CAST : Amitabh Bachchan, Rinku Rajguru, Abhinay Raj Singh, Ganesh Deshmukh, Vicky Kadian

DIRECTED BY: Nagraj Manjule

BLUF: Jhund (transl. Herd) is a biographical sports film based on the life of Vijay Barse, the founder of NGO Slum Soccer. Bachchan plays a professor who motivates the street children to form a football team. 

THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES

This powerful, energetic, and solid three-hour film is raw, real and extremely human. We have watched an anthology movie (Geeli Pucchi from Netflix’s anthology Ajeeb Dastaans) from Nagraj Manjule before and the lens of his direction is indeed very palpable.

The story is linear, heart breaking and gives the audience a never before angle into the divide between the privileged and the underprivileged.

This is not just a story of hope, it is the story of humanity.

The movie shakes your spirit and transforms the game of soccer for the underprivileged slum kids something bigger than just a game through the stories told.

A physical wall stands between the deprived but doughty youngsters of a Nagpur slum and a soccer field of an elite college campus. But the more significant walls are the ones between the privilege, opportunities, and life open to these two communities across that wall from each other.

As Prof. Borade retires, his son Arjun (Arjun Radhakrishnan, who was also APJ Abdul Kalam in the SonyLIV series Rocket Boys), leaves India to study at Columbia in New York. Between the two, when Prof Borade finds his post retirement mission, his son in his management classes on the other side of the world realizes that he can contribute and identify with something bigger than a comfortable life and comes back to India to help his father.

Borade Senior starts training young boys and girls at the Gaddi Godam jhopadpatti (slum) for soccer and encourages them to find a mission to engage with. He trains their talent and helps them move away from drugs and crime.

The courtroom scene in Jhund is a tad bit dramatic but it is an important part of the divide narrative to speak about the need for India to provide opportunities for all. Ankush ‘Don’ Masram (Ankush Gedam is brilliant), is edged over the cliff by relentless degradation and provocation by a local ruffian Sambhya (Akash Thosar).

Mr Bachchan is phenomenal as the agent of change fighting for the dignity and respect of the teams of soccer players from slums. ( The movie translation on screen called them Slumdogs)

Chhaya Kadam plays Borade’s wife and supports him without a flinch.  Rajiya Kazi as Razia Bagwan (a young Muslim mother of three who walks out on her husband) and Rinku Rajguru (a Gondi tribal girl Monika, whose biggest challenge is to earn an ‘identity’ for herself in the records of the government). The passion to evolve out of their circumstances and do something for themselves that defined them, despite the obstacles, made these characters real and extremely inspiring.

IN THE KNOW

The camerawork by Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti is remarkable. The background score by Saket Kanetkar matches the screenplay. Sound designer Avinash Baburao Sonawane lends Jhund keeps the narrative focused.

At one point, a small boy from the slums asks, “Bharat matlab (‘India means’)?” That is not a small joke. It is a powerful statement that reflects how the country has several countries within itself based and the smallest denominator may not even be aware of the existence of the largest.

The anthem  Laat maar (lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya, music: Ajay-Atul) distinguishes Jhund  as a class of its own. 

Laat maar (aim a kick) is not only about soccer but also an analogy to kicking the caste, privilege, and opportunity walls in the Indian society.

Manjule, who has written and directed this extremely commendable screenplay divides the narrative into two parts. Before the interval, it lays out the difficult lives of the kids and their circumstances. In the second half, their journey across the wall.

A very important shot of a wall which divides the privileged from the underprivileged states with warnings for the slum dwellers to keep out as the airplane that takes the slum team to an international tournament soar over it, conquering that human divide in its flight.

This is an important movie for history of cinema.