A beautiful swan song which is slightly out of tune

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.