So, finally, Bollywood churns out a movie that touches upon the very significant subjects of patriarchy and female foeticide. Ranveer Singh toils hard and well, almost succeeds in playing a helpless father trying to save his unborn daughter.
But alas, the story, the dialogues and the treatment, all go horribly wrong.
Jayeshbhai is a loving husband and a doting father, but then, he’s an obedient son too. So, in order to please his parents, he silently agrees to abort six of his daughters. The rest of the movie revolves around his struggle to keep the seventh foetus alive.
For a topic so sensitive, wonder why the makers preferred comedy as the genre. So juvenile is the attempt, so forced are the jokes, that you don’t realize whether to laugh or cringe.
For instance, the village head bans women from using soap because the fragrance attracts men. Was this meant to be comical? And, couldn’t they come up with a better issue to portray the perils of patriarchy?
Another dialogue that is meant to pass off as funny is when the hero’s phone gets damaged and he blames his in-laws for gifting him faulty goods all the time, obviously referring to his wife’s inability to produce a male heir.
There is some harmless humour as well, like a sex-determining goat and Sarla in place of Siri. But all that falls flat, hardly arousing any laughter.
All through the movie, Jayeshbhai talks about ‘Pappi’ in a loop, he delivers a long speech on the importance of ‘Pappi‘ and how, despite nine years of marriage and eight pregnancies, he never got a Pappi. Nor has anyone in their village ever had one. What? Really? Just when I thought this was comic, it was supposed to be absolutely serious.
Ironically, Jayeshbhai’s wife Mudraben, a mother who has been forced into numerous abortions, a victim of patriarchy and misogyny, displays no grit and meekly submits to abuse. With a dumb expression plastered across her face, she conveniently believes that her only duty is to birth a boy.
If only Mudra’s role was meatier, if only her character had more to contribute than blindly worshipping her husband and giving in to diktats pronounced by her in-laws. But Jayeshbhai Jordaar is all about Jayeshbhai; a so-called progressive man, torch bearer of woman empowerment, and his daughter’s hero.
Why then, does he let them abort six of his daughters? Why does he quietly nod consent when his parents command him to beat up his pregnant wife? (Of course, he doesn’t hit, he’s the hero, he fakes it.) Why does he ‘Mount the Ghodi’ a second time?
Of the cast, Ranveer Singh is in top form, so is Jia Vaidya who plays his nine-year-old daughter Siddhi. The rest of the cast delivers nothing impressive to talk about. Veterans like Ratna Pathak Shah and Boman Irani have been utterly wasted as sheer villains.
It’s indeed unfortunate, that matters of substantial social relevance like illegal sex determination and foeticide have been handled so irresponsibly. The movie had ample scope of being carved into a masterpiece, but sadly, it’s reduced to a mere caricature. With hardly any Jor, it should have been aptly named ‘Jayeshbhai Boredaar’.
By Preethi Warrier
Preethi Warrier has completed her Masters in Electronics Engineering and is an Assistant Professor. She is one among the winners of the TOI Write India Campaign Season-1, for the famous author Anita Nair. She can be contacted at : warrier.preethi@yahoo.com
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