Cast: Harshvardhan Deo, Cherry Mardia, Navni Parihar,
Virendra Saxena
Direction: Raj Purohit
Genre: Romance
Duration: 2 hours 21 minutes

Story: A middle class boy falls in love with a rich girl. Theirs is love at first sight. Owing to the class divide, parents object to the relationship. Can their love survive societal pressure?

Review: Set in Agra in the late 80’s, Jigariyaa revives the magic of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. It traces the lives of two young lovers Shyamlal Gupta (Harshvardhan Deo) and Radhika (Cherry Mardia), who dream of an idealistic future.

However, villains in their fairytale romance happen to be their parents, who are more concerned about their standing in the society. The two are forced to give up on their relationship as maan and maryada are of prime importance. Will they break the norms of society and get back together or succumb to it? In spite of its run of the mill story, Jigariyaa is quite a commendable attempt. The newcomers are the film’s USP and they give their best.

They deliver solid performances and have the ability to make it big in Bollywood. Harshvardhan Deo as an aspiring poet (shayar) is charming, while the beautiful Cherry Mardia makes an impression. Their depiction of the protagonists’ ‘innocent love’ sets the film apart. The cinematography is stunning too. Colours, heritage sites and historical locations are used beautifully. That reminds one of Raanjhanaa. The music is soulful and the script allows you to feel for the central characters.

However, the film could have been at least 30 minutes shorter. The story stays static for a long time in the first half. You get impatient for the climax and while it’s effective, it does seem a tad pointless. A cliched story and sluggish pace are major drawbacks. If it wasn’t for that, Jigariyaa could have been a film worth remembering. Nonetheless, the film can be watched for its purity and simplicity. It ably captures the beauty of small towns and first love…love before technology happened. Love before sexual desire found its place in films.