Jubilee review: Vikramaditya Motwane brings to life vintage Bollywood in visually stunning, well-acted spectacle

Jubilee

Director: Vikramaditya Motwane

Cast: Aparshakti Khurana, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sidhant Gupta, Wamiqa Gabbi, Nandish Sandhu, and Ram Kapoor

Where to watch: Prime Video

Rating: 4 stars

Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days, American columnist Doug Larson famously said. Vikramaditya Motwane’s new show Jubilee takes a different approach. It accentuates the rough edges, making them jut out. The past is sepia-toned but not rose-tinted as we see the frailties, darkness, and shortcomings of the ‘good ol’ days’ too. In giving us a glimpse of the ‘golden era of Bollywood’ through a fictional story, Jubilee blends good writing, fine performances, and foot-tapping music that transports you to the era. It’s a show that has faults but gets more right than wrong.

Jubilee begins immediately before the Partition when maverick producer Shrikant Roy (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is looking for his next star Madan Kumar. The frontrunner is this once-in-a-generation talent called Jamshed Khan (Nandish Sandhu) but the only problem is that Roy’s wife and top actress Sumitra Kumari (Aditi Rao Hydari) is having an affair with him. Enter Binod Das (Aparshakti Khurana), Roy’s man Friday and an aspiring actor. The series is the tale of Binod’s rise and also the journeys of theatre owner-turned-filmmaker Jay Khanna (Sidhant Gupta) and courtesan-turned-actress Niloufer (Wamiqa Gabbi) and how these ordinary lives intertwine with the legend of Madan Kumar.

Vikramaditya Motwane’s Jubilee has a lot going for it. First and foremost is good writing and very strong production values, which make this a pleasing show despite some sluggish pacing. The dialogue, in particular, steals the show and makes you invested very easily. The matter-of-fact manner in which characters espouse the deepest of philosophies deserves some praise. The show never feels heavy despite setting much of the initial episodes around Partition and some later sequences referencing the migration that followed.

The performances are the nice little cherry on top, led by Sidhant Gupta, who is earnest, vulnerable, and charismatic in equal measures. The actor has been around for a decade and this performance makes you wonder why he did not grab our attention sooner. The hope is that he will be around after this to showcase more of him. Aparshakti as the show’s true protagonist springs in a pleasant surprise with his career-best performance where he charts a complex character’s difficult arc with ease. The other star of the show is Wamiqa Gabbi, who breathes life into any scene she is. Her Niloufer goes from enigmatic to pitiable and likable within a span of a few scenes, and Wamiqa manages the transition quite well.

Sidhant Gupta surprises with his performance as Jay Khanna

Ram Kapoor as film financier Walia is the life of the show. His profane, light-hearted take on the chaos around him makes him endearing and reminds why the seasoned actor is so respected in the history. Prosenjit Chatterjee, his foil, commands the screen and makes Shrikant Roy more formidable and menacing than even the script could have envisioned. Aditi Rao Hydari is beautiful as Sumitra Kumari but somewhere, her performance does not quite reach the levels of her illustrious cast members. As for Nandish Sandhu, he plays a ‘once-in-a-generation’ thespian but his performance does not ever make you fully convinced of that. You like him, empathise with him, even feel for him, but are never in awe of him.

One of the strengths of Jubilee is its music. Amit Trivedi, in the form of his life, brings another album evoking vintage Bollywood. If Qala had melancholy at its core, Jubilee has gaiety. Each track is reminiscent of (or homage to) some classical songs and composers and yet, fits very well in the story and with the characters.

But all is not rosy for Jubilee. The show does take its sweet time in getting to the point. At 10 episodes of 45-50 minutes each, it is a lengthy watch and at times, the plot moves forward at leisurely pace, almost like the films of the 1940s and 50s themselves. That it is still worthy of bingeing speaks volumes about the engaging plot and the performances.

The first five episodes of Jubilee release on Prime Video on Friday, April 7 with the concluding five set to arrive next Friday.