The Jhund Fiasco: What Went Wrong With The Bachchan-Manjule Collaboration

Sairat is Marathi cinema’s biggest success to date. But its  lowkey director Nagraj Manjule has not had much luck since the blockbuster happened.

Immediately after the film’s grand success he was verbally attacked for domestic abuse and financial aberrancy by his former wife.

Shy and shocked Manjule went into a shell.

“Destiny had other plans for my success. I got no  chance to enjoy it. I didn’t know  what hit me,” Nagraj Manjule said to me. His shock at being targeted at a time when his career took off  in a big way multiplied when Karan Johar  took over the Hindi remake rights of  Sairat, signed Ishaan Khatter and  Janhvi Kapoor for the lead and  shockingly. did not ask Nagraj Manjule to  direct  the remake.

Instead Karan Johar  got his inhouse  direcror Shashank Khaitan to helm the Sairat remake re-named Dhadak.

But Nagraj moved on. He launched his first Hindi film Jhund with the  biggest star  of  them all Amitabh Bachchan to  play Vijay Barse, the Nagpur based football coach who coaches slum kids  to play the game.

Both Bachchan Saab and Manjule were  kicked about the football film. Mr B started taking a fresh course in soccer from his son Abhishek.

 Then  it all fell apart. Apparently there are copyright-infringement issues making it impossible  for Manjule   to go ahead  until matters are sorted  out.

A  source  close to the development says chances of Jhund being made are  remote. “Amitji waited patiently for the problems to be sorted  out. A  lot of his dates were lost in  the process  of waiting. He has  now moved on.”