Jugaadistan Review: Scam 1992 meets Dil Dosti Etc in this entertaining but flawed campus thriller-drama | Web Series

As I started watching Jugaadistan, the most recent unique providing from Lionsgate Play, my coronary heart sank. The present gave the impression to be in regards to the training rip-off and my thoughts instantly went to SonyLIV’s latest sequence Whistleblower. Jugaadistan had solid and I believed it would be a waste if it was ‘simply one other present on the examination rip-off’. Over the course of eight 40-minute episodes, Jugaadistan proved me fallacious. (Additionally learn: Jugaadistan trailer: Sumeet Vyas, Arjun Mathur and extra come collectively for present on darkish facet of school life. Watch)

Jugaadistan is a present that can’t be assigned to anyone style. It’s a campus drama however not as light-hearted as Netflix’s Mismatched. Additionally it is a thriller a few large-scale rip-off however not as breakneck as Whistleblower . There may be additionally a monitor on elections and rivalries, and even some cameos by popstars. It’s arduous to pinpoint precisely what Jugaadistan is.

However one factor is definite. Jugaadistan is not confused. The present guarantees to point out you school life and present you all of it, from the romances to the campus politics and the examination rip-off as properly. It’s a cross-section of every little thing that goes on inside a modern-day school/college campus. And whereas the present hops genres far too typically for my liking, it does so slightly easily.

Jugaadistan tells the story of scholars, academics, brokers, and activists of the fictional college as they navigate their lives across the campus. From the nice scholar caught in a rip-off to the campus politician and to the shady scammy agent or the idealistic journalist, the characters are drawn from folks now we have seen round us. The incidents are additionally drawn from actuality. The campus in Jugaadistan is solely known as Metropolis College however quite a few references to Sarojini Nagar, Khooni Jheel, and U-Particular buses make it fairly clear it’s a fictionalised model of Delhi College.

The writing on the present is first rate however not particular sufficient to maintain you on the sting, as a thriller ought to. The campus feels genuine however even when the stakes are excessive, you do not really feel the characters’ dilemma or the hazard they’re in. You do not really feel alarmed on the deaths or offended on the betrayals. A narrative like this could draw the viewer and by no means allow them to hit the pause button. That’s the place the present fails to an extent.

The actors might have been the power of the present, given the proficient ensemble solid. However the one downside is that almost all actors are taking part in to the kind. Ahsaas Channa is once more a scholar, Arjun Mathur is at house as the person between a rock and a tough place, and the pleasant Gopal Dutt is right here for one more lovable scoundrel act. All of them do properly however now we have seen them in these characters earlier than, perhaps a bit too typically. For me, the star of the present is Sumeet Vyas, who makes positive his scholar chief Gaurav Bhati doesn’t find yourself being a caricature. Now we have seen the Haryanavi scholar politician on display screen a number of occasions however Sumeet brings a mixture of allure and realism that makes the character and his monitor partaking.

It was a refreshing shock to see the proficient Tanvi Azmi because the vice chancellor of the college and one needs she had extra display screen time. Equally, Parambrata Chatterjee does justice to his position because the instructor getting a whiff of the rip-off. However the writing – and the abundance of storylines – means we by no means get absolutely invested in his journey.

In between pretending to be a campus romcom and attempting to be a gritty thriller, Jugaadistan additionally finds time to be a Bollywood musical. The much less I say in regards to the aforementioned music acts the higher it’s. However I didn’t anticipate to see Mika Singh and Akasa carry out unique songs in a present about examination rip-off. That was, one thing…for the dearth of a becoming adjective.

Additionally learn: Jugaadistan actor Ahsaas Channa on how she makes use of pals to trick her strict mother and meet boyfriend

Regardless of its flaws, the present manages to entertain. Given its genre-hopping nature, it could simply enchantment to a wider part of viewers than any standard thriller or campus drama would have. However having launched in the identical weekend as Ajay Devgn’s OTT debut, season 2 of an underrated thriller, an Amitabh Bachchan movie and The Batman, it could discover itself competing for eyeballs initially. Directed by Akarsh Khurana and Adhaar Khurana, Jugaadistan is streaming on Lionsgate Play from Friday, March 4 onwards.

Jugaadistan

Director: Akarsh Khurana and Adhaar Khurana

Forged: Sumeet Vyas, Arjun Mathur, Parambrata Chatterjee, Ahsaas Channa, Rukshar Dhillon, Taaruk Raina, Gopal Datt