Hindi
Joker: Half baked and farcical
Mumbai: Joker, when planned, was an ambitious venture, with a lot of special effects and 3D release plans. Somewhere along the line, all the ambitions were pushed back till the film got its unceremonious release. It is surprising that there have been no efforts to promote the film.
The makers as well as the artistes seem to have shied away from the project. After watching the film, one knows why. Joker is described by the producers as fantasy-adventure film. This is not quite an apt description. The problem is that the film fits into no genre; it is just an outcome of the maker‘s fancy. The only adventure one can think of is the very idea of making this film.
Akshay Kumar is some sort of whiz in the US. An American group has invested billions of dollars in him so he can communicate with aliens. Kumar‘s two-year term for doing this job is over and it can‘t be extended. To make matters worse, one of his detractors in the group wants to take over the control of the project. However, he is granted a single month‘s extension. But Kumar is called back to his native village on account of his father‘s (Darshan Jariwala) illness. He returns to his village, Paglapur, with Sonakshi Sinha, his ‘friend‘, in tow.
Paglapur is an orphan village in that, during partition, though it remained in India it did not fall within the boundaries of any state despite bordering three of them. The village has no representation in any government and hence no water supply nor electricity and no education. The village was once well known for its mental hospital but its inmates broke loose and burnt the whole village the very night a British surveyor was on his way to the village to decide on its fate. He had to turn back without doing his job.
Kumar‘s father was not unwell after all and this was a ploy to get him to return. But, seeing the plight of his orphan village, he decides to stay back and do something that will get his village recognition. He meets three ministers all of whom refuse to take the responsibility since the village is not within their vote bank. Helpless, Kumar decides to do something drastic to draw the media and the ministers‘ attention to his village. He fabricates a story about UFOs and aliens landing in his village. The alien, one of the villagers, is decorated with various colours, vegetables and fruits. He is also an ace runner as he would need a quick escape if followed.
The word spreads: the village is invaded by media of all hues, with the three politicians quick to follow. As if by miracle, the village gets electricity and water from all the three states around it. There is illumination all round and there is the mandatory nachna-gaana. That is what Sinha is in the cast for, besides the item girls brought in as is the norm nowadays.
But the bubble of lies and fabricated aliens has to burst. Kumar‘s American detractor can‘t digest the idea of an alien having come to Akshay‘s village. He arrives soon enough to nail the fraud. Also, the three neighbouring states may now want to own Paglapur but it seems the US is also very concerned and sends not only an armed-to-the-teeth FBI force but also tanks and helicopters to kill the aliens which it sees as a potential threat to its own safety! The fraud is exposed and the electricity and water supply vanish from the village as miraculously as they had arrived. Paglapur is orphaned again.
But to paraphrase an old belief in relation to this film: ‘Jiska koi nahi hai, uska Alien hotta hai‘, a spaceship and an alien soon descends on Paglapur. They had received Kumar‘s communication two years earlier but took that much time to verify his credentials before coming down! While departing, the alien gifts the village an oil field and everybody celebrates by showering in this gushing oil.
Joker, at best, can be described as a farce. Thus what the bunch of actors do is buffoonery; there is no scope for acting or impact. Kumar‘s fans may be disappointed since he does not have a single action scene. Sinha is just a prop. Rest of the cast is always in group and whatever they do is not acting. The film has a couple of good tunes which, alas, are not in tune with the events on screen.
Joker is a half-baked, ill-conceived film doomed to disaster.
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
