a huge compliment for the film, which also stars Priyanka Bose, Tillotama Shome, and Deepak Dobriyal.
Bajpayee shares, “Magic realism [was the first draw] to do the film because we don’t make this genre at all. Secondly, the spiritual part of the story spoke to me.”
Another reason was Reddy, who made his directorial debut with the acclaimed Kannada film Thithi (2016). The director and his crew persevered through two pandemic-induced lockdowns and some delays to bring Jugnuma to life. “Then Raam took his time to edit it. He is a purist,” Bajpayee chuckles, before adding, “He is full of ideas, and uncompromising.”
Jugnuma has reminded the actor how much he loves collaborating with relatively new directors. “The film matters to them more than their lives. Their demands are high. I like that push because it’s easy to be content at my age. But the actor in me is so famished all the time. I want to be part of stories told by all these young and imaginative filmmakers.”
But does he ever feel egoistic, given his experience as an actor, while being directed by a relatively inexperienced director? “The awareness is always there. It’s up to you how you push it back. I don’t take it seriously. I don’t even watch my films. I do my film and move on.”
I’m daring enough to call out all the filmmakers who don’t think about me-Priyanka Bose
3:56 PM
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; September 6, 2025)
Priyanka Bose’s wish is the universe’s command. After watching Thithi (2016), the actor desired to collaborate with National Award-winning director Raam Reddy. Years later, Reddy sent the script of Jugnuma over to Bose, saying that he had imagined her in the role of Nandini.
“I read the script in the hill station of Panchgani, when we had gone to drop my daughter to a Lonavala hostel. Raam had written the script like a book. It made me travel through the world he had created and spoke to me. Good work is hard to come by for an artiste like me. So, when something of such a crafted nature comes, I’ll be foolish to say no,” she says.
Another wish of Bose that Jugnuma fulfilled was sharing screen space with Manoj Bajpayee, an actor she has admired since his Satya (1998) days. Working with him made her realise how different their styles are.
“My approach is technical, and I get wrapped in the nitty-gritty of nuances. Then to observe Manoj, who is so free, is interesting. I have so much more to learn from him. I love his beginner’s mindset,” she shares.
Jugnuma, which did the rounds of many film festivals, also validates Bose as an actor, who observes that the industry cuts short the careers of women after they hit 40.
“I’m daring enough to call out all the filmmakers who don’t think about me. I’m telling them, ‘If you’ve not thought about me yet, please do because I’m right here.’ I want to do exciting things that you’ve never seen women do in cinema, because we’re so easy to drop from that shelf. But we created that shelf with you. So, why is there a shelf life for women? In our 40s, we are more explorative and experimental than men ever will be.”
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