It has been 22 years since “Jhankaar Beats” came as a breath of fresh air with its unique music and infinite charm.
Sujoy Ghosh made his directorial debut with “Jhankaar Beats”, which paid a huge tribute to music legend R.D. Burman, as all the leading actors of the film were aspiring musicians.
Rongita Nandy from Pritish Nandy Communications talked about how the movie was ahead of its time. She shared, “22 years of Jhankaar! Which means 25 years since the day we decided to make the film! And we made an unforgettable film—how many people can say that?! I remember it was one of the first scripts we chose to produce on listing and going public. Rajeev Masand, then with the Bombay Times, said he had a friend with a mad script. Because we loved Masand, Ba and I met Sujoy and realised he was the OG mad man. We had to do this and become B-town’s Madhatter Party! Then came on Vishal and Shekhar and our party had music.”
Revealing how they brought the cast of the film on board, Nandy added, “Every actor in the industry said no to us except Archana Puran Singh! So Sujoy and I put together the only motley crew of actors who barely agreed to work with us: Juhi, Sanjay, Rahul, Rinke, Riya, and Shayan. And Jhankaar Beats was born, with R D Burman playing his mouth organ loud. This was a film birthed in the innocence of youth and friendship, and every frame celebrated that—maybe that’s why it connected with everybody who watched it and still lives on in people’s hearts.”
Disclosing if a ‘Jhankaar Beats’ sequel is in the works, she said, “Very often Ba, Sujoy, and I have toyed with doing a sequel—but we are neither that young nor that innocent—we’d cock it up for sure! There is and can only be one Jhankaar Beats and it takes a brave audience to love and remember it—so thank you—everybody who watched, everybody who loved, and everybody who remembers!”
With Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Suri, Rahul Bose, Rinke Khanna, Riya Sen, and debutant Shayan Munshi in significant roles, “Jhankaar Beats” released on 20 June 2003.
