Review 2: Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na
Movie
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na
Director
Abbas Tyrewala
Music
A R Rahman
Cast
Imran Khan, Genelia Dsouza, Ratna Pathak, Manjari Phadnis
Sonia Chopra
Sitting
in a theatre full of mirthful, drunk-on-themselves teens, laughing at
every joke and enjoying every minute of the movie, I did not like the
rising feeling inside me... that I wasn’t liking Jaane Tu as
much as I had expected to. And I wasn’t liking it that I wasn’t liking
it. Post-show, the street was filled with laughing young people teasing
each other with names of characters from the movie. The shows
everywhere were houseful. And yet I couldn’t suppress a feeling of
disappointment.
This is Abbas Tyrewala’s directorial venture (he has written screenplays for
films like Maqbool, Main Hoon Na and dialogue for Munnabhai MBBS and Salaam
Namaste),
but the film has the touch of Mansoor Khan all over. Aamir Khan had
requested Khan to come out of his hibernation especially for the film.
(Khan had launched Aamir in the 1988 film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and then made
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander,
a film that I adored when I was younger, but can see through now.) The
director specialises in making films about absolutely done-to-death
stories, but adds touches of genuine humour and some likeable
characters to make an inevitable winner. Young people belonging to the
age-group these films target love seeing an exaggerate version of
themselves on screen (who doesn’t)—living the life, full of friends,
fun, laughter and love.
Special: Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na | Preview of Jaane Tu ...Ya Jaane Na
Here, too, there is the adorable gang of friends: the main
characters Jay and Aditi who are best friends, an unlikely lovey-dovey
couple—a guy who’s always complaining and an air-headed girl—the quiet
observer who always know what’s going on with the rest and a Gujarati
buddy-type whose accent the film makes fun of. When inseparable duo
Aditi and Jay find lovers, they both are confused with feelings of
jealously that keep cropping up.
While Jay goes against his usually calm and non-violent
demeanour to bash up a guy who hurts Aditi, she on the other hand, is
ready to leave for America for a three-year filmmaking course. What
next? Sudden realisation and the clichéd airport scene where she chucks
her plan to stay back and get married to him. So what’s the problem?
These are 20-21 year old kids talking about marriage as if it
were the only defining thing in their lives! You’ll agree that this age
group is anything but—they seem more career-focused than ever, without
turning cynical of love, and marriage, though important, is not the
be-all-and-end-all in their lives. Here, Aditi gets engaged to the
first guy her parents introduce her to, and when she realises her
feeling for Jay, marries him instead (reminds you of the Preity
Zinta-Amir Khan-Ayub Khan angle in Dil Chahta Hai).
Jay, by the way, doesn’t have a job and no concrete career plans
as of now. As for Aditi, she’s chucked her dream of a becoming a
filmmaker for marriage (is it impossible in this day and age to pursue
a career aspiration and still be in love?). They both return from
honeymoon, obviously on their parent’s money, and are ready to start a
life with zero source of income. Get real! Kids today are far more
pragmatic. And this isn’t an accurate or a flattering representation of
this generation.
Then there’s the central theme of love and friendship that’s been thrashed in a
hundred movies—think Maine Pyar Kiya, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Ishq Vishk, Main Hoon
Na, Dil Chahta Hai and the like.
It is therefore Tyrewala’s skill that we are still pulled into
the film and cannot help but listen to the characters. He does that
through humour—a big plus in the film. For the laughs we have Jay’s
deceased father (Naseeruddin Shah, having a blast) talking to his
mother from his photo hoping Jay becomes a Rathore (the aggressive kind
who must ride a horse, go to jail and bash up people to honour their
lineage); the home video of the friends pulling each others’ legs and
making funny faces into the camera; the friend, heartbroken in love,
who goes to a bartender and demands a “Coca Cola on the rocks”.
The second element that works for the film is the introduction
of very real sub-characters that add depth—like Jay’s mother (Ratna
Pathak Shah) who’s such a heavy relief from the clingy Bollywood moms.
She reads Naomi Woolfe, takes turns to make breakfast with her son, is
a friend to him, and wants to raise him to be a sensitive soul. Even
the character of Aditi’s reclusive brother (Prateik Babbar, Smita
Patil’s son) is an interesting touch.
Technically, the film is superb. The songs are breezy and
hummable. Only complaint is lax editing that could have trimmed the
repetitive jokes and extraneous dialogue.
The casting is important. Imran Khan makes his debut playing a
character that fits him perfectly. He has a relaxed, laid-back air
about him, a nice departure from the rippling muscles that pass off as
college kids in our films. Genelia is pleasant and does her routine
sprightly act that she did in Mere Baap Pehle Aap. Ratna Pathak Shah is
wonderful as the hyperactive, modern mother.
I am sure the film will go on to do well. In a sea of big-budget
disasters over the last few months, this relatively simpler film is far
more palatable. One can’t explain the buzz that some films have—where
the audience pre-decides to like a film no matter what. Jaane Tu… is one of
them. Go for it with your gang of friends for a few laughs,
but just don’t expect anything you haven’t seen a hundred times
already.
Rating: 21/2 stars
