Jhund Trailer Talk: Amitabh Bachchan As A Soccer Coach In A Nagraj Manjule Film
"Mein sudharna chahta hoon, toh yeh log sudharna kyun nahi de rahe," a character in Jhund weeps. Jhund, which the trailer subtitles as "wild horde" follows a group of thuggish youth on the other side of the railways lines. Amitabh Bachchan's character, the real life Vijay Barse, founder of NGO Slum Soccer, believes he can redirect their anger towards football.
The film, directed by Nagraj Popatrao Manjule (Sairat, Fandry), with music by Ajay-Atul and lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, also stars Akash Thosar and Rinku Rajguru — both actors were in Sairat.
Manjule has always been a fan of Amitabh Bachchan. He had told us, "As a young boy I believed that Amitabh Bachchan was my best friend. I would imagine situations where I got in trouble and he would come to rescue me. Sort of like a genie. I can't remember when my infatuation with him began. I was perhaps 8 or 10 years old. I also can't recall what started this infatuation. My earliest memory is playing 'Sholay-Sholay' with my friends in the village. Whoever owned donkeys would sneak them out of their homes and take them to an open space to re-enact scenes from the film. The kids who owned donkeys got to play Bachchan or Dharmendra and the rest of us settled for Kaalia, Sambha and other characters. We'd ride these donkeys and fight with each other. I may not have owned a donkey, but in my head I was always Bachchan."
Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Savita Raj Hiremath, Raaj Hiremath, Nagraj Popatrao Manjule, Gargee Kulkarni, Meenu Aroraa & Sandeep Singh, under the banner of T-Series, Tandav Films Entertainment & Aatpat, the film will release in cinemas on 4th March 2022. It's a Zee Studios worldwide release.