Vikramaditya Motwane’s Jubilee shows the Hindi film industry at the cusp Independence and Partition. The 10-episode series, being released in two parts on Amazon Prime, has all the elements that make up a good romantic drama—revenge, ambition, loss and guilt.
Jubilee gives a nod to the characters and the films of the period it is set in. From Raj Kapoor’s Soviet Union connection to Himanshu Rai, his wife Devika Rani and Bombay Talkies, the series is Motwane’s love letter to films and filmmaking in the ’40s and ’50s.
Srikant Roy (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is the owner of Roy Talkies, which is drowning in debt. He is banking everything on his next film starring Madan Kumar, a stage name given to Jamshed Khan (Nandish Singh Sandhu). Jamshed is having an affair with Roy’s wife Sumitra Thakur (Aditi Rao Hydari), who is a popular actor and also the co-owner of Roy Talkies. Binod (Aparshakti Khurana) is Roy’s right-hand man, who dreams of becoming an actor. Jay Khanna (Sidhant Gupta) is an aspiring playwright from Karachi who works at his father’s drama company and wants to sign his friend Jamshed for it. Niloufer (Wamiqa Gabbi) is a courtesan in Lucknow. How the lives of these characters entangle in the backdrop of the Indian Independence movement forms the plot of Jubilee.
Flawless yet forgettable
Jubilee has a Shakespeare and John Webster-meets-Guru Dutt feel to its screenplay and sets. There is the rise of Binod to the top but his journey is stained with blood and guile. There is also the poetic beauty that Guru Dutt’s films would evoke, like in Pyaasa (1957) or Sahib, Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962). With Lootera (2013), he had already shown his prowess at handling period dramas, and with Jubilee, he takes it a step further.
From set design, and art direction to costumes, the world of Jubilee is flawlessly replicating the ‘40s. Writers Atul Sabharwal and Soumik Sen along with Motwane, flesh out the nuances of every character, and do not take unnecessary time to establish them.
While nostalgia is the strongest element in Jubilee, its story is not riveting enough to hold the viewer for 10 episodes. It is a slow burn that lacks a punch. It’s a well-rounded dish missing a key ingredient to add flavour. Even with some of the best performances in a drama series in recent times, the show does not have a recall value.
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Impressive cast
Chatterjee as Roy is impeccable. He makes acting look effortless. Aparshakti Khurana also knocks it out of the park as the nobody who rises through the ranks while juggling the guilt of what he has done to reach there. One is reminded of a similar performance by Tripti Dimri in Qala (2022).
Despite his brief role, Sandhu as the ill-fated Jamshed makes an impact and establishes the tone of betrayal and revenge early on.
Sidhant Gupta as Khanna shines as a carefree youngster caught in the horror of Partition, and struggling to keep his dream afloat. Wamiqa Gabbi also aces her bit as Niloufer who unabashedly seduces wealthy men to become a star. The love story between Khanna and Niloufer hooks you. The tribute of sorts to the iconic umbrella moment between Raj Kapoor and Nargis in Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua song is a clincher.
The weakest performance comes from Aditi Rao Hydari. It looks like a repeat of her anguished and tortured woman-in-love-with-someone-else character from Taj: Divided by Blood series. Her expressions don’t convey anything different. And her revenge act is neither riveting nor powerful.
Watch Jubilee for the recreation of a bygone era, and its own set of scandals and struggles.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)