Jubilee: A star is made, a star is dead

In the world of the silver screen, the culture of having stars was probably born with the media itself, although there is a saying that stars are not born, they are made. And this new series of Amazon Prime, Jubilee, is all about the making of stars in the cinema industry. 

Jubilee is set in Bombay during the late 1940s, and the story travels till the mid-1950s—the golden era of Indian cinema when the concept of stars had just started its journey. 

The story starts with the owner of Roy Talkies, the most significant film studio of Bollywood at that time, Srikant Roy, and his assistant Binod Das. Like a typical Bengali then, art was in the veins of Srikant Roy, and unlike a typical Bengali, business was in his arteries. 

He was on his way to making a star with the name Madan Kumar, and his primary choice as Madan Kumar was Jamshed Khan, who, being a Muslim, could not be allowed to use his Muslim identity in that era of partitions. 

"A 'Khan' cannot be a star!"

However, after Srikant Roy receives the news that his wife is in an affair with Jamshed Khan, he sends Binod Das to Lucknow to fetch both of them. Now, Binod, at one point, engages in a fight with Jamshed Khan and leaves him in a riot to see him die. 

Now, was Binod the only one to just watch Jamshed die? No, another person was there, Jay Khanna, Jamshed's friend, son of the owner of Khanna Theatre in Karachi. Jay came to Lucknow to fetch Jamshed to Karachi, and Jamshed was also willing to accept his proposal rather than being an artificial Madan Kumar of Roy Talkies. This decision was the reason for the fight between Binod and Jamshed. 

Destiny had one more puppet there in Lucknow—Niloufer, a so-called high-class escort, who was another appreciator of Jamshed Khan. 

Binod Das, after the murder of Jamshed Khan, returns to Bombay, impresses Srikant Roy with his acting skills, and tackles so many opposite streams, becomes the new Madan Kumar, a newborn star.

Jay Khanna, after the partition, comes from Karachi to Bombay as a refugee, uses his theatre skills, and as his wheel of destiny runs, becomes a famous actor-director gradually with his path-breaking films. 

Niloufer also, after coming to Bombay, develops a relationship with a famous film financier of that time, Mr Waliya, and at one point, acts as the heroine of both Madan Kumar and Jay Khanna, thus becoming a famous actress. 

The series is based on the duel of Madan Kumar and Jay Khanna regarding their stardom. Srikant Roy wanted to make his business larger than ever, so he thought of creating a hero, a star. Madan Kumar was nothing but a toy of Roy Talkies. 

"I have made you a star. Stay that. Don't try to become an actor".

Madan Kumar lived as a star as long as Srikant Roy wanted him to be. On the other hand, though Jay Khanna became famous, could he be a star? 

Maybe yes, maybe no. He took a place in the lower class' heart through his Russie propagandist films but could never surpass the craze of Madan Kumar. The same thing goes for Niloufer. 

Making a star needs a mastermind behind it. Srikant Roy was this mastermind. And, not having such a person behind may lead to success but not to stardom. And after Srikant Roy committed suicide, Madan Kumar also faded away after engaging in many scandals. Because he had lost his creator already, the man who 'made' him a star. So, the star was dead with the creator. 

Vikramaditya Motwane has already been tested to be one of the finest directors of Bollywood now. This content from him did not break his expectation. 

To talk about the actors, Prosenjit Chatterjee, the finely ageing wine, has delivered a tremendous performance in the series as Srikant Roy. Aparshakti Khurrana as Binod Das was also fantastic, as was Sidhant Gupta as Jay Khanna. They changed their shades of character in such a way that, while watching the last episode, these two characters from the first episode will almost feel like being from another life. 

Wamiqa Gabbi as Niloufer was heavenly appealing, and Aditi Rao Hydari nailed the character of lady superstar Sumitra Kumari. 

The colour grading, set design and cinematography were pitch-perfect. The creators could efficiently bring back the time of partition on the screen, making it another asset for the subcontinent's OTT contents.

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