Jabariya Jodi


Jabariya Jodi is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film starring Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra. The story is based upon the tradition of groom kidnapping, prevalent in Bihar. Malhotra is playing a Bihari thug in the film, which is co-produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor and Shailesh R Singh, and directed by Prashant Singh. Principal photography began on 10 August 2018 in Lucknow, and the film was theatrically released in India on 9 August 2019.

Synopsis

Abhay Singh runs a syndicate of kidnapping greedy grooms, who demand dowry in Bihar’s Madhopur. He then, forcefully marries them off to the girl, calling it a ‘surprise party’. But when his childhood sweetheart Babli re-enters his life, he must choose between love and his long-term ambitions. From which he chooses ambition and break the heart of Babli telling everyone that he was never in love with Babli, a heartbroken and drunk Babli swears to kidnap and forcefully marry Abhay.

Cast

Development

The film was conceived by writer Sanjeev K Jha who is from Bihar and is familiar with forced marriage practice in his native state. He was surprised to see the official data that said that more abductions happened in Bihar for the purpose of forced marriage than ransom in recent years. He said in a statement, "We always knew such forced marriages happen, but we didn’t know the magnitude of it." It was an eye-opener for him so he created a comic world and a love-story using this bizarre practices.

Filming

Filming began on 10 August 2018 in Lucknow, Barabanki and Raebareli. The film was wrapped up in mid April 2019.

Marketing and release

The first look of the film was revealed by Ekta Kapoor on her Twitter account on 20 August 2018. It showed Parineeti and Sidharth lost in each other but in between them, there is a groom tied and unconscious. It also explained what the title Jabariya Jodi actually means. The 2nd teaser of the film was shared by Sidharth Malhotra on his official Instagram account on 6 December 2018 announcing the release date of 17 May 2019.
On 4 March 2019 with release of a new official theatrical posters new release date of 12 July 2019 was announced. On 3 June the release date was pushed back to 2 August. On 29 July release date was further pushed by one week to 9 August.
On 1 July official trailer of the film was launched by Balaji Motion Pictures.
The film has been certified with a runtime of 139 minutes by British Board of Film Classification and was released on 9 August 2019.

Soundtrack

The music of the film is composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Vishal Mishra, Sachet-Parampara, Ramji Gulati and Ashok Masti while lyrics are written by Raj Shekhar, Rashmi Virag, Shabbir Ahmed, Kumaar, Tanishk Bagchi and Siddharth-Garima. Background music scored by Joel Crasto.

Reception

The film received generally mixed reviews overalled average to 2.5 out of 5, the reviews are as follow:-
Nandini Ramnath from Scroll.in rated the movie 1.5 stars on 5 and wrote, "Inexplicably convoluted and unforgivably long".
Sandip Pal of DesiMartini rated the movie 2 stars on 5 and wrote, "Wonder What The Film Wanted To Convey With Its Hapzhazard Plotline" and taking about the lead actors he said, "When we talk about performances, Sidharth Malhotra for some strange reason looks comfortable in the skin of his character but falters when it comes to the body language and the Bihari diction. It sounds fake!" as of Parineeti Chopra he said, "Coming to Parineeti Chopra – she has been playing the fiesty motor-mouth girl in almost all her films and this film too she plays a girl who is cheeky and audacious and is ready to go to any length to get what she wants! Well, this is just for the first half. In the second half, wonder what happens to her strength of character, she is forever crying and sulking like forever and ever! This sudden change in the characteristic after the interval is not just off-putting but it is also very obnoxious, much more than her red hair! Chopra needs to get her act together."
Koimoi rated the movie 3 on 5 stars and on their Watch or Not they wrote, "Only if you can filter out what’s not important to your taste"
Latesly rated the movie 2.5 on 5 stars and wrote, "It is quite strange in a movie about groom-napping, that it is the 'Jabariya' of the title that provides some of the fun moments, and the 'Jodi' that lets the movie down. Jabariya Jodi is entertaining when it plays for the laughs, but goes horribly messed up when it amps up the romance. At best, a passable one-time watch, if you can keep your butts Jabariya on to the seats in the second half!" and of the performances they wrote, "Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra do their best, but are let down by their muddled characterisation".
Lakshana N Palat from India Today reviewed, "Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra film is excruciatingly painful" and rated the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars.
The Times of India's Ronak Kotecha rated the movie 2.5 stars on 5 and wrote, "Jabariya Jodi starts on a promising note, but loses steam along the way. It tries to throw light on serious issues with lighter moments, but gets tangled in a melodramatic and unrealistic narrative that doesn’t feel all that jabardust."
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated the movie 1 on 5 stars calling it a confused long drawn mess.

Box office

Jabariya Jodi had the opening day collection of 2.70 crore and the second day collection of 3.70 crore, whereas the third day collection was 4.50 crore, taking its total opening weekend collection to 10.90 crore.
, with a gross of 19.21 crore in India and 1.92 crore overseas, the film has a worldwide gross collection of 21.13 crore.