Jamnapaar is about those in East Delhi desirous of moving upwards to posher areas such as NOIDA and Gurugram, etc. Like all morality tales, the social-climbing protagonist Shantanu Bansal, better known as Shanky, falls flat on his face while attempting to make a better life for himself.
It is an imminent danger for all working-class heroes who aspire to get out of their father’s modest legacy. Recently we saw it happen in the Tamil film 3BHK where Siddharth had to be cut down to size by “destiny” in a laut ke ghar ko buddhu aaye kind of sobering journey.
Such cinema focuses on the perils of befriending people who offer lucrative salaries, posh residential properties, sleek women, expensive wine, and an easy way to get from Jamnapaar to Gurugram. In Season 1 the protagonist Shantanu (Ritwik Sahore) was “corrupted” by a corporate wheeler-dealer (Raghu Ram).
In Season 2 the toxic alchemist is Shaukeen Bhaiyya played by Vijay Raaz who has done these shady do-gooders umpteen times. He could walk through such roles in his sleep, which is probably what he has done this time.
What, and who, make this season palatable, even inviting in parts, are Varun Bandola and a completely unknown actor named Inder Sahaani who plays Paras, Shantanu’s discernibly annoying brother-in-law who mutates seamlessly into an incorrigible do-gooder, the kind of person who speaks out of turn and messes up things as he desperately wants to be the best version of himself all the time.
The best written and performed sequences in the series feature Inder Sahaani and his screen wife (Ankita Sehgal) as they struggle to help their brother-in-law/brother’s family from falling apart and grapple with their own struggles to have a child.
If the truth be told, I’d like to see an entire series based on the characters played by Sahaani and Sehgal who are so relatable, we can reach out and touch their souls while bypassing the other more prominent characters.
Varun Bandola’s upright coaching professor act is over-familiar territory. Having a weak actor as his son doesn’t help matters. In fact, the protagonist Shantanu’s character is so namby-pamby, one wonders why two ladies, one a spillover from the last season, another a potentially interesting new recruit, would be falling over one another for his attentions.
Jamnapaar is not among the most engaging serials you will get to watch this year. But it has a beating actor and, in Inder Sahaani’s Paras, one of the most interesting characters you will see this year.
