Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa: A Chemistry Between Cat and Rat

“Tera mujhse hai phale ka nata koi…

Yun hi nahi dil lubhata koi…

JaneTu Ya Jaane Naa………………………”

Adopted lines from “Aa Gale Lag Ja” and finely tweaked into Amir’s own brewing factory with refreshing air dedicated to youth.

No one ever expected the perfectionist Amir Khan, the benchmark director would choose a campus flick for Imraan, his nephew’s debut. Each and everyone of his fans and who like his performance and adore him as an actor and director of fame Lagaan and Taare Zameen Par with his inquisitive thought of novel storyline, wanted something new and different. Is he going through a dry phase of his intellectual creativity of realistic theme? No way. Amir is a good strategist best at his mind and with a futuristic outlook to lunch Imraan with realistic and believable performance as a potential actor eying good prospects in upcoming days, giving a fresh look of young, vibrant, and credible acting caliber what is must for a beginner. A perfect launch pad sans of any mannerisms to create Imraan’s own brand image featuring simple, candid, and restrained performance with no attitude, no frills, and no fuss.

Yes, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa (JTYJN) is not an Amir’s film. He is the producer and all know definitely he has put some of his brain and extra efforts along with Abbas Tyrewala, the first time director who chooses juvenile college life, friendship, love, acquaintance, loss of chemistry between pals, pang of separation, and realization of the withdrawal of possessiveness, and a hallmark happy reunion with a little flaw at climax. Amir has given a perfect platform to his nephew as a protagonist in a recycled and rehashed script with a different treatment and tastes while presenting a college campus flick with the perfect combination of friendship, love, and romantic comedy, the idea of best friends who don't realize they are in love.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa is an amazing movie on college life. The story and music perfectly match the urban youth psychology and Abbas Tyrewala must be applauded and given credit for the honest adaptation of common day to day life story through his script by finding answer to a simple question “can a guy and a girl simply remain friends.” Movie plots, music, and scenes have been cooked keeping in mind the younger generation. The song Pappu Can’t Dance resembles with Papa Kahte Hain. Aamir is expecting the same magical response from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na as his debut movie Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, which made him a star with in a night. Imraan definitely going to make him big, a would be perfectionist (his own unique style) and realistic actor can sail ahead the tide of time and competition if future projects he chooses consciously like his uncle. His natural acting performance, no imitation of big star except few shots of his uncle (Amir) can crave a niche for himself in the pantheon of the Bollywood.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa has brought an euphoria like the Amir’s Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Sallu’s Maine Pyar Kiya and Hritik’s Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, although having a similar story-line of the league Ishq Vishq and Karan’s heartbeat iconic Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa the storyline, characters, and situations are credible. Day to day incidents of the protagonists are real, naturalistic, and lifelike. Abbas Tyrewala has portrayed the minute details and given cent percent attention to each and every characters and squeezes the best out of them into the film. The characters are rich and lively. Every actor has appropriately cast in their role finely tuned in to their shoes, really fantastic and given complete justice and up to the mark performance.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa is written and directed by debut Abbas Tyrewala of Munna Bhai MBBS and Main Hoon Na fame, is a romantic film based on the love story of Jai Singh Rathore alias Rat (Imraan Khan) and Aditi Mahant alias Meow (Genelia D’Souza). Story begins with classical story telling method of narration. The plots of the film revolve around Jai, the non-violent boy and Aditi, a violent and passionate girl. They are just the best of friends and are not in love. As far as the storyline goes this is another rendering of the boy and girl being best friends as everyone knows, except they themselves, realizing at last that they are made for each other. Thereby, the two help in finding a soul-mate for each other. But are they with the right partners? No. The magic of a story lies in its narration, as they soon realize, how the two find love with each other.

Imraan Khan’s first screen appearance, Amir and Abbas have crafted brilliantly with a dream sequence riding a horse in Thar desert with a showrd in hand really marvelous but audience see him first time in a study table leisurely picking a phone call and leaving hurriedly to his friend, the better half of his life, his soulmate, for an operation theatre in an unsure foot. And the mourning ceremony for Aditi’s kitten is suspenseful and humorous. As the film proceeds he establishes himself gradually slipping into the role of a nice guy with consummate ease. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa is cool and refreshing where frivolity of the tale that does the audience glue to their sit in cinema hall.

Naseeruddin and Ratna Pathak are perfectly paired against each other. Dad Naseeruddin Shah, the dead Thakur famous for his bravery killed in a fight, who talks from a photo frame and chide Jai’s mom, sure his blood will bounce back and knows his son will reclaim his family legacy and he will become a true Rajput, someday fulfilling three condition led by him to be a man. Like Samuel Beckett’s protagonist he is waiting for the Godot, the time to come and transform Jai from a crowd to a man at least to save Aditi his fiancee from the mischievous guys if ever bother her, what Aditi herself dreams of such a hubby.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa, you can say a tale of two college friends who discover they can be lovers too. In fact, the film has its moments capable of arousing and holding the attention with great restraint and suspense with some funny humorous drama based on situations that might arise in day-to-day life with a pleasant and youthful lead pair and A R Rahman’s marked lively action music. The well cut characters: Shaleen, Jiggy, Rotlu, and Bombs have performed brilliantly. It is not just the main characters, but even the supporting characters add a lot of value to Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa and selecting the scenes to be shown for character actors and putting them together to create a great film for middle class urban youth is superb only with the unbelievable flaw in climax, very very ludicrous, the reunion of Jai and Aditi surrounded by the cops in air port, what director could have made otherway for realistic reason.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is about Jai, a Rajput who doesnt believe in violence, a polite, peace-loving, almost coward, has been specially brought up by his mom to be placid and pliant to protect him from his trigger-happy family history, who doesn't take offence even when he is humiliated by Amit, Aditi’s brother and even by his college friend Pappu in the canteen while rescuing Aditi from Pappu’s wrath really hilarious and Aditi, a cute and violent girl full of vanity and youthful sincerity, spirited and natural, playing a brute and whine, very hard to resist. Jai is the biggest coward (phhattu) Aditi feels she has ever come across and Jai says Aditi’s parents should have wash off soap her mouth and soul. Little more than friendship and a lot possessiveness of each other, they fight like crazy swine but just can’t live without each other seem odd and beyond understanding still enjoyable. Jai and Aditi are perfect with each other, the faith, belief and space they both provide to each other despite all cat fights. Their parents and friends know that they are almost a made for each other couple, but they believe they are just great friends, no more, no less.

Five years passed away and they are unaware. Aditi wonders, how? This is the naked realism Abbas has shown how young people spend college life the prime time of youth being staying beyond the time cycle and at the evening in Jai’s house and Jai’s modern day mom’s usual, satirist, and apt reply “on the phone beta, on the phone” to her curiosity. At the party in Aditi’s home, the unrecognized one sided love sequence for Aditi and Jai in two of their friends and their disappointment and the union of two thirsty souls amidst the party brawl bring a fresh comic relief and settlement of their love life. The funny discussion on the engagement of Aditi with Jai by Aditi’s parents, essayed by the great affable couple Jayant Kriplani and Anuradha Patel, about their plans and revelation “does friendship turn into love?” by Jai and Aditi to their surprisement is a modern days enigma.

With playfulness, Jai and Aditi pass one-half of the movie finding a suitable match for each other proving everybody out of reason and the other half experiments upon more-than-friends feelings for each other. The second half of the movie primarily concentrates on the love angles of Jai and Aditi. Jai falls for an easygoing femme fatale Meghna (Manjari Phadnis), while Aditi is pulled to a macho man Sushant (Ayaz Khan). Aditi never realizes that Jai really cares for her, and Jai’s vague unpleasant emotion experienced in loneliness pines the pain of losing her. Aditi begins to realise her love for Jai only when Megha enters the scene and into Jai’s life. The brilliant and heart warming scene between the confession of Aditi and Sushant, and the jealousy, anguish, and sadness of Aditi over Jai and Meghna’s relationship and the regret of Aditi loosing possessiveness of Jai and realization of her love for Jai is perfectly blended like an antic scotch whisky with the fine chemistry among the six friends is honest and simply fantastic, brilliant, and entertaining. There start the insecurity, caring of Jai for her split up and jealousy creeps, sadness and regret suffer her, what is accomplished and performed utterly. Megha with her silly "What's this?" fantasy game appears punch-drunk when she hides an awful maturating with bitterly unhappy parents (Rajat Kapoor and Kitu Gidwani). The fight between Jai's mother as an activist with corrupt policeman Waghmare (Paresh Rawal) makes you laugh, when ever Paresh appears on the screen, full of fun and frivolity.

There we glimpse a warmness in the relationship between Aditi and her brother Amit despite their bull fighting all the time while Aditi protecting Jai from his pointing out faults or shortcomings in Jai. Above all Sohail and Arbaaz bring novelty to Bollywood riding horse to discotheque in mid night and their comic appearance and particularly the jail scene where they find Jai the late deceiver as their cousin and the folk lore they tell to Jai about his father’s bravery and renowned fame to Jai’s anxiety and bewilderment presented meticulously. The climax, to audiences’ disappointment and disapproval, Jai riding a white horse as a knight fulfilling his dad’s desire and to mom’s surprise on the way to rescue his lady love from air port looks like a Gothic horror, scores of police running after him and he is advancing breaking all barricades and the secure union fenced by the security men is entertainingly painted by Abbas with a clean, appealing, tender touch to arrest the spectator’s fantasy gigantically gratifying.

Abbas Tyrewala brings forth the film to be full of youth, fun, delightful, touching, and genuinely for teens. Storyline of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, a campus flick is the old and common one but the treatment is truly unique. The heart and mind of Abbas, Mansoor, and Amir collectively revive, the unusual portray of ordinary people’s life as central characters with magical plots, intense scenes, and witty dialogues, a feeling of freshness. Rajeev Soorti's vivid cinematography and naturalistic music of A R Rehman with simplicity and honesty to his genre Pappu can't dance…….. and Kabhi kabhi Aditi…………..are fabulous.

Pradipta Kumar Parida
E-mail: pradiptakumarparida@gmail.com