Monday, December 17, 2007

Jab We Met - Movie Review

I had no idea of what this movie was all about, until I happened to a grab a DVD of this movie yesterday. When I saw that the lead pair was Shahid Kapoor & Kareena Kapoor, my first reaction was this was going to be the same old boy meets girl, falling in love and culminating with marriage. Yes !!! my surmises were there in the movie after all, but not in the conventional manner in which they have usually been portrayed.

The movie begins with Adithya Kashyap ( Shahid Kapoor ) being plagued with problems. Trying to step into his father’s shoes, Adithya is left in a deep crisis, as his company’s shares hit an all-time low, products failing miserably and to make matters worse, his girlfriend dumps him and gets married off to someone else. Looks like the off-screen affair between Kareena & Saif seems to have hit Shahid hard as he wonderfully portrays the expressions of a stressed person. Seeking solitude, the despondent Adithya then begins his journey to nowhere. Enter Geet ( Kareena ), a total contrast in character to that of Adithya’s. The loquacious Geet, who is on her way to her hometown Bhatinda, pesters Adithya with her non-stop talking. Kareena fits the role of a talkative Punjabi girl to a T.

Her introduction scene where she gets into a running train, panting, and says her record of never having missed trains is still intact probably epitomizes her innocence. The scene where she gets down the train to pursuade Adhi to get into the train seems absurd. But the director compensates for that in the following scene where she again misses the train as a result of haggling with a vendor.

Adhi helps Geet get back to Bhatinda and is made to feel at home by the warmth and affection shown by Geet’s people. But Geet is bent on eloping away with her boyfreind Anshuman and seeks Adhi’s help. Chaos and confusion builds up when people in the house mistake that Geet has eloped with Adhi.

Humour is a strong-point of the movie and Kareena comes out on top with her goofiness. Scenes like the one in which they rent a room in a hotel and Kareena gets mistaken for a call girl makes you laugh your heart out. Also scenes like Geet’s relatives pampering Adhi to eat, Geet’s suggestion to Adhi that he marry her sister Roop, her drama to cancel the marriage by moving closer with Adhi stand out.

Nothing special about Pritam’s music. Background music too isn’t worth mentioning. Yeh Ishq Hai rendered by Shreya Ghoshal is the pick of the album. Screenplay is a huge letdown in Jab We Met. After the interval, the pace plummets and you can easily predict what’s going to happen next. Director Imtiaz Ali could have concentrated more on the second half. The manner in which Adhi dramatically changes his attitude seems way too cinematic. A better transition could have helped the movie’s cause. Influenced by Geet’s cheerful nature, Adhi restores normalcy in his problem-ridden life by staging a remarkable turnaround in a matter of few months.

Nine months after parting with Geet, her father happens to meet Adhi & asks for her whereabouts. Adhi promises to bring her back to Bhatinda in ten days. So Adhi goes to Manali to fetch Geet back to Bhatinda. But he’s in for a shock as he finds out that Geet hasn’t been with Anshuman all these months. Adhi eventually finds a grief-struck and gaunt looking Geet compouded with misery.

If it was Kareena who hogged the limelight in the first half, it’s Shahid’s turn in the second half. Shahid emotes excellently and overshadows Kareena in each frame, especially the scene in which he says to Kareena that she have her first affair with him after her marriage. Adhi reciprocates in the same the manner in which Geet helped him to regain lost confidence. Just when Adhi is about to join hands with Geet, Anshuman enters into the fray and all three make their way to Bhatinda for a wonderful and hilarious climax.

Many illogical scenes, dull music and faltering screenplay mar the beauty of the movie, which still comes out on top due to the chemistry of the lead pair. As far as Jab We Met is concerned, it’s the Shahid-Kareena show all the way !!!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Good review man :-) ..true its for the lead pair only i watched the movie too but hey the songs r not that pathetic..i really liked 'tum se hi' n 'maujha' songs..neways lookin fwd to next one :-)

Srividya Jayaraman said...

Hey Bram..good review..sums up the essence of the movie.The characters were clearly etched out and that was the highlight..All in all,paisa vasool!!

Unknown said...

dude,u ve become a dab hand at reviews man..proud, proud, very very proud of you...But I must say,the movie was hilarious..Man, just got to spend a semester next to you...Anyway, good work buddy.

navina said...

hey.. nice review and all.. but dont give away the whole story!! im not happy to hear your version of "dull music" in the movie.. I think the songs rocked :) anyways, keep blogging..

R..Bala said...

Nice review da....Had to refer dictionary.com for some meanings.Padam paatha maadhiri irruku....Keep going da

sCRAPpy said...

nice one. but i'd rather suggest you review more tamil (sane) or english (saner) movies

Anonymous said...

Either you have a lot of time on ur hands, lets call it "vetti", or u are thinking of this (reviewing movies) as a career. Which one is it ?