We are so sorry you had to do this, Jeetu Bhaiya. When it comes to expectations from actors, there is a benchmark that we set for each one of them. Maybe that’s why when it comes to Jitendra Kumar, we only ever expect him to make hard-hitting, out-of-the-box content. We tend to forget, however, that they must have those choices as well. Because when they don’t have that option, we see movies like “Jaadugar.” It wouldn’t be fair to call it “objectively bad.” It’s just that it does not deliver on the promise of being a funny film. But surprisingly enough, despite its 3-hour runtime, it justified every minute of it. “Jaadugar” wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. It was about how Meenu had to win the local football championship to be able to marry the love of his life. Let us see how it plays out on screen.
Spoilers Ahead
How Does The Football Team Get To The Finals?
Meenu is a small-town magician who doesn’t like football. His father was a local football champion, who died while on his way to a game. Since then, his uncle wants the team to win the medal that his brother couldn’t. But Meenu has a different view of things. He blames football for his father’s death and wants nothing to do with it. That makes him turn to magic as his profession, and he is good at it. His girlfriend, Ichha, breaks up with him because she believes that while Meenu can fall in love, he can never be responsible for it. Months pass, and Meenu finds love again, with Disha. But we wish the makers had chosen a better story for them. Why did Meenu have to creepily approach her as a patient? Why did he have to follow her home when she clearly did not want him to? We bet it scared her more than made her feel secure. And if the makers decide to take the route of ‘small town sensibilities’ to justify the portrayal of such on screen, then we have to ask why they choose to glorify it with romantic background music. Has this discussion not already been had multiple times over? Why do they still miss the memo?
But coming back to the film, both of them slowly start falling in love. One day, when Meenu asks her to marry him, she tells him that she is a divorcee. Her marriage had caused a rift between her and her parents, as she had married against their wishes. After her divorce, when she went back home, she found that her mother had passed away, but she had not known because she had cut all contact with her family. So now she has decided to marry whoever her father chooses for her. When Meenu questions her as to her choice, she justifies it by saying that it is her “choice” to heed her father. Bollywood really has no understanding of choice and consent. Of course, Meenu goes to ask for her hand in marriage and finds that her father is his old magic teacher. He places a condition in front of Jeetu that to marry his daughter, he must execute two miracles. The first one is that his football team must reach the finals of the tournament. The second one will be revealed later.
Meenu, who has always hated football, must now make the game his own to win his lady love. But the team is just a group of neighbors, who are only together because of their love for Meenu’s uncle. They have only one good player- Rishu, and he doesn’t even belong to their neighborhood. They have fraudulently said he is, for the sake of having at least one winning chance. But with Jeetu now in their team, he encourages them all the time and uses his mind games and magic tricks to get them ahead in the game. Finally, the team starts climbing up the rankings and ultimately reaches the finals. So yes, Meenu has executed the first miracle. Now it’s time to learn the second one. The revelation changes things for him at his magic show; it happens right before the match.
‘Jaadugar’ Ending Explained: Do The Adarsh Nagar Sikadars Win The Match?
Meenu puts on a play about Disha’s story, sparking a reconciliation between her and her father. While it was shown as the sweetest thing ever, it was just plain creepy and invasive. Meenu has a habit of just doing whatever he wants, and instead of representing that for the toxic trait that it is, it is shown as something cute and nothing more than a minor hurdle to get over. Meenu’s teacher gives him his second condition now. He tells him that he must make sure that his team loses the match the next day. His reasoning is that his ex-son-in-law divorced his daughter because he chose his family. He wants to see if Meenu can choose his daughter over his family. Meenu, though feeling guilty, decides to do so. But unknown to him, his friend has heard everything, and he tells Disha. Disha tells Meenu to just do the right thing.
At the match, Meenu leaves no stone unturned in making his team lose. But when it is his turn to take the penalty kick, Meenu’s friend spills the beans to his team. However, to Meenu’s surprise (and ours too), the team stood by him. They tell him that they are ready to lose the game as it could possibly mean more than his life and marriage. This was shockingly practical but so heart-touching that we audibly gasped. Maybe Meenu felt the same, because he changed his decision to make his team lose and scored a point with his kick. He and his team are now ready to play, but unfortunately, they end up losing, as their game was just not strong enough. However, they have won everyone’s hearts as the underdogs.
When the winning team is taking the trophy, one of the Sikandar team members hilariously gets into a tussle with them and challenges them to a fight off the field. Luckily, that does not happen, and he is dragged away. Disha’s father agrees to their marriage, and all is well in paradise. But it gets better. Rishu, their star player, makes it to the national team, and the Sikandars are called back to play for the upcoming tournament, signifying that there is still scope to win the trophy.
See More: ‘Jaadugar’ Review: Jitendra Kumar Led Movie Does Everything Right But Forgets To Be Entertaining
Final Thoughts: What Works And What Doesn’t?
Honestly, “Jaadugar” is not a bad film, but it struggles with its dated plotlines and the new-age, more practical angles it tries to bring. For example, the development of its love story had us cringing so hard. But then, the resolution of the team to give up the championship for Meenu’s sake was not just a worthy sacrifice, but also a practical thought. Of course, a person’s marriage is more important than a local championship where nothing is really at stake for anyone except Meenu. It was certainly not funny, and while it did not make us smile, we didn’t turn away either. aWe have to say that the ending was the best part about it, as in, the last 20 minutes. They made us feel more than the entire two and a half hours of runtime before that.
We would recommend “Jaadugar” with caution. One might need to be attuned to TVF content on a regular basis to fully grasp this. Jitendra Kumar fans will enjoy it more than the average viewer. Overall, it’s neither a stream nor a skip. It’s firmly in the middle, and the decision to watch it is completely dependent on the audience’s loyalty to TVF and the actors. In our personal opinion, “Jaadugar” is worth giving a chance to, at least because it is something new. And we trust TVF to always churn out better content, given the right feedback.
“Jaadugar” is a 2022 Drama Romance film directed by Sameer Saxena.
