Light, fun and enjoyable - Jaaneman
Genre: Romance/Musical/Comedy
Director: Shirish Kunder
Cast: Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta and Anupam Kher
Storyline: A failed film star tries to set his ex-wife up with her geeky admirer to avoid alimony.
Bottomline: Refreshingly innovative storytelling
Remember Farah Khan's `Main Hoon Na' and its brand of half-serious, half-spoofy storytelling? That was probably the birth of a new genre and sensibility. Director Shirish Kunder (Farah Khan's husband who makes his debut with this film) walks down the same road, with that brand of irreverence seen perhaps in the films of David Dhawan and Sohail Khan.
It is cinema that is unabashedly about light-hearted storytelling and the fun built around the process.
It is a genre flexible enough to accommodate a musical for just one segment of the film (the flashback sequence of the divorce unfolds like a Broadway musical) or a sense of cartoon-ish imagery for another. Scenes that would have usually require handkerchiefs if told from Karan Johar's camera, here, are dealt with a sense of detachment.
It is that detachment that helps you to look at the characters objectively.
The most difficult and challenging part of this brand of storytelling is to move the audience even within that light created. Shirish does it with the ease of a veteran. But for the last half hour of the film, `Jaaneman' coasts along, refusing to take itself seriously.
Like `Main Hoon Na,' `Jaaneman' too walks the fun line between a tribute and a spoof. So even when Suhaan (Salman) tries setting up the geeky Champu a.k.a.Agastya Rao (Akshay Kumar) with his ex-wife in `Kal Ho Na Ho' fashion, you don't really feel like you are watching the Karan Johar-Nikhil Advani film all over again. Salman Khan is first-rate. Akshay Kumar shows us that he is among the best comic talent we have. Preity does not have much to do. Farah Khan's choreography contributes quite a bit to the narrative. If there's one department where the film is weak, it is the pace towards the end The screenplay too, could have been a little tighter.
In spite of the drawbacks, a film like `Jaaneman' should be encouraged. For, its success may pave the way for more films that are made purely for popcorn entertainment.
SUDHISH KAMATH
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