Jaadugar Review : Jaadugar Is Incredibly Funny But Lacks Magic Of Logic

It never occurred to me that a sports drama film in India could be titled Jaadugar, but Jitendra Kumar and Arushi Sharma's latest Netflix original has proven otherwise. There have been two films with the same title in Bollywood's history so far; one of them is a known one because Big B's name was there, while the other one was lost in the pre-independence era. Unlike the other two films, Netflix's Jaadugar is not just about magic. This film is actually less about magic and more about everything it has in the narrative — be it romance, family drama, friendship, sports and human drama. It makes for an incredibly funny sports show on the field, despite an unnecessarily long runtime of close to three hours. I mean, who watches a 3-hour film nowadays, unless it's a magnum opus, sci-fi epic, historical epic, or a classic drama? Jaadugar isn't any of them. It has everything to make you laugh, but all it lacks is logic!Set in the football-loving town Neemuch, Jaadugar is a story of a small-time magician, Meenu (Jitendra Kumar), with no athletic skill, who must prove his worth in a prestigious inter-colony football tournament in order to marry the love of his life, Disha (Arushi Sharma). There are just two things against him: the girl doesn’t love him back and the team of immatures hasn’t won a game in years, or rather hasn't scored a goal. His friendships and love are tested, and hearts are mended as love tries to battle magic and human conscience in this sweet-looking sports comedy drama.Written by Biswapati Sarkar, Jaadugar has all the outdated segments with new-age humour. The script loses sensibility consistently, and that's what irritates you the most. Forget high-end logic, even basic football matches lack basic sense. A team can continue doing well in a tournament called the Dabholkar tournament despite losing back-to-back matches. Oh wait, did we even get to know the results of the matches? Supposedly, the team has 11 players and 1 substitute, yet they play with 1 less player who has a crippled leg, and yet, the organiser allows the team to continue.The coach, who was once a football legend, is so desperate to win matches that he hasn't got a basic sense of training and warm-up. The protagonist is just so immature that he doesn't even understand the importance of family and the meaning of love, despite earlier heartbreaks and lessons. The heroine doesn't love him back, nor does she ever say yes to him, yet he is ready to do anything for her. Her father is even okay with his daughter being stressed without even loving a man. These are just some minor mistakes. In fact, the film is full of many major ones too. If there's anything that has destroyed all the chances of Jaadugar emerging as a winner, then it's the writing — its basic feature that started it all.Talking about performances, Jitendra Kumar as Meenu will win you over with his dialogues more than his acting. "Mein Meenu, raato ki neende cheenu. Chalo abhi chalta hu, kabhi sadko pe kabhi sapno ke milta hu," I mean which girl wouldn't love that? However, the immaturity of the character floods over the humour level, making it look below par. Arushi Sharma enters in a blue saree looking a little older than what she is, but then starts looking younger in every next scene. She is damn good in a couple of emotional scenes. Jaaved Jaaferi tries too hard but fails to beat the prosthetics with his acting skills, even though he has been a great actor since forever. Manoj Joshi is quite decent and the supporting cast of the entire team is freaking hilarious. The characters are illogical and mad, but they do not fail to entertain you.The film is directed by Sameer Saxena, who is making his feature film debut. Well, it shows on the screen. He has a lot to learn in filmmaking, but he is a damn good, natural entertainer for sure. With a bit of tight editing, better music, and a logical screenplay, Jaadugar would have been a good watch. Saxena just overlooks all these things while trying to end things practically, without giving a damn about outdated theories. Love, sports, and magic are three different things, but here they are mixed with the right dose of comedy. Jaadugar fails to make a logical magic show, but if you too believe that magic has no logic, then be assured that it will make a worthwhile show for you. Others, who are mad about sensible cinema with accurate detailing, can skip it for good. But if you still want a decent popcorn flick on your home screen, then Jaadugar can be given a chance to prove itself. Overall, an average comedy that could have won it all.