Jayeshbhai Jordaar (2022) Review: An Awareness-Comedy Drama On Female Feticide

Imagine a world without discrimination where men and women will have equal rights, including the right to live! To instill awareness in the minds of our fellow Indians about the prevalence of illegal female feticide in the country, Bollywood has come out with a family-comedy drama titled “Jayeshbhai Jordaar” starring Ranveer Singh in the titular role of Jayesh Patel. Written and directed by Divyang Thakkar and produced by Aditya Chopra, the film also features Boman Irani, Shalini Pandey, Ratna Pathak Shah, and Jia Vaidya.

Featuring Ranveer Singh As Jayesh Patel a.k.a Jayeshbhai!

If you are not aware what female feticide is, let me tell you that this is something illegal which is still practiced in India. In India, it is illegal to determine the sex of an unborn child. However, many families illegally resort to doing so. If the fetus inside the pregnant woman’s womb is found to be that of a girl, the woman is forced to undergo an abortion by her in-laws or even by her husband at times. This is done because many families over here in India prefer male children rather than females as men are considered superior, and the ones who will continue the legacy of their families.

This story is based on a Gujarati village family. Jayesh Patel (Ranveer Singh) is the son of the village head Pruthvish (Boman Irani). His wife Mudra (Shalini Pandey) is pregnant for the eighth time. Jayesh and Mudra already have a daughter named Siddhi (Jia Vaidya), and now Pruthvish and his wife Jashoda (Ratna Pathak Shah) want their son and daughter-in-law to conceive a son.

This time too it was a girl child! So, when the ultrasonography detected a female fetus in Mudra’s womb, Pruthvish was bent upon having her unborn forcefully aborted. After giving birth to Siddhi, Mudra was six times pregnant before. However, as the ultrasonography had detected female fetuses every time, she was forced to have six abortions by her in-laws.

Now, Jayesh became concerned about his wife’s well-being, and this time he stood up against his family as he wanted the girl child to be born. Jayesh was determined to not let his parents abort the unborn girl child.

Now, the story moves to a village in Haryana where the entire population is male. Not a single female is present in that village! It has been shown that the men in that Haryana village had sympathy toward women who are victims to crimes. The men in that village telecasted an advertisement on television saying that if any woman is in trouble, she can come over there to seek shelter. Jayesh happened to come across this advertisement while he was watching television at night. So, he decided to take Mudra to that village where they could seek shelter from his father who was bent upon aborting the female fetus in Mudra’s womb.

So, Jayesh set on a long drive with his wife and daughter from Gujarat to reach that “village of men” in Haryana where his wife could peacefully give birth to their girl child. The story moves on to the road where Jayesh and his father Pruthvish had several encounters on the way to the Haryana village. Somehow, Jayesh was able to escape with his wife and daughter from his father. Pruthvish was frantically searching for them and had followed them along with his goons so that he could forcefully abort the female fetus in Mudra’s womb.

After a series of severe mishaps and dreadful encounters, the story has a happy ending where Mudra was able to successfully deliver the girl child at a hospital.

Jayeshbhai Jordaar (2022) Official Trailer:

The Good:

An Awareness Story Which Will Leave You Thinking

Jayeshbhai Jordaar means “Jayesh Brother Has It Loud”, and this is indeed a “loud” awareness story about illegal female feticide prevalent in India. In India, many families live jointly, and so does Jayesh. He lives with his parents, wife, and daughter under the same roof.

You must be aware that in many places in India, ultrasonography is still illegally performed before the birth of a child. If the child happens to be a girl, the fetus is destroyed then and there by the family members.

Wonder why? India still happens to be an orthodox society where a girl child is considered a liability by parents, and most families want boys only. According to Indian society, men are the ones who continue a family’s legacy. Women are considered as liabilities as they become the property of their husbands, and in-laws after their marriage. Due to the increasing number of illegal female feticide cases in India, many girls are not able to take birth as they get killed before being born.

Jayeshbhai Jordaar’s story will leave you pondering about this situation prevalent in India. It is time people stand up against this grievous issue of female feticide just like Jayesh did. Things just cannot continue going on this way! Jayesh did make the people aware that there are equal rights for both men and women in society. Both men and women possess the right to live, and the world belongs to both sexes.

You will be happy to know that illegal female feticide cases have decreased to a great extent, and the orthodox Indian society has undergone a mental transformation. Indian families are now accepting girl children as “gifts from God”. So at present, the number of females in India has exceeded that of males.

Ranveer Singh’s Transformation As Jayeshbhai

Ranveer Singh is a great character actor in Bollywood. He possesses the ability to skillfully adapt himself to the characters he plays in movies. You will be amazed to learn that this is the same Ranveer Singh who played the ruthless emperor Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat.

Ranveer seems to have undergone a severe transformation for Jayeshbhai where he looks slimmer and has sported a thin mustache along with a parted hairstyle in order to appear like a comical yet decent Gujarati man who is obedient to his parents. Ranveer has successfully adapted to the character of Jayeshbhai where he can be seen speaking throughout the movie in a Gujarati accent.

Boman Irani as Jayeshbhai’s father Pruthvish gave an intriguing performance. His agitated father-in-law’s character where he was bent upon having his daughter-in-law’s fetus forcefully aborted was fascinating to watch. I bet, Ranveer Singh, and Boman Irani with their acting will keep you engaged thought the movie. Child actor Jia Vaidya also gave a fascinating performance, and after watching her I not only found her adorable but quite smart for her age as well!

The Editing

The editing in Jayeshbhai Jordaar was done by Namrata Rao. The film runs for a little more than 2 hours. The scene editing and placement were done precisely which maintained the movie’s flow, and ensured understandability for the audiences. Even if the story moved from one location to another, you will not have any problem grasping it.

The Bad:

The Screenplay

There are some shortcomings to the screenplay of Jayeshbhai Jordaar which I would like to discuss. This was supposed to be a pure comedy movie, right? However, due to too many melodramatic incidents shown in the movie, the essence of comedy within the screenplay got destroyed.

Even if Ranveer Singh gave a strong performance, the lack of a proper script made his Jayeshbhai character a bit muddled. If throughout the movie, we get to see Ranveer as Jayesh Patel confused about what to do and crying, where will the audiences find the space for laughter? Also, severe tense moments have been shown where Jayesh, his wife, and his daughter had narrow escapes from the wrath of his father who was madly searching for them along with his henchmen. The incidents have been portrayed in such a manner that they will neither instigate thrill in your mind nor will make you laugh.

In spite of Ranveer Singh‘s aptly fitting in the shoes of the character Jayeshbhai, I was unable to understand the true personality of Jayeshbhai here. Jayeshbhai can go up to any extent to protect his wife and daughter. He seems to be a brave man. So, what makes him run away like a coward, and that too from his own father? If he has the guts to stand up against his father, and let his wife deliver his baby girl, then why not confront him as well on the matter? There is a scene where Jayesh is caught by his father while he is on his way to the “village of men”. He then warns his father that he will castrate himself if he doesn’t allow him to escape with his wife and daughter. So, it can be very well seen how scared he is of his father.

The script of Jayeshbhai appears to have been mindlessly written. The movie shows Jayesh had never kissed his wife, and he and his wife can be seen trying for a kiss several times but were obstructed every time. Jayesh and his wife are shown to have difficulty getting intimate. So, how come she got eight times pregnant by Jayesh? This appears absolutely illogical!

Also, the story showcases a Haryana village where the entire population is male, and not a single female is present in that village. If no female is present in that village, God only knows, from where did all those men originate?! Did they fall out from the sky or did they emerge out of the earth? Anyways, as this is supposed to be a comedy movie, I think it is bound to have such harmless illogical elements associated with it.

I also have a question for the filmmakers. When Mudra had undergone abortion six times before, where was Jayesh’s conscience back then? How come during her seventh abortion, Jayesh’s conscience suddenly awoke?

Weak Direction By Divyang Thakkar

Divyang Thakkar has showcased a weak script as well as the direction in Jayeshbhai Jordaar. As a scriptwriter and director, he should have taken care of certain illogical elements in the storyline which made this movie quite unacceptable. After seeing this movie, you will start wondering, how can all this be happening in modern Indian society?

If this had been a story written 100 years ago during the early 1900s, then I would have been in the opinion that the script goes well with it, and such incidents really could have occurred back then. However, this story has been portrayed to be of modern India as scenes in the movie show Jayeshbhai driving the latest SUV car model while running away from his father. In short, the plot fails to instill logic in the modern scenario.

The Climax Was A Bit Disturbing To Watch

Jayeshbhai Jordaar was supposed to be a family comedy-drama but the spoiler comes at the climax! The ending scene shows Jayesh’s wife Mudra in great pain while delivering the girl child, and the scene went on for 15 long minutes. She can be seen screaming in pain as the child was unable to come out, and had unfortunately got blocked in mid-way. Finally, Jayesh did what was appropriate during that situation in order to help his wife deliver the infant safely.

As it has been shown in the movie that Jayesh and his wife Mudra had never kissed, Jayesh took advantage of the situation and gave his wife an intense long kiss so as to excite her and enable her to deliver the infant with ease.

This may have been appropriate for that situation but is highly inappropriate for the Indian audiences to watch; especially when this happens to be a family movie, and you are watching it along with your family. The Indian society happens to be a very conservative one, and such repulsive scenes showing public kissing in family movies are highly unacceptable. I bet you won’t be able to watch this climax sitting with your parents, especially if you happen to be an Indian. If such disgusting scenes are what newbie writer and director Divyang Thakkar thinks is appropriate for families to watch, I feel pity for his upcoming films which are sure to have such sickening spoilers throughout their screenplays.

The Verdict:

The cinematography of Jayeshbhai Jordaar by Siddharth Diwan was average, and I didn’t find any special captivating elements in it. This film was shot both in indoor and outdoor locations with sets comprising traditional Gujarati houses, and hospital rooms. The outdoor shots included highways and village locations. Jayeshbhai Jordaar will give you a regular movie-watching experience as this is no action movie that usually has extraordinary VFX elements to entice you.

I felt that the humor showcased in this movie is absurd, and has been forcefully instigated even at places where it wasn’t really required. To amplify the unwanted comical essence of the movie, I feel that in certain instances the director had made the cast overact a bit too much. However, such efforts in no way did this family comedy-drama any good. Also, Shalini Pandey didn’t appear appealing as the lead female actress, and her character of Jayesh’s pregnant wife Mudra seemed to be giving in to all kinds of crimes, and unfortunate incidents that an Indian woman in her situation could possibly face.

The songs in Jayeshbhai Jordaar are average but I believe you may enjoy the track “Firecracker” where you will witness Ranveer Singh dance to the bouncy tunes of Vishal Dadlani, and Shekhar Ravjiani. You will be amazed to learn that the shooting of Jayeshbhai Jordaar was completed on February 7, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this film released in theaters more than two years later, that is on May 13, 2022!

If you are looking for some casual entertainment to freshen up your stressed-out mood, you can choose to go for Jayeshbhai Jordaar. However as everybody is not alike, I must warn you that too many illogical instances shown in this movie for the sake of humor may frustrate you. And if you happen to be a thinker who tends to think a lot, and want to make out some logic out of this movie; you may suffer severe mental depression. You may come out of the theater hall pulling out your hair or even start fighting with the very first person you come across at the theater’s exit. So, it will be best if you visit the theaters to watch this movie only after leaving your brains back home!