Watch TrailerJoram Movie Review: What is home? A simple question with too many layers and too much depth. Manoj Bajpayee’s upcoming film Joram tries to address the essence of home but unlike home, it is cold, dark, distressful and disturbing. That’s the treatment director Devashish Makhija of Bhonsle fame takes and though the film raises some pertinent questions about life and world, it doesn’t quite cause a stir within you and leaves you wanting for so much more.
Largely set in Jharkhand, Joram is themed on displacement, environmental crisis and ‘man versus nature’ conflict and is brilliant on paper. Dasru, now known as Bala, flees to Mumbai along with his wife, Vaano, in search of a better life. The couple works as labours at a building in the city and though they live on a meagre salary, they happily parent their baby daughter named Joram. But a shocking visit from Phulo Karma upsets the apple cart and reveal the many skeletons in Dasru’s closet.
Soon, Vaano dies and he runs off to his village in Jharkhand along with Joram. We come to know that Phulo Karma has scores to settle with Dasru, who was once a part of the Naxalite gang and was responsible for the death of her son. How Dasru keeps escaping the system and fights the label of a Naxalite while protecting his daughter and searches for a home for her form the rest of the story.
At two hours, Joram seems excruciatingly slow. Makhija probably makes use of a languorous pace to establish crucial scenes and Dasru’s emotional, political and social conflicts but it leaves you impatient. Though gut-wrenching in the beginning, the film eventually deeply makes you feel suffocated and unsettled and you really want it to get over. Art is supposed to disturb the comfortable and Makhija takes it too seriously. This film might not be for everyone and particularly, not for the faint-hearted.
However, the director deserves applause for creating a world that not many of us are aware of. His understanding of Jharkhand, its people, its texture and its natural abundance is impressive. The state almost becomes like a character in the film. While Makhija incorporates a happy moment between Dasru and Vaano serenading, enjoying the lushness of the fertile land and the cool breeze, as the first sequence, you will slowly realise that it was just the calm before the storm. And before you know it, fear and grey start looming large over the narrative. It, however, lacks the thrill of a quintessential survival thriller.
Makhija also touches upon the political and economic scenario of Jharkhand and the many connotations associated with its Naxalite movement. It might not be as hard-hitting as Virata Parvam but it definitely adds a layer to the narrative and makes you question a lot about the current climate. The use of tribal music renders another layer of authenticity to the story.
The stupendous performance by the entire star cast should nudge you to give it a watch (if you can deal with the heaviness it leaves in your heart). Manoj Bajpayee as Dasru/Bala is brilliant and he slips under the skin of a local from a village in Jharkhand with aplomb. He gets the language and nuance right and his haplessness and helplessness as a husband, who has just lost his wife, and father will tug at your heartstrings. There are many tender moments he shares with baby Joram which will surely leave you teary eyed.
Tannishtha Chatterjee as Vaano has a guest appearance and she is impressive. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Ratnakar Bagul is top-notch. He plays a cop that’s beautifully humanised and he lets his silence do most of the talking. His restraint deserves a special mention here. But it is Smita Tambe Dwivedi who surprises as tribal leader Phulo Karma and grabs the most attention. She’s resolute, unyielding and iron-fisted but never resorts to melodrama or plays to the gallery to prove her mettle.
Joram can be best described as a Rubik’s cube. It takes a whole lot of patience to reach the conclusion and even after that, the tediousness of the process robs of you of the satisfaction of the result. Watch it only if you’re true-blue indie cinema connoisseur.
