Jubilee Review: The new Amazon Prime Video Hindi web series stars Prosenjit Chatterjee as Srikant Roy, Aditi Rao Hydari as Sumitra Kumari, Aparshakti Khurana as Binod Das, Sidhant Gupta as Jay Khanna, Shweta Basu Prasad as Ratna Das, Ram Kapoor as Shamsher Singh Walia, Wamiqa Gabbi as Niloufer Qureshi, Nandish Singh Sandhu as Jamshed Khan and Sukhame Lamb as Kiran Singh Sethi. The series was created and directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.
The music is by Amit Trivedi. Currently, Prime Video has dropped 5 episodes. Every episode is of an hour each.
Jubilee Review Contains No Spoilers
Prime Video Series Jubilee is set in the 1940s, after India’s independence. People are still getting used to the independent nation and trying to save themselves from the riots and violence. The series focuses on Bombay’s film industry and big studios trying to mark their powerful presence. Among the biggies is Roy Talkies, owned by Srikant Roy. Srikant is looking for that one star who will be his superstar, called Madan Kumar.
It’s the dream of every person to be a superstar, especially Madan Kumar, who is loved and hailed by everyone. The series focuses on the big dreams of people from every background and what it takes to be in the limelight. There’s drama, controversies, affairs, revenge and the game of power.
We have seen various movies about the Hindi film industry. We have a fun, fantasy revenge drama like Om Shanti Om and a hard-hitting, intense movie like Luck By Chance. Both these movies have shown us how the film industry works, how some stars unexpectedly become superstars and the cost of such stardom. Director Vikramaditya Motwane has presented the story of cinema in its rawest and most real form with Jubilee, set in the 1940s.
From the get-go, you are invested in what’s happening, the gravity of the narration, and the passion these characters have for their dreams and desires. The director didn’t shy away from showing how overnight stars are not always created by sheer luck. Sometimes, one has to pay a big moral price to get what they want. Seeing all this play out through the characters of Binod, Srikant, Niloufer, and Jay is intriguing.
The setting of old Bombay, the dialogues, and the characters’ appearances take us back in time. Along with the gripping and solid story, the music by Amit Trivedi also tells a story of its own. You can’t get enough of Sunidhi Chauhan’s voice in Babuji Bhole Bhaale.
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Jubilee’s only drawback is that we don’t get to watch all the episodes together. The fifth episode packs in a great amount of tension. Waiting another week to know what happens is infuriating. I am not a fan of episodic releases, especially on OTT platforms. The build-up has been excellent, so one would want to know what happens next.
The series might be set in an era long gone, but the conversations about art are relevant. While narrating the cinema’s rich past, Motwane also depicts the repeated attempts made to impose control on the filmmakers/film industry. The governing bodies often blame cinema and songs as a ‘bad influence’ if something goes wrong in society.
Coming to performances, Aparshakti Khurana is the real star of Jubilee. After being underutilised in movies, the actor has finally played a character that helped him showcase his remarkable acting skills. When his character Binod enacts a filmy scene, he’s so convincing that you think he’s really saying those threatening dialogues. Prosenjit Chatterjee as Srikant Roy and Sidhant Gupta as Jay Khanna are other impactful performances to look forward to.
Wamiqa Gabbi is also quite impressive as Niloufer. Aditi Rao Hydari doesn’t get to do much as Sumitra Kumari. I hope her character has a better arc in the remaining episodes.
Jubilee Episodes 1-5 Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, Jubilee on Prime Video is an ode to cinema while also determining the controversial side of the business. Behind all the glitz and glamour, there are dreams and also conspiracies. It’s a captivating series on the world of lights, cameras and behind-the-scenes drama.
The first five episodes are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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