Jhankaar Beats is a film about six individuals.

Deep and Rishi work together in an advertising agency by the day. And the night is when they don their musical instruments and play in a club at the end of the street. Together their life’s sole ambition is to win ‘Jhankaar Beats’. A prestigious, inter-state music competition that they have, for the past two years lost.

Deep is happily married to Shanti. Shanti is at the time of our film, 7 months pregnant. Life has never been this happy for Deep and Shanti. Except that there is one hitch. Deep’s mother-in-law. And what’s even worse is that she’s coming down to live with them to take care of Shanti during her pregnancy.

Rishi, the quintessential brat, on the other hand is in the midst of a bitter divorce with Nicki, his wife of 3 years. And right in the middle of Rishi’s nasty divorce and Deep’s nightmare with his ma-in-law, comes into their lives, a young man. Neel. Neel’s biggest problem is that he is in love with a young girl called Priti. And yet, he can’t tell her about his love.

All in all, Jhankaar Beats is a feel good film about three men and their lives. It’s about their women, their inspirations, their music, their ambitions and above all, their triumphs over the small hurdles that we call life.

As we all go through our daily routine of what we commonly term as LIFE, there hides a generous slice of humor, which we more than often tend to ignore, oversee or frankly never have the time to even notice. Jhankaar Beats is my attempt of telling my story of that humor and essentially looking at the lighter side of life.

Jhankaar was written looking at people around me faced with normal challenges in life, trying desperately to balance their personal and professional lives, coping with failures and aiming for success. It is the story of three couples, each in a different stage of their personal relationship. One happily married, one going through a bitter divorce and one trying desperately to decide whether or not to fall in love.

Told in a simple linear manner the narrative of Jhankaar is inspired by life, taking one scene at a time. Thus the graph of Jhankaar is quite erratic which is very evident in its style of sound, editing and cinematography. There are no straight lines in Jhankaar! Jhankaar works on various levels. In one hand it is pure entertainment cinema, on the other there is a social message hidden trying to tackle the rising population problem of India.

In one hand it is a musical movie on the other it is a social drama. In one hand it is a comedy on the other it brings out the darkest emotions of our lives. Set entirely in the city of Mumbai it is about hope and most importantly, as we all eventually learn, about prioritizing issues. How three protagonists, bonded by music and with one common dream of winning have to finally decide whether winning is everything in life?

This is my first attempt at story telling which I have taught myself from watching the masters both in India and internationally and not to forget from the bedrooms of my story addicted children. I have only replicated life on screen and this is my homage to all my fellow warriors facing this battle of life with a smile on their face.

Sujoy Ghosh

There is one word that best describes Jhankaar Beats. Cool.

It is cool for many reasons. But the most obvious is that it does not posture, does not judge, does not want to teach you anything. It captures moments. It shows you how magical it is to be young and spirited. It tells you a few things about love, music, and true to life relationships.

Between Sujoy, the director of the film, and Rangita, its producer, we have a team here that has caught the eclectic spirit of today’s generation. The music by Vishal and Shekhar tracks this spirit and brings you a music score that is truly enchanting. A score that will stay with you for a long, long time.

The tiny ambitions that seize our lives and become matters of intense passion. The true nature of our bondings– friendship, love, marriage– and the hope that binds them all together. The search for self actualization, the need for reaching out to others, the mazaa and the masti of life blend together to make Jhankaar Beats a truly memorable film.

If you enjoy life, you will enjoy Jhankaar Beats. That’s a promise.

Pritish Nandy