Jhankaar Beats was the ‘cool’ film in the early 2000s. The cool quotient may have changed but RD Burman’s effect remains the same

When Sujoy Ghosh made Jhankaar Beats in the year 2003, Indian cinema was still enamoured the Dil Chahta Hai wave wherein the stories set in metropolitan cities following the urban men and women were the new ‘in’ thing. Jhankaar Beats was the result of this wave of films where Sujoy was trying to keep the essence of the olden days alive even as he looked towards the future of cinema, and tried to merge the two with the perfect tool – music.
The early 2000s saw the remix era at its peak. Iconic songs veteran musicians like RD Burman were being repackaged on a weekly basis, and were finding acceptance with the masses. But there was a growing disdain among music aficionados as they stuck to their guns stating the difference between being inspired someone, and straight-up copying their stuff and presenting it as something ‘new’. This idea has taken a whole new meaning in 2022, but that’s a discussion for another day. With Jhankaar Beats, which also marked the first project of composer duo Vishal-Shekhar, the music was an integral element of the film. With RD Burman’s memory being an important plot point, the songs had to be top-notch. Here, Vishal-Shekhar took their inspiration from the maestro but apart from the one song that requires the bandmates to sing Pancham’s songs, they had all original tracks.

Sujoy Ghosh is now known as the director who helms thrillers with the most unexpected tws but in his early days, the director was still finding his niche. With Jhankaar Beats, which he also wrote, he made a film that had the characters struggling with day-to-day domestic and work issues, while also trying to work on a passion project. The concept is relatable in 2022 as well, even though the film feels a bit old now.
Sujoy’s characters spoke in Hindi and English with equal ease, and discussed subjects that were seen as a taboo at the time. There is an entire track in the film where the characters working at an advertising agency have to come up with a pitch for a condom brand, which might be quite alright in a film now, but was seen as ‘bold’ at the time.
Jhankaar Beats was Sujoy Ghosh’s first directorial venture.
Jhankaar Beats had Juhi Chawla as one of the key cast members, who came with her mainstream elan. But apart from her, other cast members like Sanjay Suri, Rahul Bose, and Rinke Khanna were seen as the new crop of actors who dabbled in projects outside of the mainstream. Sujoy too was a newbie at the time and in a chat with Hindustan Times in 2017, the director had shared that he did not even know that he had to say ‘cut’ at the end of a scene. “I was learning every day while shooting for the film – from camera panning to putting it on a trolley to using a lens and a lot of other things. Every day, I used to come back home and read up. I am thankful that along with all the actors, the crew was also supportive. So, I basically learnt on the job. I totally enjoyed the process and still cherish the memory of making it,” he said.
Over the years, Sujoy has made films like Kahaani, Badla and short films like Ahalya and Anukul. His next, Devotion of Suspect X, is currently in the making but in the 19 years since he began his career, he has pivoted away from the genre that Jhankaar Beats belonged to. Of course, times have changed and Sujoy has clearly found his niche but it would be interesting to watch him revisit the space again because his voice in the genre was clearly dinct.