Ranveer Singh’s Jayeshbhai Jordaar declared DOA, all eyes on Kartik Aaryan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

Ranveer Singh has delivered a dud. His new film Jayeshbhai Jordaar opened to near-empty theatres all across the country, even in the state of Gujarat where ideally it ought to have worked wonders, as the film is set in Gujarat and Ranveer Singh plays a Gujarati simpleton. This is his second Gujarati character after Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s hit Goliyon Ki Raasleela... RamLeela.

Over the weekend, the collections showed no remarkable signs of improvement and it is crystal clear that Jayeshbhai Jordaar is going to be a big loss-making venture for Yash Raj Films, their second disaster in a row after Bunty Aur Babli 2.

Playing a father of a young daughter who flees from his native village with his family after his unborn child, another daughter, is threatened with extinction, Ranveer does the Gujju act with his habitual adrenaline-pumping gusto, thick Gujarati accent and all.

He should have known accents don’t work in Hindi cinema unless it is a realistic non-mainstream film like Vijaya Mehta’s Pestonjee where Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi were spot-on with their Parsi accents. In mainstream Hindi cinema, more often than not, accents have proven disastrous.

Trade insiders are already dubbing Jayeshbhai Jordaar the biggest flop of Ranveer Singh’s career and one of Yash Raj’s most calamitous non-starters, on a par with the banner’s Qaidi Band and Meri Pyaari Bindu. This is Yash Raj’s fourth under-performer with Ranveer Singh in the lead—after Ladies Versus Ricky Bahl, Kill Dil and Befikre –and the worst of the queerly compromised quartet.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra describes Jayeshbhai Jordaar as a disaster. “It doesn’t connect with the audience. It is neither a comedy nor serious cinema.”

Apparently, producers Yash Raj Films were offered a huge amount of money by an OTT platform for Jayeshbhai Jordaar. But Aditya Chopra refused as he wanted the film to be released on the big screen.

Says producer and trade analyst Girish Johar, “Somehow I feel that after the trailer launch things went downhill for the film. The traction was not up to the mark and many thought that they may pick up after the Doctor Strange release. But that enthusiasm was missing. Now with this below-par opening, some analysts feel that the makers were probably not too confident of the film.”

Johar points out that Jayeshbhai Jordaar is the second disaster in a row for Yash Raj Films. “This happened with Bunty Aur Babli 2 as well. So just joining the dots again. Also, Ranveer Singh is a huge mega-successful star, so nothing will alter that but team YRF has to pull up their socks. They are the premium production house of the country and anything sub-standard from them is simply not acceptable. They are always looked up to for their premium content, hope that they learn from this one.”

With the successive failure of big films with A-list actors in the lead, like Shahid Kapoor’s Jersey, Tiger Shroff’s Heropanti 2 and Akshay Kumar’s Bachchhan Paandey, all eyes are on Kartik Aaryan's Bhool Bhulaiya 2 which opens next Friday.

Preview audiences who have seen the film say Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is a sure-shot hit which will rescue the Hindi film industry from the doldrums.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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