Jugnuma Review: 'It does not sparkle like a firefly', where did Manoj Bajpayee's film fail in the story of 'Bagan'?

Jugnuma The Fable Review Manoj Bajpayee has returned to the theatre after creating a stir with the film Inspector Jhande on Netflix. His movie Jugnuma, which received international acclaim, has been released in theatres on 12 September. How is the story of this film, read the full review below

Movie Review

• Name:Jugnoma – The Fable
• Rating :
• Artist :Manoj Bajpayee, Deepak Dobriyal, Priyanka Bose, Tillotama Shome, Hiral Sidhu
• Director :Ram Reddy
• Manufacturer :
• Author :
• Release date :Sep 12, 2025
• Platform :Theatre
• Language :Hindi
• Budget :N/A

Juganuma - The Fable, the first Indian film to be acclaimed at many film festivals and win the Best Film Award at the 38th Leeds International Film Festival, has been released in theatres.

The story of 'Jugnuma' is based on a plantation

The story is of the year 1989. Dev lives with his family in the Himalayas. He is the owner of a fruit orchard. Along with managing his business, Dev is also fond of flying. He has huge wings like an eagle, which he has made himself. To protect his orchards from insects, he asks his manager Mohan (Deepak Dobriyal) to spray pesticides. Meanwhile, one day a tree in his orchard is seen burnt. After a few days, the entire orchard catches fire. The story moves forward in the search of who is setting the fire.

The story of the film surprises in the first ten minutes, the reason for this is flying in the sky like a bird. Then some incidents happen, the mind starts thinking what will happen next, but by the end the film becomes difficult to understand.

The film was brought 10 years after winning the National Award

Director Ram Reddy, who won the National Award for his Kannada film Thithi, has come up with this film ten years later. The genre of the film is magical realism, that is, the magical world is woven into reality in such a way that the difference between the two disappears. Such films may get applause at film festivals, but it will be very difficult for the general audience to understand. Director Ram Reddy wants to say a lot through this film, perhaps like who are the residents of the mountains? What can be the result of tampering with people or the mountains themselves or nature. But many incomplete scenes, a dozen unanswered questions do not let us understand anything.

Several events, such as Dev's daughter Vanya (Hiral Sidhu) liking one of the few lamas living in the forest and sending him a piece of paper, the contents of which are not known. Why does she meditate sitting with the lama? Radha (Tillotama Shome), the wife of a labourer working in the plantation, tells fairy tales. The film really feels like a fairy tale, where anything is possible.

Manoj Bajpayee is the sparkling firefly of the film

Cinematographer Sunil Borkar's work is commendable. He has taken many long shots without any cuts, which maintain the connection with the scene. There are many scenes with fireflies in the dark, which he has filmed beautifully. He has also captured the beauty and peace of the mountains in the scenes and made them incredible. The simplicity of the people living in the mountains, slow life, watching movies with family and lying on the grass and watching the stars, all this makes one feel like being there.

Manoj has been a part of different kinds of stories. So there is no lack in his acting. Deepak Dobriyal's work in the role of estate manager is also good. When Dev fires him from his job and asks him to lock the house, the way Mohan reacts without saying anything wins hearts. Priyanka Bose looks good in the role of Dev's wife Nandini. Hiral Siddhu, Tillotama Shom work well within the limits of the script.

PC:Jagran