Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012)
Director: Yash Chopra
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma
Rating: 3.5 / 5
Over the past one year, the
release of ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ has been an eagerly awaited affair for a
multitude of reasons, be it Yash Chopra’s announcement of this being his last
film & the subsequent unfortunate demise of this legendary filmmaker, Shah Rukh
Khan’s return to a genre which he has defined over the past two decades and AR
Rahman & Gulzar’s maiden partnership to bring to life the music of the
film. The marketing of the film has been wonderfully planned and executed by Yash
Raj Films with the title of the film invoking curiosity, trailers & the song
promos generating unprecedented views on YouTube and a lot of pre-release talk
on Social Media.
There are certain things you can
be sure of when Yash Chopra weaves a film. You would be teleported to a poetic
world of goodness where people may be flawed but never villainous, where
destiny or fate makes improbable occurrences happen believably, where love is
idealistic and flaming with passion. ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ encompasses itself
within these contours and expresses itself in a contemporary manner.
*PLOT SPOILERS BEGIN *
The plot gets off to a splendid
start as we’re introduced to a rugged looking SRK clad in an Army uniform. He
plays Samar Anand, a Major in the Bomb Disposal squad of the Indian Army. Samar
diffuses bombs with the ease of changing a light bulb. Around this character is
an air of mystery and reticence as the film goes into a flashback (10 years
back) to establish his roots.
The flashback wonderfully
establishes the unlikely love affair between Samar and Meera, played by
Katrina. They are from two different worlds. He waits on tables, speaks ludicrous
English and is a street singer. She is the daughter of a well to do businessman
in London, has some parental issues and seeks God with a childlike earnestness.
Circumstances make them meet and spend time with each other. They find this
passion & completeness together and end up falling in love. But an
unfathomable plot premise centering on the faith in the divine of a woman vs.
the ego of a man seeps in. They part ways. Samar loses his zest for life and
leaves London to join the Indian Army.
We’re back to present day Ladakh
where Major Samar Anand meets Akira, a newbie filmmaker working with Discovery
Channel. While working on a documentary on Samar, Akira falls for his maturity &
intensity. Samar, after the initial phase of being guarded and uptight becomes
fond of her, relearning how to smile & dance. They become friends. Just
when you think he might be confronted with a decision to decide between
clinging to his past or moving on, comes a very contrived plot twist which
makes the story come a full circle. What follows is a deliberate attempt to
take the safest route to underline the message that “every love has its time to
fulfill its destiny”.
*PLOT SPOILERS END *
Jab Tak Hai Jaan, despite it’s
over stretched runtime of 180 minutes and the two disruptive plot twists which are
seemingly dichotomous to the contemporary approach of the film, holds together,
remains watchable and succeeds thanks to the Director at the helm of affairs.
Yash Chopra has honed his craft better than anyone in the business. He knows
how and when to bring about the beauty of human emotions on screen.
The performances are the single
most redeeming factor of the film. JTHJ has vintage SRK in prime form doing what
he does best! He brings in oodles of charm, energy, intensity, passion and a
certain degree of restraint to embody the different layers of his character.
Just his sheer presence, mannerisms and dialog delivery breathes magic into some
mundane scenes.
Katrina really emerges as the
surprise package of the film and probably gives her career best performance. Despite
the shackles put on Katrina’s character by the script, she plays the part of
the ethereal, sensuous & unattainable Yash Raj heroine with a lot of
panache. Her first time pairing with SRK certainly has sparks flying. Anushka
plays a pivotal part in guiding the film to its conclusion. She is a livewire
who manages to outdo even SRK’s energy in some scenes.
With YRF, the production values
are excellent as expected. The cinematography adds so much life to the film. London makes for a young, refreshing
background for the love story between SRK and Katrina and lends itself to the
contemporary appeal of the film. The barren and haunting beauty of Ladakh &
Kashmir respectively is in perfect sync with the state of mind of SRK’s
reticent army guy act. A.R. Rahman’s soundtrack for the film has been very
polarizing. Nevertheless, Challa, Ishq Shava & Saans play their own special part to guide the film along.
The film’s appeal will primarily lie
with a generation of viewers for whom romance has been defined by classical films
like 'Silisla', 'Kabhie Kabhie', 'Aradhana' & 'Lamhe' to name a few. Today’s youth,
who barring ‘Jab We Met’ haven’t seen a true blue good romanctic film in recent times might find
JTHJ farfetched. A couple of intelligent tweaks in the script and this had the
potential to be a colossal movie going experience which it unfortunately falls
short of.
All said and done, JTHJ has a
soul and a strong identity unlike most Rs 100 crore grossing mainstream and commercial
films coming out of Bollywood pitched as “Masala entertainment”. The film is an apt farewell to one of Hindi
Cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers and his unique & magical style of film-making.
