Jubilee

The lavishly produced series is seething with remarkable period detail (the production design is by Aparna Sud and Mukund Gupta and the visual effects are by Arpan Gaglani). Featuring a retro soundtrack by Amit Trivedi with philosophical lyrics by Kausar Munir, and filmed as grandly as a movie, Jubilee puts on an excellent show at all times. Clever flourishes in a formulaic price-of-fame saga survive the contrived gravitas and determined joylessness. Just as freedom from colonial rule loses some of its sheen because of Partition violence, so also are the efforts of filmmakers to expand their footprint marred by dubious morals, Jubilee suggests. The past does not appear to be different from the present, with surveillance, attempts to push propaganda through cinema, anti-Muslim sentiment and media censorship already in place.

For 10 episodes of considerable length, Jubilee circles these characters and their shifting fortunes at or beyond Roy Talkies. It gets exhausting; the characters, though well-written and performed, lack the snap and bite of a truly gripping ensemble. More involving, then, is the finer detailing around the edges of the story. Musical sequences, we learn, were recorded live in the old days, resulting in their stagey look and feel (Srikant ventures a solution by introducing lip-syncing). One of the tracks concerns a power struggle between Russian and American agents trying to push their propagandas onto Indian film. There are other foreigners still; a German filmmaker working at Roy Talkies is clearly modeled on Franz Osten, the Bavarian director of films like Achhut Kannya and JeevanNaiya.

Go for Jubilee if you’re a true-blue cinema lover. While it may not leave you in complete awe, it will nudge you to rejoice and indulge in the good old Bollywood charm, that has brightened up our gloomy days and inspired us to dream big. Besides, we don’t mind a little bit of a scandal here and there, do we?

Motwane is a man of patience and good virtue when it comes to storytelling. If you have seen his underrated Udaan or now labelled as a cult classic - Lootera, you can tell that the man loves to build up scenes. In Jubilee, the juice is not so much in the destination, but the journey. You need to sit tight in the first three episodes and educate yourself about the many characters and their sinister nature before calling it a day. Jubilee is technically one of the best shows to have come out in recent times. Everything from the art direction to set design to the clothes and even the dialogues is a cohesive amalgamation of elements that transport you to the era.