Genre : Romance / Comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hours 47 minutes
Director : Shirish Kunder
Cast : Anupam Kher, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta
Jaan-e-man : New approach to old romance !
Don and Jaan-e-man released around the same time. And with all the hoopla going around, comparing Don vs. Jaan-e-man, I was expecting well, a fairly decent film. Not that it is not – it’s just that this doesn’t even come close to Don. Don, with all it’s flaws is definitely the better film. On the other hand it’s probably not fair to compare apples to oranges – so will desist on commenting on this any further.
The story is old, and often told and tried in various formulaic Bollywood films. So what makes Kunder’s debut film any different ? The treatment. Kunder takes this ordinary love story, locates it halfway across the world, and gives to it a stage-like musical feel. With all the attention to detail, lighting (watch out for the changing lights to accentuate atmosphere) and effects (shattering glass in the background during high-pitched emotional scenes), Jaan-e-man separates itself from the usual, weepy, dramatic love stories.
Suhaan Kapoor is a down-and-out actor, divorced from wife Piya (Preity). He also has huge alimony problems, and is sorting these out with his uncle Boney (Kher as a dwarf), when the solution to his problems presents itself. The solution is Agastya Rao, an ex-collegemate who still pines for Pia inspite of the fact that he knows she loves someone else. Suhaan and Boney think that if they can get Piya hitched to financially successful Agastya, Suhaan’s alimony woes will be over. Thus Suhaan plays Cupid (albeit hidden) and gives Agastya an education on winning Piya’s love. However there’s another contender for Piya’s affections . .
Now with the story going the way it was, it struck me that (call it weird) that this could be a “Sixth Sense” spin-off, with Salman being the ghost – dead husband looking after living ex-wife etc. However, it didn’t work out that way, but it could have added an interesting surprise to the whole love tale.
While I could call the film mediocre, there were some scenes that were really touching and well-done, like the one where Salman in New York phones up his uncle to tell him that the mission is accomplished, and weeps. Preity has not much to do save look pretty and emote an occasional scene. Akshay Kumar, playing the part of nerdy intellectual Agastya, goes to town with his geeky laugh. He looks good, but then he always looks good. This is Salman’s film, where he gets to do it all, sing, dance, romance, weep – the whole works. He does it well too. However I must say that with increasing age and girth, the same old, cutesy sighs and gestures don’t sit as well on him as they used to. Kher has an annoying role – that of the dwarf Boney. Boney’s super-sensitive about being a “bauna”, and the film has several un-PC jokes about this, which I found un-funny and off-color. What is it with desi directors – you’ve only got to be fat, short or gay and it’s open season on you ?
The songs are OK, two being outstanding. The script and screenplay are average, and the story as I said was old and worn. Inspite of Kunder’s innovative approach, I’d still rate this film average. I mean, everything’s good and all, but the movie doesn’t give me the warm, fuzzy feeling that romantic flicks should. It could be the actors (Salman’s running over people on the road doesn’t much endear himself) or the general inspid been-there-done-that feel the film has.
An OK watch , but wait for the DVD.
