Manan Kumar
Jugnuma (The Fable) is a film that defies any conventional genre. It doesn’t fit into any Bollywood genre, nor can it be found in the realistic cinema of great directors like Satyajit Ray and Adoor Gopalakrishnan, nor can it be defined as a documentary. It’s a unique film, one whose parallels are hard to find in Indian cinema. Even internationally, such efforts are rare. If one were to describe it in a genre, it comes closest to magical realism. Despite its slow pace and choppy progress, it captivates you with its overall plot and visuals, leaving you with many questions in the end.
Jugnuma is set in a hilly region in 1989, and its story is narrated in flashbacks by Mohan (Deepak Dobriyal), an old villager. Dev (Manoj Bajpayee) comes from the city with his wife Nandini (Priyanka Bose), daughter Vanya (Hiral Sidhu), and son Juju (Aval Pookot) to live on his ancestral estate. Mohan is the manager of Dev’s estate. Dev’s goal is to improve his fruit orchard in the village, and he is busy with it, but his character is sometimes serious, sometimes restless, and confused. Dev’s daughter, Vaanya, embodies the youth’s curiosity and desire to stand in solidarity with a marginalized community. Her character also reveals the conflicts prevalent in society.
The fires, which periodically erupt in the mountains, hold multiple meanings, thus influencing thinking on several levels. While on one level, these fires reflect the tension between urban dwellers and mountain society, on the other, they also expose Dev’s hidden urban character. The awe-inspiring scene of Dev surrounded by fireflies speaks volumes. The film’s other actors, playing ordinary people living in the mountains, also make Jugnuma feel natural.
While Jugniuma may have seen a limited number of cinemagoers in September this year, the international recognition it has received – Best Film award at the 38th Leeds International Film Festival, Special Jury Award at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, and world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival – put it on a different level.
If you harbor a curious corner in your heart that seeks answers to questions and riddles related to society, ecology, and environment, Jugnuma is a must-see. The only condition is that you view it as an independent yet empathetic observer. If that happens, it’s possible that even after watching Jugnuma, you remain immersed in it for days, analyzing its layers. And, if you haven’t been able to see it on screen, then don’t forget to watch it on an OTT platform in the future.