Will ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ Help Revive Yash Raj Films’ Dominance in Bollywood?

Will 'Jayeshbhai Jordaar' save YRF not just in terms of box office, but also content?

Jayeshbhai Jordaar, directed by Divyang Thakkar, is set in a conservative Gujarati village and covers the story of female foeticide. The film shows how a husband, frustrated with the practice, goes through extraordinary lengths to make sure his wife doesn’t have to abort a girl child ever again.

Starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Ranveer Singh, Boman Irani, and Shalini Pandey, Jayeshbhai Jordaar deals with themes such as sexism, domestic violence, and toxic masculinity. The film tries its best to approach these issues with sensitivity and in classic Bollywood style, does this with a smidge of humour. While the film might not be perfect, it is refreshingly wholesome and thoughtful, and certainly a great change from other recent Yash Raj films such as Bunty Aur Babli 2, War, Tiger Zinda Hai, and Befikre.

Has Yash Raj Films Hit Reset with 'Jayeshbhai Jordaar'?

Watching Jayeshbhai Jordaar reminded me of Yash Raj’s era of movies such as Rocket Singh, Band Baaja Baaraat, New York, and Chak De! India. These movies came with unique storylines and fresh talent and didn’t stick to just romance. But even with its romance films, Yash Raj succeeded in delivering stories like Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Salaam Namaste, and Ishaqzaade that strayed away from the usual clichéd plots of romance and tried to experiment within this over-done genre.

None of the above films were perfect, but the fact that they tried to experiment and write stories that didn’t just involve a male actor with a saviour complex swopping in and becoming a self-proclaimed hero is still commendable. It’s the bare minimum, but no other production house the size of Yash Raj makes the effort.

Red Chillies Productions tries with films like Dear Zindagi, but it’s quickly overshadowed by the gnawing presence of films like Jab Harry Met Sejal, Dilwale, and Happy New Year under the same banner. Dharma Productions doesn't even make the cut.

Yash Raj Films, from my perspective, was always famous for picking unique stories, even if they weren't bound to do well at the box office. So there's probably an explanation for why they moved to masala films in the first place, and the box office might have a huge part to play.

Sometimes, Content Isn't Even in The Court

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘Content is King,’ but this doesn’t always bode true for the Indian film industry. Factors such as star value, release dates, and popularity often trump content when it comes to determining the reasons for the success or failure of a film.

It is by no means necessary that a film will do well based solely on a good storyline. Otherwise, Rocket Singh wouldn't have made just 20.3 crores. And if content was the only thing that mattered, Tiger Zinda Hai also wouldn’t have made a whopping 332 crores.

It is clear why the big banners then choose to do safer masala films that seem to appeal more to the audience, even at the cost of compromising the story.

While the box office numbers for Jayeshbhai Jordaar won’t be out for a while, it is important to consider that the film was released just a while after theatres started opening up post-COVID-19, another challenge before production houses.

How Has Jayeshbhai Jordaar's Promotion Fared?

Apart from sending out some goodies to celebrities like Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif and the usual promotions and interviews, there isn’t a particularly unique strategy that the film has adopted.

Despite this, if the film fares well at the Box Office, it could mean a revival of sorts for Yash Raj, who along with other Hindi production houses is fighting hard to survive against the growing dominance of south Indian and other non-Hindi language films, not just in terms of collection, but also overall buzz.