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By Joginder Tuteja, July 28, 2008 - 16:30 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Sonal Chauhan, Jawed Sheikh, Samir Kochhar, Vishal Malhotra
Director: Kunal Shivdasani
Producer: Mukesh Bhatt
Music: Pritam, Kamran Ahmed
Lyrics: Sayeed Quadri, Kamran Ahmed, Neelesh Misra
THE FILM
Jannat is a 'masala' entertainer and though it doesn't quite unearth the 'betting and match fixing syndicate', as it seemed before one ventured in to watch the film, it does touch upon the peripherals without taxing audience's brains much. So what one gets to see is the way betting circuits operate, how world players get involved into match fixing, how there are countless people hands in glove with the syndicates and how it doesn't take much time to bump off a smaller player if he threatens to be a nuisance.
However, all in all, Jannat stays on to be a love story with cricket just being in the background. The way Emraan and Sonal fall in love does seem stupid to begin with (do girls still impressed by wandering men under their balconies?) but in spirit, Jannat continues to engage. In fact one forgets the silliness of Sonal falling in love with Emraan the moment the young man starts playing around with his life just in order to grab some quick cash. His sixth sense starts working for him as he graduates from ball by ball betting to dealing with cricket players with love for women, wine and watches and starts getting them all on the side of his mentor (Jawed Sheikh).
In fact, it is scenes like these, which are the most impressive part about Jannat. Emraan's first brush with betting at a local pub, his subsequent walk up on the ladder, his journey to South Africa, his first interaction with Jawed Sheikh, the match fixing that follows - all the scenes which are as per the focal point of the film give a good account of Kunal Deshmukh - the storyteller. Well shot and edited, these sequences do leave an impression. As also the climax, which is seemingly clichéd to begin with but only leaves a lump in the throat the moment it reaches its tragic finale. Wait, there is more to come. As an epilogue, the scene which followed between Sonal and her child has a trademark Mahesh Bhatt stamp to it!
The only places where one feels that the film stagnates a little is somewhere in the second half of the film where the song 'Haan Tu' comes across as an unnecessary inclusion. Though well tuned, it breaks the film's narrative. Also, in a couple of important scenes, especially the film's climax where solid histrionics were the need of the situation, Sonal's inexperience shows. However, Emraan Hashmi's very good act saves the day as he comes up with yet another impressive performance in a row after Awarapan. The young man is quietly forming a market of his own and one waits to see when the big ones would come calling for Hashmi who is quick leaving the 'Serial Kisser' tag behind!
Meanwhile the three other important actors, Jawed Sheikh, Samir Kochhar and Vishal Malhotra, do quite well and play their parts to perfection. Wish, there was more of Sheikh though since his cold menace does remind one of the Late Ajit saab! Pritam's music aided by Sayeed Quadri's lyrics has been a deadly combination in each of their outing together and Jannat, as the world is aware by now, is not an exception.
It's a metaphor at the very beginning of Jannat with which debutant director Kunal Deshmukh lays the cards open (quite literally in fact) about the story he is about to tell. In fact, on second viewing, one realizes that the beginning and end of the film had exactly the same situation. The difference? While in the opening sequence, Emraan Hahsmi looses the game; in the climax he looses his life.
All, because he didn't have the support of the Lady Queen, first in the game as a card and later as a soul mate in his life!
PACKAGING
The film comes in a standard local plastic case. Since the DVD comes on Moser Baer, don't expect any fancy packaging.
DURATION
The film comes in a single DVD pack with the film's duration being 134 minutes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The DVD doesn't come with any special features.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 50/=
CONCLUSION
When released in the thick of IPL 20-20 cricket, Jannat was the only film which worked at the box office when even biggies like 'Tashan' and 'Bhoothnath' struggled to make an impression. Proving yet again that ultimately a product, aided by some superb publicity, always counts, Jannat is fine entertainer to be given a watch.
  
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