“Pappu Paas Ho Gaya”…. For Sure!!!

We all do get a bit nostalgic while watching a good movie based on the college life with a bunch of young artistes reliving the moments we shared and will cherish till eternity. Truly, those are the best days of our lives and we all want those days to be portrayed in a manner so as to give the feeling of oneself. So, with lotzz of apprehensions and anxieties I stepped into the theatre to watch Aamir Khan Productions’ another venture - Jaane Tu…..Ya Jaane Na!!!

Initial few minutes and few reels later, the doubts mentioned above gave way to other more prominent ones, since the movie is surely about college friends but not about college days. On the contrary, the real movie kick-starts with the farewell day of our Protagonists- Jai and Aditi. Through-out the next two hours or so you will witness the sequences and situations that have been showcased on the silver screen for the umpteen times. And here lies the choice to the “Captain of the Ship”-The Director, either to make the hackneyed and clichéd storyline look fresh’n’new or to let the ennui crept into the audience’s weary mind. The Writer-turned-Director Abbas Tyrewala has done the former with panache, as he already won half the battle by getting on-board the near perfect casting coup for Jaane-Tu and giving them the work-shop training for getting into the skin of their characters. What makes the difference between Jaane Tu.. and zillion other “Friends falling in love”-sagas is the way the story has been portrayed and the credit should go to the man for achieving this easy-looking but an arduous task. True, the story drags a bit in second half but it never goes overboard to the level of being crawled.

Like the director, Jaane Tu.. marks the debut of Aamir Khan’s nephew Imran Khan and the new lad looks promising atleast in this movie. Surely, to excel in bollywood the current trend is to possess a well-chiseled body and to be blessed with dancing-prowess akin to that of Hrithik Roshan, but Imran did’nt gave any signs of these two pre-requisites. But the fact remains; this also doesn’t guarantee the box-office success as Harmen Baweja will give the testimony of the fact. The newest “Khan on the bloc” still needs to be tested in intense emotional scenes and few other challenges are waiting on the podium. But as for now he can take a sigh of relief as he has reincarnated the debut of three Khans in late 80’s and early 90’s. Jaane tu .. will definitely pump a breath of fresh air to the sinking boat of Genelia’s Bombay-Dreams. She is already a big name down south but somehow was not able to carve her niche in Bollywood. Jaane tu.. gives her an opportunity to be herself and she has done a tremendous job. She looked vivacious, chirpy and enthrallingly-vibrant in most part of the movie. She also looked at ease in intense emotional scenes and her beatific killer-smile gave many a hearts floating. It’s Bollywood-Calling for Genelia, finally.

A perfect foil has been created for the lead-pair in the form of few interesting characters to complete their gang of friends. All of them has done a decent job and keeps the audience glued whenever the focus is not on Imran and Genelia. Amidst the deluge of debuts, the maiden performance by Prateek Babbar- son of Raj Babbar and Smita Patil, doesn’t goes unnoticed and he’s quite impressive in his nitty-gritty role. Watch out for the efficacious camaraderie shown by the real life couple of Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah. The former provides some of the most hilarious moments of Jaane tu… Naseer again gives the stamping proof of the fact that he can perform the spectrum of roles with ridiculous ease and minimum of fuss.

The music of the movie is youthful and peppy which is evident from the first promotional song of the movie: Pappu Can’t Dance and it’ll surely become the anthem for the party-goers with two left feet. Nazrien Milana and Kabhi Kabhi Aditi are the two other full-blown songs in the movie and do come with the situation and are soothing to the ears. Other songs viz the Title track and Jane tu mera kya hai are played in the background through-out the movie and hence trouble the proceedings by noughts.

Harjeet’s Verdict: The crux-story of Jaane Tu… is neither “Fresh” nor there is anything “Different” about it. Still, Jaane tu.. is “Refreshingly Different”.

To decipher my verdict go watch Jaane tu.. Ya Jaane Na. Till then, Stay in Peace!!!!