This farce is likeable. Review on Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

In spite of its formulaic structure, 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'  manages to be rather refreshing in parts. The idiocy, in this burlesque of a movie, is unabashedly loony and sincerely affected. It is quite different, in that it is neither a slapstick comedy gone amuck, nor a melodramatic story gone awry.

The musical succeeds with its sincerity of purpose as a mild entertainer, with characters that are truly wacky and a script that is fittingly zany. And, what is more, the whole package is light and crisp.

The sham starts with two strangers, Rikki Thukral and Alvira Khan, running into each other at Waterloo station in London, while waiting to receive people arriving on a delayed train. Both are technically Brits. But Rikki, who lives in Southhall, is still more of a rustic Punjabi boy from Bhatinda, whereas Alvira, a girl of Pakistani origin, is now more of a suave Londoner. Not surprisingly, Alvira develops an instant dislike for Rikki. To ward him off from hitting on her, she puts on an act as being already engaged. Not to be outdone, Rikki responds back with his own tall tales of betrothed bliss.

The above exchange is used effectively as the excuse for a bunch of songs to be strung together. Director Shaad Ali and his crew don’t strain themselves to unnecessarily stretch the plot beyond just that, and focus their energies on keeping matters plain and entertaining with fun-filled situations around it. The resulting buffoonery is well-acted and is substantially complemented with smart dialog(Habeeb Faizal), lilting music(Shankar-Eshaan-Loy), rich lyrics(Gulzar), great choreography(Vaibhavi Merchant), and high production values.

Abhishek Bachchan surprisingly shines in his portrayal of the self-deprecating character of Rikki. With his sincerity and restraint, he actually makes a case to be taken seriously. Priety Zinta excels as Alvira with ease and grace. She looks utterly natural, especially when she is uttering such lines as 'kuch naam vaam bhi hai, yah hamesha fiancé, fiancé kar ke bulateh ho'. Lara Dutta, as Rikki’s Anida(an anagram for Princess Diana) and as Laila, demonstrates a flair of confidence as she effortlessly goes around strutting and smiling her way through every situation. Sunny Doel, as Satvinder Singh, and as Alvira’s Steve Singh(pronounced as Sa-teev Singh) adds value with his temperate performance, in a limited role. Piyush Mishra, who by the way bears an uncanny resemblance to Sunil Gavaskar, as Rikki’s friend, Huffy Bhai, is quite funny too.

Art direction goes a bit over board with the rather gaudy and messy tog out given to senior Mr. Bachchan for his role of a street singer. Far from a drone, his character looks more like a pompous billionaire with a horrible taste. Quite unfortunate, but that's exactly how he looks, with his designer clothes for rags, a grotesque facial make up, and a double neck guitar dangling down his neck that he knows not how to strum. For a role that begs to be handled with the good cheer and humility of a Raj Kapoor’ish clown, all he and director Shaad Ali manage to bring to it is a demeanor that is rather haughty. One may wonder which giant of a bird, such as an ostrich, those feathers in his hat belong to, but one can be sure that this cameo role is definitely not going to go down as another feather in Amitabh Bachchan’s cap.

Gulzar the lyricist, proves his ingenuity yet again with lines that are both sumptuous and stylish, as in ‘aa neend ka sauda karen, ek khwab de, ek khwab le’ *in the ‘Bolna Hlake’ number, and as in ‘makki ki roti gudh rak ke, misri si meethi lab chak ke’*’ in the title song, respectively.

For all its subtle touches of nostalgia, with the incorporation of old tunes like ‘Jo Vaada Kiya’(Taj Mahal), and ‘Yeh Dosti’ *(Sholay), the one tune that gets sorely and thanklessly ignored by the movie is Aziz Nazan’s qawali ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom Sharabi’ *(5 Rifles).

All in all, however, Yash Raj Films and producer Adiya Chopra deserve credit for attempting to make an entertainer that is different, light, and refreshing. Well done!