Aamir Khan Productions and acclaimed dialogue writer Abbas Tyrewala get together for a film about college, affairs, friendship, fun and the search for true love. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is not comparable to any film directly but there are aspects that strike as clichéd. At one point, it tries to be funny like Dil Chahta Hai with all its college friends sitting around and joking theme whereas on the other, it tries to bring out the seriousness about life and circumstances which was almost but not quite like last year’s Dil, Dosti, Etc. While the film stands nowhere in comparison with the two movies mentioned here, it stands out on its own for a while due to its simplicity of portraying what it wants to. Nowhere does it make you feel that this is reality and this is how love should be because nobody in the real world does the crazy things that debutant Imran Khan does for his friend/love Genelia D’Souza on horse back, in jail, at the airport - especially past the security check-point. But anyway, most of it was just for laughs and it did manage to bring out a few.
Ratz (Imran Khan) is the cute kid in college who wouldn’t even kill a mosquito because his mother, played superbly by Ratna Pathak, taught him the path of non-violence, much to the contrary of his late father who proudly stands in the portrait in the living room (Naseeruddin Shah). Ratz’ best friend is Catz…. Oops! ‘Meow’ is the name of Genelia’s character and the two are supposedly best of friends and have been teased together in typical ways through their college life just because of their close friendship even though, they may not have seen each other in that manner half way through the film. Meow is a rowdy girl in college who will take up a physical fight with a guy without hesitation and Ratz will have to intervene and talk his way out of the fight which he just became a part of. His chickening- out tactics tend to work very well and are amusingly efficient!
Thus, through those days of fun and frolic and dancing on Pappu’s inability to dance, Ratz befriends a pretty girl at a party and they start dating. This is where the plot takes a twist as Meow just realized that she is feeling ‘Jealous’ and her love for her dear friend Ratz is self-discovered. Ratz goes through advanced stages of meeting the strange parents of the girl and her silly habits of asking ‘what’s this’ and making fantasies out of hand-carts, trees and things around her. Beyond a point though, the concept just falls short of making her retarded. Noticing Ratz’ unaffected state with her own jealousy, Meow obeys her parents’ wish of seeing guys as possible suitors and things do get finalized with one of them. Ridiculously so, she gets engaged to a guy who is symbolic of the wrong-type-of-guy and seems helpless about it! Now both our lead stars are in pairs that are not supposed to be and they realize their individual love for each other but the stakes are high now.
Eventually, Ratz turns his father’s dream into a reality by becoming a Ranjore ka Rathore by taking the risks, beating up Meow’s fiancé for slapping her before abandoning her, getting jailed for it and getting released with the help of long-lost brothers who encourage him to take the fastest and most scenic ride to the airport before Meow gets on to her flight to USA, which seems like a land of no return. Thus, Ratz gallops his way on a horse and reaches the airport without further hindrance to stop his love from leaving without him. Insaneness then follows suit and the security officer replicating Ratz’ singing of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is simply outrageous!
A lot of this story is hackneyed and just plain silly but the movie demands that. It screams to be as filmy as it can get but stays within the premise of being different rather than in-your-face like Om Shanti Om. Abbas Tyrewala has tried something different and has portrayed the story from the eyes and mouths of the youth sitting at the airport and narrating the tale like it were the best story of the year. Hardly engrossing enough ……
A.R. Rehman’s music could’ve been better. Title track is melodious, Pappu can’t dance saala is funny and catchy while Kabhi Kabhi Aditi is perhaps the best song with a great South Indian style to it.
Don’t expect a Taare Zameen Par type epic from this Aamir Khan production and don’t even expect it to be a landmark film of college days like Dil Chahta Hai or the unique Dil, Dosti, Etc. but bear in mind that Jaane Tu…. Is just a light entertainer, cute on the whole, funny in parts and silly in conclusion.
7.005 on a scale of 1-10.