Putting
together
a
real-life
incident
on
celluloid
isn't
everyone's
cup
of
tea.
The
sealing
issue
in
Delhi
hit
headlines,
causing
tremendous
grief
and
heartburn
to
people
who
were
affected
by
it,
besides
hitting
them
financially.
One
expects
director
Anand
Kumar
to
portray
the
facts
with
complete
understanding,
more
so
because
the
film
is
based
on
producer
Sandiip
Kapur's
real-life
experiences.
But
writers
Bunty
Rathore
and
Priyank
Dubey
make
a
complete
mess
of
what
could've
been
an
interesting
cinematic
experience.
The
problem
is
simple.
You
just
don't
feel
the
pain.
You
just
don't
feel
for
the
person
whose
life
has
gone
upside
down.
The
writing
is
so
half-hearted
that
the
film
fails
to
hold
your
attention
once
the
story
takes
off.
It
wouldn't
be
erroneous
to
state
that
the
goings-on
are
boring
and
outright
predictable,
save
the
penultimate
15
minutes.
In
a
nutshell,
Jugaad
tries
hard
to
be
different,
but
falls
flat
due
to
its
poor
writing
and
direction.
Based
on
the
MCD
sealing
in
Delhi,
this
is
the
real
first-hand
experience
of
the
successful
CEO
of
an
advertising
agency.
The
MCD
locks
the
doors
of
the
advertising
agency
under
the
sealing
drive.
The
successful
CEO
uses
his
best
connections
to
influence
the
MCD
officials,
but
nothing
succeeds.
Thus
begins
the
journey
of
Sandiip
[Manoj
Bajpai],
left
alone
on
the
roads
with
his
team
[already
looking
for
greener
pastures]...
towards
struggles
unforeseen.
The
film
narrates
the
Jugaad
[trickery
and
connections]
done
by
the
protagonist
to
re-establish
his
agency
from
scratch.
Real-life
stories
should
ideally
translate
into
riveting
cinematic
experiences,
but
Jugaad
is
a
major
letdown
in
terms
of
writing,
execution
and
even
acting.
Frankly,
the
issue
is
trivialized
due
to
inept
writing.
It
was
a
major
issue,
but
it
comes
across
as
a
petty
incident.
Even
the
Govind
Namdeo
track
[dual
role]
looks
very
formulaic.
Sachin
Gupta
and
Krishna's
music
is
equally
uninspiring.
Manoj
Bajpai
should
refrain
from
such
riff-raff.
He's
an
incredible
actor,
but
why
is
he,
of
late,
limiting
himself
to
such
films?
Hrishitaa
Bhatt
has
nothing
to
do.
Vijay
Raaz
goes
over
the
top.
Sanjay
Mishra
tries
really
hard.
Nitin
Arora
is
a
non-actor.
Govind
Namdeo
is
as
usual.
Mushtaq
Khan
is
fair.
On
the
whole,
Jugaad
is
a
good
idea
gone
terribly
wrong.
At
the
box-office,
it
stands
no
chance.
Story first published: Friday, February 13, 2009, 15:05 [IST]