The story is set in Neemuch bylanes (a small town in Madhya Pradesh) and revolves around Meenu (Jitendra Kumar), a simpleton who aspires to be a famous magician just like his Guruji Magician Chhabra (Manoj Joshi). Things change for him when he falls head over heels in love with Dr. Disha (Arushi Sharma), who has her own troubled past. However, when Meenu meets Disha's father, he is challenged to win the football game in order to win Disha's hand in marriage. But, the odds aren't in his favour - Disha doesn't reciprocate his feelings, and his team hasn't won a game in years.
Another track follows a flawed team of players who compete in a prestigious inter-colony football tournament, including office workers, shopkeepers, teachers, and regular middle-class people. They all have one thing in common: they don't have the best skills, but play the game with all their hearts. Pradeep Narag (Jaaved Jaaferi), a former player and Meenu's Uncle, coaches them all with the goal of fulfilling his brother's one and only wish by winning the championship. But how far does he really go ? Will Pradeep be able to assemble a team capable of bringing the trophy home ? Will Meenu be able to woo his true love ? All this and more are answered in the film's nearly three-hour runtime.
The writers (Biswapati Sarkar and Sameer Saxena) manage to hold one's attention for most part of the film; however, the pace slackens in the second half and could have benefitted from a tighter edit. Also, the pre-interval run is high on energy, while the post-interval run is high on drama; a better balance could have earned the film some brownie points. The protagonist's circumstances increase the intensity, and one-liners induce humour in the first half. The majority of the second half, however, is spent on the field, where the Neemuch team competes against teams from neighbouring colonies. We don't see them practicing; instead, players and viewers are constantly reminded of how important it is to win this trophy, making it difficult for spectators to become involved in any of the games.
Jitendra Kumar is well-known in the OTT space for his role as Jeetu Bhaiya from 'Kota Factory'. Jeetu nails every mood and nuance of his character seamlessly blending into the small-town milieu. He carries the film on his shoulders confidently but lacks support from the writing department.
Jaaved Jaaferi doesn't do much of the heavy lifting: he plays his part as he is expected to. Arushi Sharma, who made her acting debut in 'Love Aaj Kal 2', portrays her role convincingly in her first OTT appearance. But, the romantic angle between her character Disha and Jitendra's character Meenu falls flat. Meenu's affection for Kulfi, on the other hand, appears to be more genuine.
The film had plenty of room for music because it fits into the romantic genre better than sports drama. The songs are not memorable, with the exception of the title track 'Jaadugiri', which is hummable and appears during the dream sequence in which Meenu first sees Disha.
Even when the film falls flat in some places, it is Jitendra who conceals it with his effortless charm and nuanced acting. It is also refreshing to see Javed, fit and fab in the 60s, acing the coach's role in Jaadugar. The frames of Soumik Mukherjee and Nilotpal Bora's music breathe life into the town of Neemuch.
At the end of Jaadugar, Meenu gets to perform the "real magic" on the football ground, as he resonates with Chhabra's golden words, which are paraphrased from Baazigar - "Asli Jaadugar Dil Behlane Wale Ko Nahi, Dil Jeetne Wale Ko Kehte Hain." Jaadugar strives arduously to win our hearts, but just that it needed a lot more jaadu and a lot less baazi.
