Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif starrer Jagga Jasoos released on July 14. The detective comedy has been helmed by Anurag Basu, the filmmaker who has given us films like Barfii, Life…In A Metro, Gangster and Murder. The film has mostly generated positive reviews from the critics and fans alike. It will be seen how the film performs at the Box Office.
Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg once said,”Audiences are harder to please if you’re just giving them effects, but they’re easy to please if it’s a good story.” If you are talking about plot, you just cannot underestimate Anurag Basu’s storytelling acumen. The Filmfare Award winning director is known for beautifully portraying complex human relationships on the silver screen. But, the good director in him is just not the only thing he deserves your attention for. Basu is a winner both on and off the screen.
A praiseworthy TV career
Born in Bhilai, he began his career as an assistant director on the sets of popular TV serial Tara. However, he shot to limelight with his directorial debut for Ekta Kapoor-owned Balaji Telefilms’ daily soap Koshish…Ek Aashaa. The daily soap featured Sandhya Mridul who played Kajal, who gets married to a mentally challenged man named Neeraj (Varun Badola). The series was an instant hit among the viewers as it portrayed Kajal’s day-to-day struggles in living with her husband. The popularity of the serial can be gauged by the fact that Sandhya in an interview to Hindustan Times this year had recalled an incident when a woman had approached her. She was staying in the Middle-East and her in-laws had snatched away from her passport. The woman praised Sandhya and said that Kajal inspired her to fight for herself and finally escaped to India. This scene from the soap wherein Kajal comes to know about the truth of her husband speaks volumes about Basu’s directorial acumen.
Also read: Kahiin Toh Hoga, Kkavyanjali and more: 5 Hindi TV shows which taught 90’s kids ‘real’ romance
Cinematic success: After a forgettable debut with Kucch To Hai and Saaya, Anurag Basu tasted success in Bollywood through Murder in 2003, a Bhatt camp film. The thriller also gave immense recognition to Emraan Hashmi. Basu later helmed films like Gangster, Life In A Metro, Barfii and now Jagga Jasoos. He is not a filmmaker who will churn out films every year or two. Barring Kites and early duds, Basu’s films have earned tremendous critical acclaim over the years.
Strong visual sense: Anurag Basu possesses a strong visual sense, that is reflected in the films he has made. Very few directors are able to portray locations in their films as characters. For example, the song O Meri Jaan from Life In A Metro vividly captures the monsoon of Mumbai while portraying the relationships between the characters. So blissful!
Soulful music: Anurag Basu’s films have breathtaking music. His collaboration with Pritam have yielded soulful albums like Gangster: A Love Story, Barfii, Life In A Metro and now Jagga Jasoos. Can’t believe it? The music album of Ranbir Kapoor’s Barfii tells all.
Also read: Jagga Jasoos movie review: Ranbir Kapoor proves himself again in this scintillating Anurag Basu film
A fighter to the core: During the shooting of Emraan Hashmi and Diya Mirza starrer Tumsa Nahi Dekha, Basu was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, which is a type of blood cancer. In an interview to TOI five years ago, the director revealed his fight with the deadly disease. He said that the doctors used to tell him that the survival chances were 50-50 before coming down to 2 months and then finally 2 weeks. However, the shocking news did not deter him and he completed the film from a hospital bed. He underwent rigorous medical treatment and recovered.
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