Unknown Facts About Jhund

Finally, Jhund The Amitabh  Bachchan Sports Film Hits Theatres This Friday, Subhash K Jha Lists  Unknown Facts  About This Long-Awaited  Film

1. Jhund is  a rarity in Mr Bachchan’s  career.  For a change  he plays  a real-life character. In most of his  films barring Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar where he played  a  character  modeled on Bal Thackeray,Mr Bachchan has  played seething simmering sometimes smirking larger-than-life fictional characters.I am not counting the umpteenth occasions when he has  played himself  in cameo roles in Pet Pyaar Aur Paap,  Kaun Jeeta Kaun Hara, Jalwa, Chashme Buddoor,Hero Hiralal, Biwi No.1, Ramji Londonwaley,the Marathi film Akka and the Kannada film Amrithadhare.
2. In Jhund Mr B  plays  Vijay Barse, a legendary  figure  among street children of Nagpur, Vijay Barse  motivated underprivileged  kids to  play football. It is  interesting that  the name  Vijay follows Mr Bachchan  even into his first trueblue-biopic. The megastar-actor par excellence spent a large  part of his life playing the character  of  the Angry  Young Man  Vijay written by Salim-Javed for deathless classics such as Zanjeer, Deewaar, Shakti, Sholay and Trishul.
3. Director Nagraj Manjule whose stunning Marathi film Sairat set  new boxoffice records in Marathi cinema, is  a huge Amitabh  Bachchan fan. He has watched each one of the  Bachchan  classics  10-12 times.In his heydays Manjule  would even tuck(or rather,untuck) his shirt  like  Mr B In Deewaar.However on the sets  it is a isn’t fan directing the iconic  superstar(remember Puri Jagannadh and  his weirdly-spelt Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap?). Rather than play the fanboy, Manjule gets  another classic ‘Vijay’ performance  out of his hero.
4. Jhund began  shooting in December 2018. It was hit by several  problems.  The original  producers  backed  out  . It was  only when T Series and Bhushan Kumar stepped in that  the project finally took off.After  two years of determined abstinence from the OTT platform  Jhund  is finally going where it belongs: on  the  big screen.
5. In the  interim, director Nagaraj Manjule gave a stunning performance as a  paedophile in  the  disturbing Marathi film The Silence.  It isn’t a role that  most  actors, no matter how  dedicated  would like to  touch. But Nagaraj Manjule has  never shied away from  going where  the angels fear to tread.He is  a rebel , one with a cause. The  plight of the underprivileged and disempowered  sections  of  society concern  Manjule’s  cinema deeply.
6. Sairat and before that, Fandry remain two of  the most significant Marathi films on caste  discrimination , directed  by Nagraj Manjule. The Sairat  co-stars  Akash Thosar and Rinku Rajguru  also  play  significant roles in Jhund. But make no mistake: this is  an out-and-out one-man show  powered by  the  greatest  star-actor India  has  known. Yup, Vijay is back.