Movie Review: Jhund

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent sports drama from India. 

This movie expertly molds together your typical sports drama storyline with some well-done social commentary. What makes this work so well is that this movie conveys its important message in a way that is unpretentious and far from preachy, while at the same time respecting everything that makes sports dramas like this so darn entertaining. The basic storyline revolves around a group of kids from the slums, who seemingly never had a chance to make it in a world stacked against them and a teacher who seeing their natural skill for soccer decides to give them that chance. There is simply something about a story like this that is simply irresistible to so many movie fans. That is because there is something in us that loves a good underdog story and finds characters with the odds stacked against them so easy to root for. However, this is not the only reason we root for these characters. All of them are very likable and feel real to us. Rather than a bunch of stock characters each of these kids has their own personality that is very appealing. This film also allows us to like and root for these characters while never overlooking their obvious faults. This gives the movie a sense of honesty that is very appealing. Yet as we root for these characters we without knowing it get swept up in the film's social commentary and wonder if we have ever been like the many people who underestimate these kids. This is the best way to do social commentary like this because it appeals to our hearts and becomes hard to refute. This story follows the basic template of the average sports drama, and while it may not add anything new in this department, the story is told quite well. 

This film is however longer than it needs to be and could have used a bit of trimming. This is especially true of a quite boring, bland and undeveloped romance that adds nothing to the plot. Not every movie needs to have a romance and this is one that would have benefited from not having one. 

Overall this is an excellent film.