Jhund (2022) Review!!

Synopsis – Based on the life of Vijay Barse, a retired sports teacher who founded an NGO called Slum Soccer. He managed to rehabilitate street kids by keeping them off drugs and crime by turning them into soccer players and building a whole team.

My Take – While most Indian sports biopics stick to a basic template and dedicate themselves to the glory of the nation and the struggles of the talented underdog, but what makes National Award winning ‘Sairat’ writer-director Nagraj Manjule‘s Hindi language debut an immediate stand out is the fact that it is more focused on what the game represents rather than the game itself. Using the game of football to rather relay a socio-political commentary on the reality of the systemic oppression.

Inspired by the real-life exploits of Vijay Barse, a sports teacher who back in 2001, founded Slum Soccer, a Nagpur-based NGO that works to give slum children a new life by grooming them as footballers. A story that gained nationwide publicity when it was unveiled in the first episode of the Aamir Khan hosted TV show, Satyamev Jayate.

The film is an immediate winner as it uses a basic story that is easy to relate to and goes on to explores the challenges faced by underprivileged, who face the barriers erected around them by caste and status, and the lengths those without privilege must go to surmount and succeed.

Sure, it is a tough story to sell, especially to Indians, yet with enough color, humor and freshness, director Manjule goes all out, even allowing the use of sport to give his film a competitive flavor between the harsh realities.

Set in Nagpur, the story follows Vijay Borade (Amitabh Bachchan), a retiring sport coach, who teaches in an educational institute situated next to a vast slum. One day, passing by in the rain, Vijay happens to come across a bunch of delinquent young people, who instead of their usual involvement in petty crime and getting high, are rather engrossed in a game of football that too with an empty canister.

Realizing that there is potential to be explored, Vijay decides to use their energy and skills into the soccer field. An uneasy task as these hardened young boys and girls have been riding on paths strewn with crime, vendetta, and making a living as their only objective. The next day he turns up with a ball and offers them five hundred rupees if they’ll play amongst themselves. And continues to the do the same for the next few days.

But what starts off as easy money for the slum dwellers soon turns into an emotional journey for them as Vijay’s efforts bring them dignity, and both national and international recognition.

With a runtime of 176 minutes, the film takes its time. And though director Nagraj Manjule takes a documentary-like approach, he’s made sure the film entertains as well as educates. The film firmly stays in a social realist space, favoring a style that has no place for a revenge saga, song and dance routine, and deep romantic tales, although a love affair is very much a part of the film, but never the focus.

While the first half has more of the action and breezes away, with some brilliant football choreography keeping one mightily engaged, it is in the second half it settles into a comparatively leisure tone as it tackles into the serious issues. But even when the plot is finding its purpose, there’s much to admire.

The film is a commentary on how the idea and the construct of a nation are not only for the privileged, even though those from the slums are just happy to be allowed to exist. Here, director Manjule throws light on the fact that the people who dwell in the grassroots region aren’t even recognized as citizens by bureaucracy.

What they need is empathy and education about their basic rights and citizens. Otherwise, they’ll continue to be marginalized.

He does this well by dabbling through especially the eyes of Ankush ‘Don’ (Ankush Gedam) and Monica (Rinku Rajguru). Ankush, over the years has been involved in multiple police cases due to which finds it difficult getting a police clearing, a necessary element of passport issuance.

On the other hand, Monica leaves in a remote village and hence doesn’t possess any form of an identity proof including one proving she is a citizen of India. Hence, she is frustratingly forced to go through all kinds of red tape with her father all in order to get a passport made.

Sure, considering the run time, the film suffers from a considerable flab, which could have been trimmed by tighter rewrites or edits. Like the hints of Vijay’s cold relationship with his son, but the film doesn’t dwell on them. However, in the long run, the film still ends up being a triumph especially due its conveying of strong messages through simple scenes, and a climax which should leave even the most stone hearted teary eyed.

Performance wise, Amitabh Bachchan is excellent, well, when is he not? Here, he is at his gentlest, a quietly determined Vijay, who is miraculously shrunk from his larger-than-life persona and is seen as a common man struggling to execute an uncommon idea. The curious thing is that while the film absolutely works due to its writing and directing, with Senior Bachchan’s presence as an added benefit, it’s difficult to imagine the film with another actor.

Seasoned actors like Chhaya Kadam and Kishor Kadam also lend ample support in their limited role. ‘Sairat’ leads Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar too shine in their roles.

However, the real stars of the film are the group of non-actors, who hold your attention well despite being untrained. They are extremely convincing in the parts for which they have been cast. Among them, Ankush Gedam, Rajiya Kazi, Priyanshu Kshatriya, Angel Anthony, Vishakha Uikey, and Yogesh Uikey manage to leave a mark. On the whole, ‘Jhund’ is an excellent social sports drama headlined by an always brilliant Amitabh Bachchan.