Jun 16, 2007 05:17 PM
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My first reaction after watching "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" was that it's the kind of film David Dhavan would be best at making. Leave your brains at home; it's a fun film with no connection to reality whatsoever.
Let's start with the story. If you're looking for one in this rom-com(romantic comedy) there isn't one. It's just the tale of two people taking a complicated path to discovering their love for each other. But the way it's handled makes the subject enjoyable.
The screenplay is quite tight and holds one's attention throughout. It takes you from London to Paris to Delhi and Agra and back to Southhall. The dialog is contemporary and snappy and varies from intentional bad use of English to variant Punjabi and everything in between. With the camera doing everything from a vertical 180 degrees to seeing the Eiffel Tower sideways and from snappy dance sequences to good old fashioned close-ups, The cinematography leaves no angle unexplored- It's not a bad thing! Shankar-Ehsan-Loy have proved their mettle time and time again, and score yet again with the title track "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" and "JBJ, " and "Bol na Halke Halke" is a wonderfully sung slow romantic. However, songs like "Ticket to Hollywood" and "Kiss of Love" seem to hint that the musical geniuses are losing their touch.
In the acting department, Abhisheik Bachchan takes the cake as Rikki Thukral, a small time conman in London. Everything from his swagger to the way he handles his phone etch out a perfect character. The lines he has, such as: "I got class" and the Soorma Bhopali inspired "Kya Keriyo!" are sure to bring a laugh or two. This performance adds to an already impressive repertoire of well executed roles.
Lara Dutta was the surprise package from the lot! She was not only looking stunning, but her acting was refreshingly good. Be it her French accent or the gaudy costumes and swearing, her performance was completely on the money in every scene. Lara has arrived! Bobby Deol does full justice to both his roles: be it the macho lawyer or the shy mama's boy, Bobby, an underrated actor, excels. However character development was certainly weak with little or no effort at the pseudo-British accent Preity Zinta was, alas, good amidst the great. She played a character that was no different to any that we've seen from her in the last five years. There seemed little work put into character development from both actor and director.
Apart from a singing dancing narrator, Amitabh Bachchan's character is inexplicable.
From the foot tapping music to the sensual and sometimes eccentric costumes, from the witty dialog to the dances and from Paris to Agra, this film weaves a lot of fluff around very little substance. It is quite contrary to the kind of subjects handled by Sahgal in the past. Part of the Direction is borrowed from Chicago and Moulin Rouge and a little help from The Usual Suspects. However, the feel of the film is very young and energetic, as was the case with both his previous ventures. While the film is good, it's certainly not his best work.
Trivia: Vaibhavi Merchant(choreographer) reprises her famous "Kajra re" step from Shaad and Abhisheik's previous Bunty aur Babli in the song "Ticket to Hollywood" Bobby and Abhisheik being the sons of Dharmendra and Amitabh respectively, are aptly given a shot where they replay the famous "Yeh Dosti" song as a tribute to Sholay.
A blatant mistake is Priety Zinta's tattoo changing sides.
