JAWAAN (2023) : review

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And finally the much hyped, much awaited Jawaan saw light of the day ! Big stars, big budget( humongous budget actually), big music composer, everything super large. But does it meet the expectations of the average viewer? No it goes not. Read on.  A decorated jawan locks horns with a criminal called Kaali, this is in 1986 ( the year movies like Aakhri Raasta released, just for reference). Kaali gets him eliminated and send the pregnant wife to jail. The baby born in jail grows up to become the hero (look alike of the father) and decides to avenge the misdeeds done to his innocent patriotic parents. Well, isn’t it a masaaledaar full on Bollywood- Tollywood drama subject ?  And then the director Atlee also borrows ideas and references from various retro movies, some idea from Sholay (1975) as the hero assembled a gang of jailed Qaidis in order to form a team to nab the villain, then there’s an entire episode borrowed from Dhartiputra (1993), and the basic theme is copy pasted ...
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MR. YOGI (1988)

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MR. YOGI(1988) 

Directed by: Ketan Mehta 

Cast: Mohan Gokhale, Sushmeeta Mukherji, Radha Seth, Deepa Sahi, Channa Ruparel, Winnie Jogalekar, Shubhangi Gokhale, Pallavi Joshi, Savita Bhatia, Rekha Rao, Kiran Sethi, Rani Gunaji, Anita Sareen, Raj Zutshi & Om Puri. 

Based on the novella “Kimball Ravenswood” this sitcom aired on Doordarshan, directed by Ketan Mehta who was till then known for offbeat classics like Mirch Masala(1987). The episodes were earlier streaming on Airtel Xstream and few are available on YouTube. 

An US based NRI Yogesh Ishwarlal Patel lovingly called Mr.Yogi(played by the charming Gokhale) returns to homeland to hunt for a bride, according to his meticulously designed plan he meets a girl of each zodiac sign during his stay, whom he ends up marrying after the twelve adventurous matchmaking sessions leaves you stumped! There’s a narrator aka Sootradhar(Puri) playing the humorous link between Yogi and the audience. 

Mehta has handled the subject with decent humour and utmost sensitivity, how he balanced could’ve been his strong command over his craft. The essence lies in giving extreme varied personalities to the twelve prospective brides, none of them could be compared to each other in any way, the star sign characteristics are inculcated wisely in their acts. Mehta also succeeds in ‘showcasing’ the orthodox tradition of ‘bride show’ in every episode. 

No doubt every episode is brilliantly layered with humour and a subtle social message but a personal favourite is the one where Yogi realises the girl is much taller than him, Mehta excels here by amalgamating comic relief along with poignant grief. Thankfully this feel-good clean family entertainer isn’t forgotten. 

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