Jamun: Valuable life lessons from Raghuvir Yadav and Shweta Basu Prasad’s Eros Now film

Films, while entertaining their audience, can also share some valuable life advice with its effective storytelling. One such film is the 2021 release Jamun. Written and directed by Gaurav Mehra, the Eros Now film stars Raghuvir Yadav, Shweta Basu Prasad, Sunny Hinduja, Saurabh Goyal, among others. The film narrates a simple story of a father and a daughter from a lower-middle-class family. Their lives take an ugly turn when their son dies and the father is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, while the daughter is also trying to cope with Esotropia, an eye condition. It may seem like the makers have added too many tragic events into their story, just to break the emotional barriers of the audience, but they have succeeded in doing that. The slice-of-life film is not all about tragedy, but also some valuable life lessons that it tries to put forth subtly.  

Here are some key life lessons from Jamun:  

Desperate times call for desperate measures

The film shows how a family is so desperate for money that the son Amar (Sunny Hinduja) is forced to sell his kidney. However, he falls victim to the organ transplant racket and succumbs to injuries during the surgery.

Looks do not matter

The female lead Shweta Basu Prasad plays the role of Chetna, daughter of Jamun Prasad. She suffers from Esotropia, a condition due to imbalance in eye muscles leading to de-alignment in the eyes. Seeing her father upset over marriage proposals getting cancelled, she tries to go on dates and woo the guy living next door, but all in vain. She gives up and is surprised when her father’s doctor Dr Kewal (Saurabh Goyal) asks her out. She tells him that she has been getting marriage proposals, but they don’t work out because of her eye condition. He giggles and asks: “Just because of this issue?”

Depression affects elderly too

After being confined in the house, unable to walk properly, Jamun starts having suicidal thoughts especially when he sees one of his old neighbours dead. He also starts seeing flashes of his dead son. The film beautifully showcases how he spends the night in darkness and fear, but the next day, wakes up with a smile, gets dressed to step out to get some fresh air and bask in the sunlight, trembling all the while. His daughter and beau help him go out and enjoy some sunlight. The film ends with him looking up at the sky and smiling, which in turn brings a smile to the duo’s faces too – something that seemed to have been missing ever since Jamun was diagnosed with the deadly disease.

Patience is key

Taking care of an old parent with any health issues can be difficult, especially Parkinson's disease as it affects bodily movements of the patient. It not only affects the mental health of the patient but also the entire family. But Chetna is shown to deal with the sudden news of her father's illness and the events that follow, extremely patiently. She stays calm throughout even when the help she hires walks out, unable to take care of her father.

A daughter can take care of her parents too

The film rightly also questions the general notion of Indian society that girls should get married at the right age and leave their maternal home. When a family refuses to accept Chetna, her father gets upset. Chetna tries to console him and they argue. Chetna asks if it is mentioned in the Constitution of India that a girl should get married and rid of her responsibility towards her parents, to which Jamun responds, it is so according to the Constitution set by society.