Jogira Sara Ra Ra Movie Review: Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer misses the mark despite the tongue-in-cheek humour

Director Kushan Nandy tried to establish a comedy of errors against the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh’s heartland which gives rise to loads of tongue-in-cheek and raw humor. However, to make the comedic plot and dialogues land without sounding outlandish and dated is a big gamble which Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Jogira Sara Ra Ra mostly loses. If not for some spontaneous performances and raw moments of laughter, the movie had room to strike a chord more when it came to the screenplay and the direction.

Jogi Pratap (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a wedding planner who passes off with largely photoshopped pictures at his office and supplying alcohol mixed with water at weddings. Cut to Dimple Chaubey (Neha Sharma) who gatecrashes at one of the weddings organized by Jogi but soon gatecrashes in his life too in the most bizarre circumstances. Soon, a fake kidnapping involving the lead protagonists in a quest to stop a marriage leads to an amalgamation of drama and confusion.

The biggest plus point with Kushan Nandy’s direction is that he aces the raw humor and situational actions of the small-town characters. The dumb-witted and dysfunctionally layered characters but with a tint of empathy and loyalty will strike a chord in some moments. The writing by Ghalib Asab Bhopali has several occasions which evoke laughter but here’s how things go wrong. The screenplay and dialogues are convoluted with loads of misogyny and outdated comedy which struggles to find relevance. Be it the notion that the female protagonist will have to remain unmarried or her mother asking her if she did a ‘wrong thing’ with the male lead after staying at his place (A nightmarish callback to Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon) or a groom calling for a huge amount of dowry to increase his worth in the market downright becomes cringy at portions.

The character development becomes lost and convoluted in several portions. The lack of chemistry between Nawazuddin and Neha’s characters fails to explain how they develop a soft corner for each other so quickly. The comedy of errors especially a scene involving the male protagonist’s escape from the prison defies logic.

Coming to performances, Nawazuddin Siddiqui tries to be the guiding anchor of this one making the comedy and the dialogues strike a chord. He successes too especially shining in the emotional moments too but his talent had a lot more scope to be utilized well. Neha Sharma finally got a role wherein she could showcase her caliber. The fiery and free-spirited Uttar Pradesh girl was well portrayed but her performance gets monotonous in some portions too. Mahakshay Chakraborty, Zarina Wahab, Vishwanath Chatterjee, and Rohit Chaudhary try to do justice to their respective parts but it is Sanjay Mishra who knocks it out of the park.

He is absolutely hilarious as a small-town kidnapper who is confused as his style of crime is plagiarized. A carrom scene involving his character trying to understand the events taking place is the show-stealer probably in the entire movie. He is simply a treat to witness. Another star of the film who shines is the late Farukh Jaffar as Neha Sharma’s grandmother in her last big-screen role before she passed away in the year 2021.

The cinematography by Sourabh Waghmare captures the beauty and the realness of Bareilly and Lucknow. The locations add a tint of realism. The songs, however, fail to create an impact. On a concluding note, apart from the performances of the star cast and the raw comedy, Jogira Sara Ra Ra could have created more impact with a stronger script.