What is the most important component of a film? If you had said story, you would be wrong, for Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na clicks despite its story. Boy meets girl. They become friends. They fall in love. But they cannot express it as they do not want to put an end to their friendship.
Gee, this is a story Romeo and Juliet must have listened to at their grandmom's knee while she forked into their yawning mouths pieces of bread and bacon. And we have watched similar, if not the same, stories unfold umpteen times in the movie halls. Tarun's debut movie Nuvve Kaavali being one that immediately springs to mind, as it managed to draw the maximum mileage out of this wafer-thin plot.
The plot, as we said earlier, is as old as the hills. It is basically a tale of a group of friends, with the love story of the protagonists being narrated by four of the friends to an uninterested stranger.
Jai Rathore (Imran Khan) and Aditi Mahant (Genelia D'Souza) are bosom buddies. Like self-respecting filmi friends, they care more for each other's well-being than for themselves. This goes to the extent where they try to hunt up a suitable partner for their friend. I do not know how many of you have done this, but heck, getting a mate for a person you love is the saddest thing on earth.
However, the lead pair does not feel it is heart-rending. Of course, they belong to the movie world, and well, they do not realize that they are in love with each other. So you have to wonder what they thought they felt for each other, if it was not love. Being in a state of denial is a nice thing if you are just denying the fact that you are bald or old, but denying that you are in love comes with its share of problems.
And hence, there are complications and complexities, the growing up of the protagonists, and realization… and if you have not watched films for a long time, you are left with bated breath and on tenterhooks to find out if their love is fruitful.
So like we all know, it is not the story that is the most important thing, but the manner in which it is packaged. In other words, screenplay. And Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na gets it absolutely spot on with regard to this, with hardly a dull minute in the film. Though it is immensely helped by a liberal sprinkling of feelgood moments by the cast.
Genelia and Imran make a picture-perfect pair, and the good-natured give and take that they pamper us with in the movie is worth the price of the ticket any day. Genelia is her usual ebullient self, and though the Telugu viewers might have started finding her a tad monotonous, you can still watch her do her bit in a Hindi film. Imran is charming, and you are reminded of his uncle with his chocolate boy good looks, and ready and mischievous smile.
Even the others add to the charm of the movie - naive or otherwise. Pratiek Babbar, the son of Raj Babbar and Smita Patil, brings intensity to his role as the brother of the heroine, and his emoting is what we carry with us back home.
Add to it the music of A R Rehman, who even on his off days is way better than any other in the business. The peppy, zingy feel of a youthful romance are effectively conveyed through the soundtrack, and the picturization does not leave much to be desired or to the imagination.
The, the dialogues rock, and the editing is snappy - though one cannot but feel that the editor fell in love with the picture, and forgot to use his scissors in the second half. But then he might have slept off too.
Jaane Tu is not half as bad as the movies that are being churned out week in and day out by Bollywood, and if you are someone who is thankful for small mercies, this is perfect weekend movie for you.