Jugni (2016) Poster

(2016)

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7/10
Watch Jugni, a beautiful and well-crafted romantic musical film. It has the amalgamation of soulful Sufiana music, a great plot, and powerful free-spirited performances.
binducherungath24 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Jugni, a romantic musical film, is written and directed by debut filmmaker Shefali Bhushan. It is a beautiful film, well-crafted with soulful music and great performances. Jugni in Punjabi means "Female Firefly". Another meaning, which is assigned to the word Jugni is in the context of poetry, is that this word is used for an observer from whose perspective that specific poetry is written. Also, Jugni means the 'Spirit of life', the essence of life in spiritual poetry. The best thing about Shefali's film Jugni is that, her film has 'female firefly' in the form of Vibhavari, the lead protagonist; 'spirit of life' as well as sufiyana kalam depicting essence of life. Terrific film with soulful music clubbed with free spirited and natural performances. The film explores the power of music and power of love. Music has the power to strike chords between hearts of two entirely different people. Very neatly scripted film, which clubs the sanctity of music and love. Love is neither an emotion to be apologetic about, nor an emotion which should make one self- centered. Jugni talks about the love, which is not selfish in nature, but in turn, it liberates the one who is in love. Jugni also talks about the moral dilemmas which one faces due to non-clarity existing in relationship. Love, at times, is also about 'letting go'. Jugni is definitely going to win your hearts with its Sufiana Music clubbed with its plot and performances.

Jugni begins with Vibhavari aka Vibs' (Sugandha Garg) interaction with her live-in partner Sid (Samir Sharma). The spark missing between them is definitely bothering both of them, but Vibs wants to focus on music composition for her film project Dhun, which could give her break in the music industry. The director Nishant (Kartick Sitaraman) wanted some different kind of music from Vibs. Following a spat with Sid, she starts her journey to a village called Hassanpur in Punjab in search of singer Bibi Saroop (Sadhana Singh), hoping that the freshness of rural folk songs through Sufiana Kalam singer Bibi Saroop's singing could do wonders for her music. Before she could meet Bibi Saroop, she happens to meet Mastana (Siddhanth Behl), who is also a singer. Vibs' go- getter attitude does reflect through different ways, be it her travel in general class compartment of the train or to stay in a hut arranged by Mastana. Mastana is shown to be a very free spirited guy, who aspires to make it big in the music industry. Both Bibi Saroop and Mastana are local stars, they sing in various occasions viz. festivals, puja, marriages, gatherings etc. In spite of being a very talented singer, Mastana sings what people want to listen to. He feels that traditional music does not sell, so, he ends up singing 'modern' songs, away from the roots of traditional sufiana kalams. Vibs instantly got connected with Mastana, Bibi Saroop and with Mastana's girl friend Preeto (Aniruta Jha) and her brother Jeeta Jazbati (Chandan Gill).

It is amazing to see two souls getting close together through their common love, i.e. love for music. The bond between Vibs and Mastana gets stronger. What happens next? How the entanglement of relationships are handled in the film? What happens to Vibs' relationship with Sid, who are lovers as well as great friends too? How does Preeto respond to Mastana's getting closer to Vibs? How does Vibs' relationship with Mastana shape up, keeping the fact intact that their worlds are so different? Is Vibs able to record Mastana and Bibi Saroop, the purpose for which she had come down to the village? Does the music which Vibs composes give her first break in the industry?

Shefali has managed to take a very non-judgmental take on love. Her film also talks about the kind of talents we have in our country; many of the talented folk singers who are lost in the web of anonymity; importance of respecting such artists, whose music is soulful, close to the roots. Jugni also takes a dig at the hollow and exploitative music industry. Beautifully handles the whole concept of morality, ethics.

Sugandha as Vibhavari is absolutely like the title – a female firefly. She has blended herself so well with Vibhavari. He love, passion for music reflects so nicely. Siddhanth Behl as Mastana is awesome. Siddhanth has projected Mastana's free-spirited nature, love for music, eagerness to break the ties of anonymity, retaining the innocence of the character, fighting to beat the guilt etc. so nicely. Sadhana Singh as Bibi Saroop is so natural. Aniruta Jha as Preeto is also very good, Preeto's envy, love and possessiveness for Mastana, understanding his dreams are very well depicted. Samir Sharma as Sid had less screen time. Probably his character could have been explored a little more.

The music is exceptionally good; soulful and earthy feel reflects in Clinton Cerejo's work.

Watch Jugni, a beautiful and well-crafted romantic musical film. It has the amalgamation of soulful Sufiana music, a great plot, and powerful free-spirited performances. It celebrates the power of music, which connects two souls whose worlds are different. It also celebrates the power of love, the love which liberates one. Enjoy this musical journey.
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7/10
Different and worth watching
indianature20 November 2016
I had not ever heard of the movie Jugni but found it in the Indian movie listings on an Etihad flight. Having seen all the other movies on offer, I decided to give Jugni a go and was pleasantly surprised.

Jugni has a nice plot, somewhat different from the usual Bollywood fare. Emotions and relationships are realistic and very well portrayed.

The actors are all unknown faces but perfectly believable in their roles. I really wish Bollywood would produce more movies without superstars, and more important that such movies get a fair run at the box office.

The setting - mostly in rural Punjab is lovely and authentic. The music, some of it anyway, was very very good. Especially the fusion Punjabi Sufi and R&B track.

Cinematography was pleasing.

All in all this was a nice movie, a very pleasant watch and Im sure it will soon feature on TV and You Tube.
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6/10
A familiar musical tale but with a brave, mature ending and a lovable performance from the lead girl.
bobbysing2 August 2016
It's often seen in our Hindi cinema that even when a film has a quite familiar tale to tell, it still largely works because of its likable treatment, fresh faces and good music. The most recent example of this is the new release JUGNI that apart from having the above mentioned merits has also got an unexpectedly mature ending too, that is actually more authentic in comparison to any previous film made on a similar concept.

In fact the best part of the film is unarguably its brave culmination which neither offers a happy or sad ending, but unapologetically remains much closer to the reality, as it mostly happens in life in such relationships formed. Based on the plot of a music composer finding and then (positively) exploiting a raw talent tapped from the interiors of Punjab, the second mature feature of the film is how it so sensibly presents the 'unintentional sexual relationship' between the couple from the girl's perspective in particular, representing the changing mindsets of the generation living in metro cities.

The third merit of JUGNI lies in its genuine performances led by the sweet Sugandha Garg along with Sadhana Singh, Siddhant Behl and Anirutta K Jha. Plus its the natural feel of the beautiful locations and spoken local language (Punjabi) that successfully creates a special mood in the film as required. The songs as its fourth worth- mentioning feature add a lot to the musical base of the subject sounding extremely fresh and great weaved into the fast paced narration. Still it's a kind of soundtrack that might turn out be more enjoyable as an individual creation, not related to the film as I strongly felt.

Having mentioned the merits, JUGNI yet cannot be termed as any path- breaking, novel attempt basically because of its routine subject that doesn't provide the film an exceptional edge (apart from its climax) in absence of any big known name adding a commercial value.

Secondly though debutant director Shefali Bhushan does a worth noticing job in her first attempt in terms of treatment and extracting lovable performances from the talented cast getting the perfect feel, still the film lacks that authentic Punjabi touch which might not be an issue for the non-Punjabi viewers watching it in the different states.

For instance, Siddhant Behl tries his best playing the local Punjabi singer, but at times he tends to go overboard too, turning it all into a forced act. The humour looks like intentionally added in some sequences not generating the expected response. Plus in a music based film, it isn't expected that the sound comes of a piano when the guitar strings are being played by a character on screen.

In addition, in every Hindi film featuring Punjab and Punjabi characters, a special care needs to be taken in pronunciation of words having letters like 'Jha', 'Dha' or 'Bha'. Because just the spoken way of these letters clearly reveals that the actor or the writers do not actually know the exact sound of these words in Punjabi and they have simply added them on the basis of how they have been earlier used in other Hindi films in the same wrong manner.

In all, JUGNI is a fine musical attempt with a bold, mature end and a likable lead performance by Sugandha Garg. But I wish they had chosen a completely different novel storyline using the same premises of the local Punjabi music scenario and the realistically raw characters.
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6/10
Nothing good except music!
Yudhvir-Singh-Ahlawat21 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This movie shows the journey of a local Punjab artist named Mastana to Bollywood. A newbie music director named Vibs goes all the way to Punjab to meet famous sufi artist Bibi Saroop, mother of Mastana, for recording song for her first movie as a music director.

What's Good: -Music is good, very good. -Some characters are quite good.

What's Not: -Story is not good. -Climax sucks, when you'll feel interested movie ends. -Bad editing, lip movements are not proper during some songs. -It's mixture of drama and music, movie would have been lot better if they have focused only on one.

Our Ratings: Story: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ 4/10 Music: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10 Direction, editing and screenplay: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ 5/10 Star Performances: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 6/10 Overall: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 6/10

Final Verdict: Don't waste time, if you have seen "Dilan de saudey" song and expects the movie to be equally good then you'll be disappointed for sure.
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7/10
The fire within the firefly
tanujpoddar17 July 2016
This movie is an amazing musical journey taken by the protagonist to come to terms with the fire within and then shine brighter in the world.

Sugandha plays the role of a music director who has got her first break but is unable to crack something that pleases her director. So she takes an unplanned journey to find an old forgotten folk singer to give her song an edge. Her character is sketched as a very independent and adventure seeking person, though it doesn't necessarily come out as that in the actual performance. She keeps living every moment as it comes and the way life unfolds in front of her leaves her in a perplexed situation that makes her fight the fire within herself to realize who has what role to play in her life and what she wants from her life.

In Vibs search for the folk singer, Bibi , she meets Mastana, Bibi's son. He too is trained as a singer, but has moved away from his roots to compose modern songs. Sidhant Bhel as a happy go lucky village lad, really brings a lot energy to the screen and the script. Along with Vibs, he to undergoes a roller coaster ride to understand his own self and the role of love and success in his life. He beautifully transitions between bringing comic relief to being very intense for showing his own journey.

Sadhana gives a very measured performance as a forgotten folk singer. Her character has subtle nuances which get beautifully captured in her performance. She shows some contempt for the modern songs that his son composes and his unwillingness to associate with the songs which are the roots to his culture. As an accomplished singer, she takes pride in her own artistic capabilities which is reflected in the way her character is written and in her performance.

Anurita and Samir do complete justice to their roles as supportive and jealous partners to Mastana and Vibs.

Since the story revolves around the love for music that the characters have, it plays a very important role to bind the script together. Clinton is a surprising choice for this kind of music and has done justice to the task at hand and has added a different flavor to the overall mood of the film. The music compositions in themselves are not anything magical, but the songs are beautifully written and do a wonderful job of taking the story forward. If you are not very familiar with Punjabi, then I would suggest that watch it with subtitles to really enjoy the movie.
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