Review on Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

My favourite moment in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na -- and there are many -- comes early on, when Ratna Pathak Shah, playing Jai's mother, is shocked to see a sobbing Aditi being led into the house. Jai (Imran Khan) explains that she has just realised college is finally over. Aditi (Genelia D'Souza) nods, saying she doesn't know where the last five years vanished. Shah, fantastically supercilious and affectionate at once, delivers a line that will have mothers in the audience blowing wolf-whistles: 'On the phone, beta. On the phone.'

It's this kind of candid, relatable freshness that characterises Abbas Tyrewala's delightful directorial debut, a deftly made film about friendship, fibs, and falling for the obvious. Right from the film's opening, when AR Rahman's gloriously jazzy Tu Bole track floats Dolby-exploitingly from speaker to speaker, with just the film's name for on-screen company, a smile is thrust almost forcibly upon you.

This is a film about 'feel,' your gut says -- and damn, it feels good There's a pretty distinctive line between films trying to be innocent, and films that actually come across as charmingly naive as this one. What makes Jaane Tu special -- Its the case with most films about friendship -- is a rock-solid ensemble cast that is mouthwateringly perfect. Take a bow, casting director Pakhi, this is a perfect set of good actors, with refreshingly unfamiliar faces.

There's Imran, smooth enough to look like he shaves thrice a day, and a disarmingly natural actor who grows on you sneakily. Before you know it, you're totally buying his act. And it's a simple, candid, relatable act -- no frills, no fuss, no muscles, no attitude. And no . It's a solid, restrained acting job carried off with more dazzle than is evident. Heck, I don't know idoubt Imran does an absolute justice to his character.

Khan plays the peace-loving Jai Singh Rathore, and he's the straight man in his madcap gang: Alishka Varde does well as Bombs, the slow one; Karan Makhija adds character as the pessimistic Rotlu; Nirav Mehta is excellent as Jignesh, the one persistent yet affectionately etched caricature in the film; and then there's Sugandha Garg as the spirited, nickname-giving Shaleen, full of spunk and so hot she makes you want her number.Ratna Pathak Shah is magnificent, and every single Hindi movie could do with some of her, Prateik Babbar bestows the film with angst and maturity, Jayant Kripalani and Anuradha Patel make a great affable couple, Rajat Kapur's fun, and there is ample demonstration of the great, great good that can be had by a stay order coming in the way of Paresh Rawal being wasted by Priyadarshan

As for producer Aamir Khan ,after Lagaan, Taare

Zameen Par and this one -- I'll eat your hat if it isn't a tremendous success -- it must be said that he's setting a new benchmark in terms of Hindi film production. Every technical aspect of the film is honed to perfection -- be it Rajeev Soorti's vivid cinematography or AR Rahman's marvellously fountain-of-youth soundtrack -- and the final product is so bloody polished it'll have other movie posters looking jealously at it in the foyer.
And ludicrous or not, the climax -- like a majority of this film -- works because of The Girl. Genelia is an absolute corker, all firecracker eyes and irrepressible smile.She's spirited and natural, playing a wildcat and a whimperer, and it's very hard to resist her. Abbas has used her perfectly, bringing her Aditi in every time your inner cynic might need a shut-up-and-smile punch. And she's a knockout each time, not just Kabhi kabhi.

Abbas underscores what the pretty Mala (Renuka Kunzru) realises at the airport, that the magic of a story lies in its telling. And the rag-tag bunch of narrators he's created do an absolute bang-up job. Sure it's the hero's vehicle -- and you can earmark this Imran lad as one to watch for -- but all love stories which have you falling for the girl are automatically magical.For no matter how maddeningly filmi the climax, Aditi's smile makes you believe -- and love.

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