Jugaadistan review: Engrossing campus drama that delves into politics, fraud and cover-ups

The vibrant Delhi-based City University (CU) where academics, cultural activities and student life brim with vigour is the setting of the Lionsgate Play series Jugaadistan (2022). A wide cross-section of students inhabits the campus, including the typical high-scoring medical student Ruhi (Rukshar Dhillon), whose life does a whole 180 degrees after connecting with the ne'er-do-well Lucky (Taaruk Raina) and student journalist Ayesha Rehman (Ahsaas Channa), who is on the lookout for an earth-shattering scoop.

We also meet Ayesha’s friend Kenny (Lukram Smil), an athletic student who gets sucked into campus politics in order to combat racism against Northeasterners. Sumeet Vyas plays Gaurav Bhati of the Krantikari Yuva Union, who is running for student body president, against the idealistic Gagan Kishore (Danish Sood) of the United Students Federation.

Bhati is a crowd-pleaser who gets the superficial job done, but Gagan aims to bring change for the betterment of all students. The presidential candidate Bhati also goes up against rich fashionista Aparna (Kavya Trehan), who throws her weight (and social media influence) behind Gagan as retaliation.

Then there's the underlying mystery of the death of a student, Priyanka, which is linked to a nexus involved in an exam racket, led by Nadeem Dalvi (Gopal Datt). He recruits students like Lucky who inducts Ruhi into a team of students who take entrance tests on behalf of other students. But where there’s one scam, there’s bound to be another.

The intrepid Ayesha notices a few irregularities with regard to funds set aside for student services, especially in the library’s acquisition of books, which directs her attention to Bhati and the university’s paperwork. She aims to work with Modern Times news editor Tarush Khetrapal (Arjun Mathur), who himself is investigating the exam scam after a junior who was working on the story, ended up getting poisoned.

Jugaadistan, written by Tarun Dudeja, Parijat Joshi, Anant Tripathy and Unaiza Merchant, dips into many topics and issues. Some are contained, some are not possible to, largely due to the numerous characters it has to service throughout. The eight-episode series, created by Divya Rao, finds some characters unearthing important information, only to follow through after one or two episodes, stifling the impact of said revelation.

But co-directors Akarsh Khurana and Adhaar Khurana manipulate the chaos capably as they flesh out the key players. As the narrative sticks with Ruhi and her connections with Lucky and best friend Aarti (Himika Bose), with her professor Bijoy Das (Parambrata Chatterjee) at the cusp of discovering her secret, the series has an anchor.

The addition of Gagan, Aparna, Kenny, and even a hustler like Nishant (Priyank Tiwari), who lends out his hostel room to anyone for a fee, does complicate the show, but fits into the show’s universe and justifies the title well.

Jugaadistan also portrays a robust, believable college environment, where a lot of activities, from street plays, college fests and polls take place over time. Apart from its catchy title song by Indian Ocean, the show also features some good songs that capture the vibe.

With plenty of references to it being set in 2018, Jugaadistan feels a tad bit dated in the technology front, and with the pandemic these past two years, the college scene now looks and feels a lot more different.

From the ensemble cast, Dhillon and Raina stand out, while the adults Chatterjee, Mathur lend able support. Vyas and Datt chiefly contribute to the comedy quotient of the show with their antics. Smil and Bose, in smaller arcs, also show promise. Tanvi Azmi as the vice-chancellor and Akash Khurana as lawyer Dharmesh Mistry, who aids Bijoy, are memorable though their roles are small.

But at the end of the day, only the tip of the iceberg is brought to light when it comes to the actual fraud, related scams and various cover-ups. Will the real culprits ever get nabbed? A potential second season could hold the answers.

Jugaadistan is being streamed on Lionsgate Play.