The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : A new star is born

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Saturday, Jul 05, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

A new star is born

Winsome combo: Imran and Genelia shine

Film: Jaane Tu ..Ya Jaane Na

Cast: Imran, Genelia

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, fro thy 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 the time-tested way to introduce Imran: a love story set in the 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 cap back-to-the-front. And there is not even a hint of academics. Our guy is better looking than everybody else, the girl – Genelia, now clearly on a comeback trail – just about. She is a motor mouth, he can barely speak a sentence. She can return brickbats with a tonne of rubble, he is likely to show his other cheek to an assailant. The other youngsters fill up the frames, help maintain a young ambience in a story that works through its taut narrative.

Despite occasional lapses in momentum, the love story of two people who don’t know when Cupid strikes.

In new-found freedom for Hindi cinema, the hero and heroine are best friends. He cannot stay without her caustic remarks, she cannot do without him trailing her like a shadow all the time. She cannot stand his non-violent streak, his docile ways, he cannot tolerate her loud ways. That they are usually in a group cloaks the truth: friendship is a nice cover for what is essentially a non-platonic attraction. For the non-happening story to move forward, Tyrewala introduces a girlfriend for the hero with obvious repercussions. Throw in a toughie for the girl, the kind who would enjoy drool-value. Again, the side-effects are predictable. All familiar, all enjoyable. Good as long as it lasts.

‘Jaane Tu…’ is not a path-breaking film. In fact, the director pays homage to every conceivable stereotype along the way. Tyrewala makes it palatable by keeping the tenor light and comic.

Now add a new emerging Bollywood mom. She still prepares a toast and halwa for her son, but wears pants, reads novels, speaks English. That Ratna Pathak Shah makes a rare appearance as the ambivalent mom spices up the proceedings. But hey, wait a minute, the dark horse of the film is the irrepressible Naseeruddin Shah. In a cameo as the gallant Rajput, he is a winner. His flawless dialogue delivery, his nuances, his body manoeuvring all lend the film some of its best moments. Watch ‘Jaane Tu…’ It may not offer anything new beyond a hero who is going to be around for some time.

It sails through on the basis of its packaging, its seamless interweaving of the traditional with the modern.

ZIYA US SALAM

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