With two leading characters making their disdain for marriage amply clear from the outset, one is aware of the possibility of drama, twists and turns that the movie can whip up. Jogira Sara Ra Ra lives up to that promise, mostly.
The lead characters Jogi Pratap (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and Dimple Choubey (Neha Sharma) first meet when the latter gatecrashes a wedding and sings “…shaadi toh haigi torture”. Jogi, who lives with a houseful of women in Lucknow, has his own set of reasons for not marrying and at one point he even declares that he can’t understand women. He runs Shaandar Events, which offers multiple services from wedding planning to organising birthdays.
Jogi and Dimple meet again when the latter is getting married. Jogi, who is the wedding planner, takes up an unusual task following Dimple’s request: to break-up her wedding. That turns out to be tougher than expected since the groom, Lallu (Chakraborty), is smitten with Dimple. As they try out different ways of making Lallu’s family call off the wedding, several comic scenarios play out. Most of them work. Some don’t, especially because the ideas behind what’s funny has undergone a change over the years. For instance, it is difficult to laugh when Lallu (the joke is that he is stupid as his name suggests seems dated) is made to realise that since he is not demanding dowry, he is not taken seriously by the bride’s family.
Jogira… aims to make sure the audience has a good laugh, something Priyadarshan’s early Hindi movies succeeded in doing and is grossly missing today. It wants to give romance as shown in Hindi films a twist. The women characters have minds of their own and they know what they want from life, be it Dimple or Jogi’s sister Sarita, who walked out of her abusive marriage. In one scene, Dimple asks Lallu to buy sanitary napkins for her, knowing that he won’t be at ease while buying at the chemist’s shop. It’s fun when women play on men’s silly traits.
Jogira brings together an eclectic cast, including actors like Sanjay Mishra who is known for his comic talent. He is good as the leader of a local abduction gang who is clueless about the abductions taking place using his name. Siddiqui, who has tried his hand at comedy and romance in the past with movies such as Motichoor Chaknachoor (2019), is convincing as a man averse to the idea of marriage but has a soft corner for Dimple. This film is yet another step towards establishing him as a versatile actor who can handle intense roles, evil characters and also emerge as a romantic hero.
Sharma complements his comic timing and infuses the portrayal of Dimple with spunk and energy. Zarina Wahab shows her comic chops too. Late Farrukh Jaffar, who was a hoot in Gulabo Sitabo (2020), makes most likely her last film appearance as Dimple’s grandmother. This time around, she has some of the best lines too.
In fact, the film, written by Ghalib Asad Bhopali, depends a lot on one-liners, punchlines and local flavour in the dialogues. In spite of some predictable jokes and dragging in parts, the story has its own charm. This will do for now till a comedy with a better script comes along.
Jogira Sara Ra Ra movie director: Kushan Nandy
Jogira Sara Ra Ra movie cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Neha Sharma, Sanjay Mishra, Mahaakshay Chakraborty, Zarina Wahab
Jogira Sara Ra Ra movie rating: 2.5 stars
