‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ Review: Ranveer Shines But Both Social Message, Comedy Lose Way

Bhubaneswar: Early in the film Jayeshbhai Jordar is a scene where the village panchayat is adjudicating on eve-teasers. Instead of punishing the culprits, however, the village sarpanch (played by Boman Irani) orders women to stop using fragrant soaps that would stop attracting men. That’s how the film introduces the audience to the patriarchal world of Praveengarh. But as the film progresses, the initial promise of a film trying to deliver a social message in a comedy-filled plot tends to fall flat.

The film revolves around Jayesh (Ranveer Singh), a Gujarati man who is trapped in the rituals of his family who want a male offspring in order to uphold the family reputation. Jayesh, who loves his wife Mudra dearly (played by Shalini Pandey) and doesn’t care whether it’s a boy or a girl, never musters the courage to oppose his family. Jayesh takes the help of artifices to match his family’s misogyny but his acts fall short to protect his wife.

Despite the film’s short run time of 125 minutes, it meanders aimlessly without making the audience feel sympathetic to its cause and characters. Jayesh plans to elope to save Mudra, but the plot looks loose and implausible. The comical scenes are also lame.

Director Divyang Thakkar’s efforts to build a solid narrative that captures the social problems of a male-dominant society and female infanticide looks tacky due to dull screenplay. The film loses way as it invests less effort in taking a full arc of its characters and wastes time on making Ranveer look alpha male. Jia Vaidya playing the role of Jayesh’s daughter, a character who is funny and mischievousness, stands out.

Ranveer’s performance is perhaps the only reason that makes the film watchable. Musician Vishal-Sekhar’s tracks are a bit over the top.