Fresh off the heels after the phenomenal streaming success of Amazon Prime Video’s rural comedy drama series ‘Panchayat S2’, popular OTT star Jitendra Kumar is all set for his next release – the Netflix sports comedy drama movie ‘Jaadugar’.
‘Jaadugar’ revolves around a small-time struggling magician named Magic Meenu (played by Jitendra Kumar), who lives in Neemuch town in MP. An Indian film with a magician-centric or magic-related story has, so far, been a rare occurrence for the industry. In the year 1989, a fantasy film of the same name ‘Jaadugar’ was released. The film featured Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role of a magician and was directed by Prakash Mehra of ‘Zanjeer’ fame. However, the movie failed to impress the audiences.
The next year, veteran actor Shashi Kapoor had helmed the Indo-Soviet fantasy film ‘Ajooba’ also starring Amitabh Bachchan, and which had elements of magic in it. Although the film wasn’t an instant box-office hit at that time, it gained a cult following of sorts over a period of time.
Moreover, recently, some other popular Indian actors had also portrayed the role of a magician and that includes Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Guzaarish’ which revolved around a former magician (Hrithik Roshan) who is a quadriplegic and appeals to the court for euthanasia / mercy killing.
Besides, Aamir Khan played an illusionist in Vijay Krishna Acharya’s ‘Dhoom 3’. The film became a huge box-office hit and concurrently garnered acclaim from audiences and critics. In the same year, that is in 2013, Kannar Iyer’s ‘Ek Thi Daayan’ made its way to the theatres. The well-received film featured Emraan Hashmi as a popular stage magician who fights supernatural forces that destroyed his family in his childhood. Of late, ‘Atrangi Re’ too had Akshay Kumar playing a magician, but the film received mixed feedback from the audience.
So, as you can see, the Indian film industry hasn’t produced a lot of well-made magic related movies or films which are based on magicians and their craft. Now, coming back to Jitendra Kumar’s upcoming Netflix film ‘Jaadugar’, the question is: Can it capitalize on the mostly untapped market for magic-related movies and that too for an OTT platform? Or even better, can it initiate the Indian film industry’s tryst and a positive trend with magic-related movies and web series in the future?
It is worthy of mention that ‘Jaadugar’ has been written by former TVF top brass Biswapati Sarkar and directed by Sameer Saxena (‘Tripling’, ‘Yeh Meri Family’, and ‘Permanent Roommates’). So, their creative talents combined with the endearing screen presence of a credible performer like Jitendra Kumar and from the film’s trailer, it looks like the Netflix film should strike the right chords with the OTT audiences. The movie also features Jaaved Jaafery in an important role of a sports coach and Arushi Sharma as Jitendra Kumar’s love interest. ‘Jaadugar’ will start streaming on the Netflix OTT platform from 15th July onwards. Let’s see if it can cast its magical spell on OTT viewers.
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