The Hindu : Karnataka News : A mere vehicle for a new star

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Saturday, Jul 05, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

A mere vehicle for a new star

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Cast: Imran, Genelia, Ratna Pathak Shah, Naseeruddin Shah

Director: Abbas Tyrewala

His uncle is still at it: wowing admirers across generations, reinventing himself with every new venture. Now comes Aamir Khan’s nephew Imran, whose face does nothing to make you question his genes. He resembles Aamir in more than a passing manner. Importantly, he also reminds us of Aamir in his “Qayamat se Qayamat Tak” days: fresh, frothy and with a winsome smile. And a complete natural in front of the camera. “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na” may not work wonders at the box office, but we all know a new star is born.

Director Abbas Tyrewala takes a time-tested way to introduce Imran: a love story set on a university campus, the kind we see only in cliché-ridden Bollywood.

So all the students wear designer stuff, girls lick their lollypops, guys wear their caps back-to-front. And there is not even a hint of academics. Our guy is better looking than everybody else; the girl, Genelia, now clearly on the comeback trail, just about. She is a motor mouth; he can barely speak a sentence. She can return brickbats with a ton of rubble; he is likely to show his other cheek. The other youngsters fill up the frames, help maintain a young ambience in a story that works through its taut narrative. Despite occasional lapses, the love story is of two people who don’t know when Cupid strikes. Watch “Jaane Tu…”. It may not offer anything new beyond a hero who is going to be around for some time, but sails through on the basis of its packaging .

ZIYA US SALAM

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