Jugnuma (The Fable)

All it took for Raam Reddy was one film and a non-professional cast to get noticed by film pundits globally. Century Gowda, in his stunning debut Thith,i remains an unforgettable figure in modern Indian cinema. Nearly a decade later, Reddy is back with his second feature. It’s called Jugnuma (The Fable in English). Far more refined in scale and featuring some of the country’s finest actors, the film is nothing like the filmmaker’s maiden outing. If Thithi’s rural Karnataka setting felt as if it were made by someone who grew up in those surroundings, Jugnuma radiates an anecdotal quality. Set in the Himalayan foothills, Reddy’s new film takes us to 1989 amid apple orchards, wildfires, an Indigenous community, and a blue-collar clan in awe of their employer. Jugnuma opens with a man named Dev (Manoj Bajpayee) brushing his teeth in the morning. He interacts with his family (in English) and the staff (in Hindi). Within minutes, he heads straight to the outhouse, straps on a pair of wings, and leaps off – inviting no adverse reactions from anyone. So, if normal mortals take a morning stroll, Dev takes off to fly in the open sky.