Jaan gaye...

So I watched Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na over the weekend and all I can say is Imraan Khan is a very lucky young man. To have Aamir Khan as the guy who’s in charge of Mission Launch must be heartening at the very least.
It also helps that Imraan has decent acting chops. A great launch pad is worth squat if you have no skill/talent to back it up. He’s here to stay and if he’s smart about his projects, like his uncle, he will do extremely well in the industry. Genelia (for some reason I keep imagining her name to be genitalia and giggle… I’m a sick man) is a bright spark amongst the newer crop of actresses I’ve seen thus far. There is something quite fresh about her. I can’t quite put my finger on it but girl’s got spunk. She does however need to improve her diction if she intends to do mature roles in the future.

Ratna Pathak Shah – Just one word, Classy. The two brothers in the movie were pretty good in their parts which begs the question – why the f*%# don’t they act just as well in their solo projects?!?! Another thing that I really liked were the fresh faces and talents which made up the friends circle of the leads. Prateik Babbar was good in his role as the girl’s angst-ridden lonely artist brother. One of the best lines in the movie (the chooha wala – “No, we’re just friends”) comes from him. It took me a whole second to register the quip because I’m just not used to hearing that kind of dialogue in a Hindi movie. Good stuff.
There were a few clichéd moments in the film which I’m not sure were necessary. But like my friend Sam says, its all about establishing the character/s.
Overall a pretty good directorial debut but Abbas Tyrewala’s problem will be his next few movies. His writing talent was pretty obvious after watching Munnabhai, Main Hoon Na etc. Now he’s kinda raised the bar with this film and will need to come through bigger and better in his next effort.

On a side note – while I haven’t seen it (and have no intention to), Lovestory 2050 has been ripped to shreds by all critics. Having become friends with an upcoming actor in the recent past, I feel for the newer lot because that one Friday pretty much determines your fate in this industry. Apparently two years of work have gone into Lovestory 2050. All of it to be flushed down the toilet come release day. Of course there is no excuse if the final product is just plain bad but there is still hope for the individual actor. Case (or rather two cases) in point – Ajay Devgan and Saif Ali Khan. I can still remember that awful day when I sat there watching Veeru Devgan’s lil boy in the opening shot of the movie, zooming into the college doing a full-split astride two motorbikes. I believe I’d busted a rib that day laughing as hard as I did. And Saif Ali Khan who I thought was the gayest dude back in the day (the day being a Saturday sometime in 1993… damn! Was that 15 years ago?! Ugh I’m old). I mean not only was this guy effeminate but he sounded like someone yanked his voicebox back as he was about to hit puberty. Both these gentlemen did some fairly ordinary and some downright dreadful “films” but persistance and hard work have made them into two of the most saleable stars of today. RGV ki Aag and Race fall into the Those-we-shall-not-speak-of bracket.

Finally, AR Rahman is a freak! How does one guy keep doing this film after film?!?!! I’m a big fan of his music but over the years, there’s this perverse side of me that wants to hear him make something baaaad (I know I know… my brain is circuited in a weird way). But the genius of the man is that he continues to disappoint that side of me every time. He’s got this ability to capture the right moods and pick the right voices for any song (including his own).

To quote Wayne & Garth, “We’re not worthy!!”