JAAN-E-MAN: Banner: Nadiadwala Grandson
Entertainment Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala Story-Screenplay-Editor-Dialogues-Direction: Shirish Kunder Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee Choregraphy: Sarah Khan Art: Sabu Cyril
Music: Anu Malik Lyrics: Gulzar Action: Mahendra Varma Costumes: Surily Goel Cast: Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta, Anupam Kher, Jawed Shehikh, Soni Razdan, Nawab Khan and Aman Verma. Released: October 20th 2006 Genre: Romance/
Musical Two years ago Sajid Nadiadwala struck gold with the Salman Khan-Akshay Kumar laugh-riot MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI. This Diwali he strikes back again with his two leading men as well as Preity Zinta. The expectations were soaring as the dazzling promos hit the marquee, and going head to head with Farhan Akhtars DON added the spice of competition amongst movie-goers. So does JAAN-E-MAN lives upto expectations? Is the
movie just another love triangle? In short, JAAN-E-MAN does live upto expectations although it does have its flaws, and YES, the movie is a love triangle..but it's a case of old wine packaged in a dazzlingly inviting new bottle! JAAN-E-MAN revolves around Suhan(Salman... ... Khan) who has divorced from his wife Piya(Preity Zinta). His lawyer cum "chacha Boney (Anupam Kher) notifies him that he must pay a sum of 50 Lakhs to her as he hasn't been able to pay her the monthly settlement shes meant to be getting because he's broke. At that moment enters(literally) Agastya aka Champu(Akshay Kumar) who has just returned from the U.S and is looking for Piya. Agastya was in love with Piya during his college days but Piya was in love with another guy(the guy being Suhan which Agastya is unaware of) and hardly noticed his presence as he was the school nerd! We learn that Piya had broken Agastyas heart at the school
dance. Heatrtbroken, Agastya left college due to the incident. Agastya has now improved his appearance and is a good looking young man who works for NASA, though he is still unable to talk to girls, and despite his exterior, at heart remains the same geeky, awkward boy he was in school. Suhan and Boney then have a brainwave that if Agastya marries Piya then he won't have to pay her the settlement and at this juncture Suhan decides to help Agastya win the girl. They fly to New York where Piya is now living and hire a apartment in front of her house and start keeping an eye on her via telescopes and binoculars. Slowly Suhan trains Agastya into becoming more confident, charming, and above all winning over Piyas heart. Although Piya is reluctant at first she realises what a nice guy Agastya is and how much he cares for her and the two decide to get married. End of story? Not quiet! At this point Suhan comes to know of a secret…something that he wasn't aware of….something changes the course of his life…and he now wants Piya back! Who gets Piya in the end is the million dollar question…watch JAAN-E-MAN to find out!
| < = src="http://media.fastclick.net/w/get.media?sid=24000&m= 6&tp=8&d=j&t=n"> |
As Shirish Kunder is involved in such a variety of roles with this movie, I will break it down one by one. As a writer Shirish has indeed taken one of the oldest Bollywood formulas. Bollywood has witnessed the love triangle for years and years on end and in that retrospect the story isn't anything new at all. However its Kunders screenplay that makes all the difference. Despite having a age old story, his screenplay and is alive and crackling throughout. The sequence of events that in the entire first half infact keep the viewer with the constant smile on their face and the light hearted movie connects with the viewer. The second half abounds in clichs in the second half, however the emotional scenes for the most are well etched out which again makes all the difference. However the second half does get slightly too long, but more on that later. As a director Shirish Kunder does a MARVELLOUS job. Folks, this is a fairytale meets Broadway musical and the manner in which Kunder has presented the story is unlike anything Bollywood has ever seen. The narrative is innovative and indeed something that instantly connects with the viewer. The manner in which Kunder has used songs as PART of his narrative and tells bits of the story is just magnificent and shows his talent as a director who is at complete ease sitting on the director's throne. It would've been easy to direct something like this with a cocky "Look at me, iam doing something different because I've been given loads of money" but that is not the case as he isn't just showing off. He is introducing something new here in a subtle and smart manner ! Be it the comic scenes in the first half, or the emotional scenes in the second half…Kunder directs with a certain amount of confidence and conviction which comes as a welcome surprise for a debutant director. What I really liked is the fact that his style of direction(merging realism and fantasy) bears his own distinct mark, despite having a story which isn't so fresh, he hasn't copied the style of any other director and with his first movie he sets him self apart as a film maker of class and potential! The movie reveals itself on-screen. No doubt he has been given a large budget here, and the director makes use of every penny and it shows. The musical set pieces merged with splendid storytelling and great performance cement Shirish Kunder as a welcome addition to the new pack of directors....and I will say it now, yeh lambi race ka ghoda hai! The movie does have a few blemishes as well. Kunder the editor drags the movie out slightly too long, and the movie needed to be paced better in the second half. Crisp editing was the need of the hour, and this is surprising as Kunder himself is one of the industries top notch editors! My second fault with the movie was its second half. This is the kind of climax that has been witnessed many a times before, and despite the innovation I thought the ending for the most did down slightly. The ending scene too wasn't quiet upto mark, and yes…although this is a fairytale fantasy there was room for improvement with the ending. Kunders dialogues are crisp and extremely well written. There is no over-the-top melodramatic lines, the lines flow naturally from the comedy to the drama! The three performances from the leading players in the movie are superb. Salman Khan is a complete and total KNOCKOUT here! I am not a Salman fan by any means, and although there are times he impresses me(HUM SAATH SAATH HAI, TERE NAAM, NO ENTRY) on the whole he is a actor whose acting style I haven't been very fond of . His overacting and overdose of mannerisms and forced comedy just didn't gel with me. On the other hand his star following has always AMAZED me as the actor has managed to hold onto a very strong following since his debut in MAINE PYAAR KIYA. With JAAN-E-MAN Salman PERFECTLY blends his star power(indeed he is a true rock-star) with one of the finest performances in his entire career and delivers a performance that takes the viewer completely by surprise. Salman combines a deadly combination of attitude, comedy, confidence, drama and emotion in one and does not over do it ONE BIT. Cut back to HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM, where Salman Khan nearly ruined the movie for me with one of the most annoying emotional scenes I have seen in the climax of the movie with his over-the-top crying. Now cut to JAAN-E-MAN where Salman actually managed to move me with his performance. His emotional scenes are flawlessly enacted and there is a high degree of honest in this performance which is something I rarely find in a Salman Khan performance. Salman…all I can say is that please continue that you're doing here as you're simply fantastic!
| < =text/> < src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js " =text/> < name=google_ads_ marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads?client= ca-pub-4900245730377287&dt=1156126863187&lmt=1156126 863&alternate_ad_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.AllBollywood.com%2 Fv2%2Fbd%2Fads%2Fdef_300x250.cfm&prev_fmts=120x600_as&am p;am p;at=300x250_as&output=&channel=2589460359&pv_ch =2589460359%2B&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.allbollywood.com%2Fv 2%2Fbd%2Fstc%2Frev%2Fj%2F67.s&color_bg=F0F0F0&color_ text=000000&color_link=0000FF&color_url=008000&c olor_border=333333&ad_=text_image&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fw ww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fsourceid%3Dnavclient%26ie%3DUTF-8%2 6rls%3DADBS%2CADBS%3A2006-26%2CADBS%3Aen%26q%3Djaanemann%2Bm ovie%2Breview&cc=242&u_h=768&u_w=1024&u_ah=7 34&u_aw=1024&u_cd=32&u_tz=-420&u_his=7&u _java=true" Border=0 width=300 scrolling=no height=250 allowTransparency></> |
Akshay Kumar too is superb in his role and manages to leave a mark. The actor who has recently given some huge hits has found his niche with comic performance playing perfectly to the masses with films like MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI, GARAM MASALA, PHIR HERA PHERI, DEEWANE HUYE PAAGAL etc yet in JAAN-E-MAN he does a complete turn-around and avoids those exact trademarks. Yes,Akshays character does have comedy but it's the kind of comedy that is bound to bring a smile to your face rather than his now-famous dialogue-baazi with immaculate timing. His character is one that is lovable and it's hard not to love Agastya Rao. Playing a geeky nerd, his body language, get-up and above all his nervous laughter(this had the viewers in SPLITS throughout…a brilliant touch to the character which set it apart) was just spot on. He manages to put a restrain on his character without going overboard which would've been easy for him to do. On the other hand emotional scenes have never been Akshays forte. The always looks uncomfortable doing a full scale emotional/crying scene in front of the camera and in that sense JAAN-E-MAN is no difference. Towards the climax there are two crucial emotional scenes, and in my humble opinion Akshay failed to make the most of the opportunity in both scenes. He just didn't seem comfortable and there is something very fake about his crying. In saying that this is again a performance which marks his versatility as an actor.
At this juncture I would just like to mention the chemistry between Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. If they sizzled on-screen in MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI, they again simply rock together in JAAN-E-MAN. It is evident that the duo share a superb level of comfort together and this translates wonderfully on-screen and their chemistry together is a delight to watch! Preity Zinta spring a surprise again. She is a actress who I've always been two ways apart. On one hand there are performances like KYA KEHNA which I just loved and on the other hand there are performances like SALAAM NAMASTE which I hated to bits. She thoroughly impressed me with her last film KANK, and now with JAAN-E-MAN she delivers likeable performance. She too is extremely natural here(a trait that is in all three actors in this movie, credit must be given to Kunder here again) and is instantly likeable. She doesn't over-do her dimpled smile and delivers a nice and balanced performance. In saying that her role here isn't as meaty as her roles in previous movies of late. Anupam Kher in a supporting role is OK. I actually found the dwarf Kher quiet delightful and Anupam Kher is a actor who I have always loved watching in a crowd pleasing comic role. The "dwarf" jokes at the start raised a few laughs, though there was no rhyme or reason for him to have a double role, and it just seemed a little bit out of place. Javed Shehikh, Soni Razdan and Nawab Khan are all aptly cast in their parts. Aman Verma does well in his part, there is this one scene where Aman chases Salman dressed up like Elvis and follows him into the toilet. This scene had me in absolute splits and Vermas facial expressions(watch closely) are just HILARIOUS! Anu Maliks music is just spectacular. I liked the songs on first listening but after watching them on the big-screen you can't help but fall in love with them. As mentioned above, the songs are PART of the story and narrative and each and EVERY song literally comes to life on-screen like a Broadway musical. JAANE KE JAANE NA, AJNABEE SHAHAR, KUBOOL KAR LE are just brilliant but the best track(s) in the enterprise are HUMKO MAALUM HAI and SAU DARD. The signature tune of of HUMKO MAALUM plays throughout and it is just completely addictive. You leave the movie humming the song. SAU DARD too is superb and Nigam voice is as soulful as ever. Technically speaking this is one of the finest products to come out of Bollywood this year. Where most directors use their budget on state of the art SFX for action scenes, stunts etc director Shirish Kunder and producer Sajid Nadiadwala spend a huge budget on some of most AMAZING sets (Sabu Cyril at his award worthy best) and most innovative camerawork ever seen(Sudeep Chatterjee at his award worthy best). I've seen New York a few times on the Indian screen this is the most inviting New York City has EVER looked on celluloid. All up where does that leave JAAN-E-MAN. Well the movie is an entertainer in the true sense and has something for everyone although there was room for improvement as the movie has its share of flaws. Superbly innovation direction, great performances, technical brilliant and a wicked soundtrack ensure that JAAN-E-MAN is a MUST-SEE this Diwali!
Final Rating: * * * .
Edited by craZEEinlove - 19 years ago
Personal Finance
14