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By Joginder Tuteja, May 16, 2003 - 16:32 IST
Bend It Like Beckham - a movie about a NRI girl's love for sports
Monsoon Wedding - a movie about a traditional Indian wedding
Mitr - My Friend - an emotional movie about a NRI lady
16 December - a spy thriller about India and Pakistan
Agnivarsha - a mythological set in India
and now
Jajantaram Mamantaram (J2M2, if you please!!)
Trust iDream Production to do something different every time they come up with a movie. All their movies have been totally
different from regular Bollywood potboilers. The tradition continues with J2M2 , which is a fantasy inspired from Gulliver's
travels. A story set in modern times about a guy from Mumbai - Aditya - played by Javed Jafri, who gets trapped in an island of
'dwarf' villagers !! Then there is a wicked guy Chattan Singh played by none other than Gulshan Grover who wants to take over
the kingdom from the village pradhan by hook or by crook. For this he hires the services of the demon - Chamunda
(nevertheless a comic character) who has supernatural powers and eats kids for his meals!! To add to the fun there is a sweet
loverboy -Jiran - whose heart beats for the 'rajkumari'. All this and over 1 hour of special effects sum up to a summer holidays
fun fare that goes by the name of J2M2. A movie targeted at children, it is directed by Soumitra Ranade, has music by the
band - Three Brothers and a Violin, and has lyrics by Nitin Raikwar !!
The best part of this album is the experimentation about having all six tracks in the album as they appear in the movie i.e. in a
sequential manner !! The dialogues that precede the number make the songs even more enjoyable as they very well convey the
situation in the movie. So, here it goes !!
INTRODUCTION TO THE MOVIE
A brief dialogue about who Aditya is and how he been trapped in the 'village of dwarfs' after he lost his way in the sea !! First
impression of the villagers is (but naturally) to be scared of the 'BIG MAN' as he reminds them of 'Chamunda' - The demon. So,
all the villagers go silently to have a look at this man and try to tie him up. The number that follows is the title track 'Jajantaram
Mamantaram' sung by Usha Utthap, which should be liked at least by the children. Sung in her trademark husky manner, it is
good to see her scare the hell out of everyone in 'Thode Se Andhere' in Bhoot with same elan` as entertaining children with the
title song !!
ADITYA COMES TO KNOW ABOUT JIRAN'S LOVE FOR THE RAJKUMARI
This piece of dialogue is really funny when the loverboy Jiran asks for a 'choti-si-madad' i.e. a small help from Aditya. Aditya
teases him by saying that 'waise bhi, teri to has baat choti hi hogi naa !!' He tells him that he is aware that he loves rajkumari
and will do his best to unite them. This is followed by a love song between the lovers - 'Jheel Jaise Teri Aankhen' sung by
Hamsika and Narayan Parshuram. A love song composed very differently from a regular Bollywood love song, it is classical
based and is the only song which doesn't really gel with the context of the movie. This is because the other numbers are so
very enjoyable and particularly targeted at children, that you tend to ignore this number which though being well composed
proves to be a speed breaker in the movie's narrative !!
CHATTAN SINGH'S RISING ENEMITY FOR ADITYA AND HIS PLANS FOR HIS ELIMINATION
This is where Chattan Singh becomes aware about Aditya's growing popularity with villagers and how hatred and jealousy
creeps up in him. He deicide upon waking up Chamunda - The Demon to create havoc in the village so that he reigns supreme.
An instrumental fusion between western and Indian classical follows to convey the mood of the story. This should be a part of
the background score of the movie !!
CHATTAN SINGH'S ATTEMPT AT INSTIGATING VILLAGERS AGAINST ADITYA
After his continued attempts at throwing Aditya out of their territory, Chattan Singh is trying to instigate the villagers against
him in this sequence. Aditya too gives him a hard hitting answer and warns the villagers that Chattan Singh is the one who is
looking at his selfish interests rather than doing something for the village. A funny altercation again, the number that follows is
the best in the movie - 'Chaal Hai Chaal Hai' (it's the trick) sung by none other than Gulshan Grover !! Narayan Parshuram too
joins him in singing this number that has a wonderful rythm by Freddy "Queen" Mercury !! But pray, why does this rythm
remind of the music of 'Ek Garam Chai Ki Pyaali Ho' from Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega ???
ADITYA DECIDES TO LEAVE THE VILLAGE AFTER ALL THIS INSULT
When the villagers, including the pradhan, start looking at him suspiciously, Aditya decides to take it no more and decides to
leave the village. His best friend Jiran and the village children realize that his feelings have been hurt and decide to convince him
to stay back by their love and affection. A good sequence again with funny dialogues that bring a smile on the face, children -
Nihar, Tanmay and Madhumita, sing the number - 'Gum Sum Gum Sum'. A very well sung number, it reminds of one of those
numbers that used to be present in the good old NFDC children films.
CLIMAX - WHEN VILLAGERS TRY TO SAVE ADITYA AND UNITE TO ELIMINATE CHAMUNDA
This is towards the end of the movie when Aditya is critically injured and the villagers try to rescue him. Side by side, they also
plan to find ways to get rid of Chamunda. The initiative is taken by children who motivate everyone to become courageous and
unite to fight Chamunda. The number that follows is the inspiring 'Jhirumba Rela Re' by Udit Narayan and Children that is yet
another example of a number targeted entirely at the children and how it scores there !!
Good part of the entire album is that in spite of it being a score of the children's movie, it is liked even by the adults, mainly due
to the dialogues that precede the songs and hence convey the mood of the situation. Children who sing the songs - Nihar,
Madhumita, Tanmay, Nikhil, Sneha and Sumitra do an excellent job in all the tracks. Recent success of Chota Jadugar and
summer holidays should enhance the prospects of movie's good running at the theatres and the subsequent popularity of the
music as well !! Good promotion by iDream Production will certainly give boost to the movie and music !!
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