All that Jazz. Review on Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Watched JBJ after reading the reviews deriding the movie. Hence Zero expectations. But the movie was o.k. It was meant to be a romcom musical and it worked in parts.

What worked

The plot was interesting but execution faltered.

AB Jr as Rikki Thukral was v.v.v.good. Right from his hairstyle to his body language everything about him I thought was pitch perfect.

Lara Dutta was amazing. Her acting her looks everthing about her was just wow!. Never knew she was such a good actress. Bobby Deol looked kid of funny but redeemed himself with his mamma's boy act.

Hanif Bhai - Who is this man? Never once felt he was acting out a character. He was to me Hanif Bhai - a smart talking albeit practical hustler. Never knew actors of such calibre existed in our industry. The Choreography of Kiss of Love and JBJ (both Ab sr. song and the final one) was really really good.

What didn't work

AB Sr. - Though his role was supposed to be that of the sutradhar, he did nothing to the story. His interludes instead of adavancing or explaining the story did no such thing. Therefore I felt his character was wasted in the movie.

Preity Zinta - Why is she looking so old and haggard in this movie. She doesn't look as old otherwise. Her acting also left much to be desired. She never was a great actress but pitted against actors like AB Jr., Lara Dutta and Bobby Deol her limitations stood out all the more. Compared to them she came across as jaded.

The song Bol Na halke Halke didn't make any sense and did nothing to the story except to try in a ham handed way to convince us that AB Jr and Preity's character had fallen in love.

The song ticket to Hollywood also lost its charm after the first line. With the location and costumes remaining the same the choregrapher should have given innovative dance steps instead the steps were repeated throughout and the song became boring to watch.

The main problem with JBJ I think was Shaad does not understand the concept of a musical. In musicals the song and dance sequences carry the story or movie forward. In Shaad Ali's movie the songs existed mostly as item numbers and that was the main problem.

Jaan e mann was a very good e.g about how a musical can be made in the Indian context. The song and dance sequences wondefully choregraphed was an intrinsic part of the story and took the story forward.

So on final analysis a nonsensical movie with good choreographed songs and dances it is but all that Jazz does not make it a good musical.