Jugnuma has the unhurried pace of a stroll at dusk through the hills and the quiet delight in coming across jugnus (fireflies) twinkling in the trees, observes Deepa Gahlot.
It’s the kind of serene mountain landscape that gives the harried urban dweller a sense of peace.
But what churns in the lives of the locals?
Jugnuma, directed by Raam Reddy, tells an unsettling, yet whimsical, tale of the clash between locals, outsiders, nomads, and in the end, nature.
Dev (Manoj Bajpayee) has inherited a large fruit orchard in Uttarakhand from his grandfather, who got it from the British when they left India.
The land must have been grabbed by the original owners, whose descendents are now employed in the orchards.
Dev’s wife Nandini (Priyanka Bose), teenage daughter Vanya (Hiral Sidhu) and younger son Juhu (Awan Pookot) live in a large bungalow on the estate, which is managed by Manoj (Deepak Dobriyal).
It all seems tranquil on the surface.
Dev has a hobby of strapping on a winged contraption that he engineers himself, and flying off hilltops.
Later, this is built into a folk tale that the villagers tell about the family that lived amongst them.
Suddenly one day, Dev finds a tree that has been burnt in the orchard.
As he and Mohan try to understand what happened, fires break out in other parts of the orchard, and there is no clue as to who or what causes them.
There is the mystery of the burning trees, underlining the growing chasm between Dev and the workers, and their disgruntlement at the use of pesticides that they believe harm them, and their employer’s mistrust.
Vanya is drawn to the forest as she rides into the hills and has a silent communication with a nomad that hints at her loneliness (she does talk to a friend on the phone), and sexual awakening.
Set in 1989, and shot on 16 mm, Jugnuma does not have the enhanced gloss of today’s films. Still, the magical light and stunning visuals of the mountainside go well with the layered storytelling.
A disturbed Dev shuts down work on the orchard, sacks the workers and calls the cops and a military man to hunt down the miscreants. But the story slowly builds up to an unexpected denouement.
Nothing is underlined, but the effects of the destructiveness of modern life creeping into the old ways of the villagers, climate change, apathy towards the rights of the people, suspicion of those who stay outside the village boundaries, are all sprinkled into the narrative, leaving the viewer to interpret and understand.
The performances are restrained and effective.
Manoj Bajpayee returns to the kind of film and style of acting that he works best with, in which he is the protagonist, but not a larger than life ‘hero’.
Deepak Dobriyal, who is the narrator of the story, in a raspy voice, is equally understated.
In a small role, Tillotama Shome shines.
Most of the actors are locals and bring authenticity to the bucolic milieu.
Jugnuma comes out at a time when attention spans have diminished, when films and streaming content feel the need to speed things up.
This film is not afraid of silence or stillness.
There is no disturbing background music and Jugnuma has the unhurried pace of a stroll at dusk through the hills and the quiet delight in coming across jugnus (fireflies) twinkling in the trees.
For a while, they light up the darkness.
Jugnuma Review Rediff Rating:
