Jab Tak Hain Jaan: It’s basically a retelling of Twilight: New Moon.
*Spoilers*
Meera (aka Edward)
You better think she’s perfect because it will be shoved down your throat. She’s rich but she spends her free time helping the poor. She’s apparently a smart business woman.
She’s modern, but she deeply religious. Oh I forgot… she has a “wild†side that she never knew about: she can dance like she just fell out of Step-Up.
And as the Edward she believes that her Bella (Samra/SRK) will be safe as long as she stays away from him.
Seriously everyone, can we all agree that Katrina is a horrible, I mean truly horrible actress. At no point did I feel any emotion toward her character what so ever. I will give her one thing, she is an incredible dancer.
Akira (aka Jacob)
She is the personification of happy. Samar has a soft spot for her but of course she can never ever replace the perfect-in-every-way-Meera. So like Jacob, the younger barely clothed love interest gets friend zoned.
Anushka is annoying but her character demanded it. I thought she convincingly showed heartache without making it look like a noble act of sacrificial love.
Which brings me to our Bella: Samar (SRK)
1. I am a huge SRK fan.
2. SRK is too old for this.
His dimples can’t make up for the fact that he is too old to play charm someone with a guitar. All the flash backs make him look like a guy going through a mid life crisis. Sorry SRK but you officially become that creepy old guy trying to hang out with the young crowd. I would have felt better if Samar’s role was given to Ranbir Kappor or Arjun Rampel.
The movie points out that Akira is 21 and Samar is 38, making their relationship believable. But who ever seriously thought that SRK and Katrina would make a good couple was high. They have zero chemistry and look terrible together. The kissing/sex scenes are disturbing to watch. It’s awkward, unnatural, and unnecessary.
To me, one the things that made a timeless love story is ability to show intimacy without using kissing or sex. And up until now SRK was the master at onscreen sexual tension: “Are Re Are†from DTPH, the dancing scene for KKHH, “Morey Piya†from Devdas… the list goes on. All of these scenes were sexy without ever having any actual kissing or sex. And that fact SRK had a no kissing rule made him that much more special. Now that he broke it, it cheapens him. Samar is a ghost of the lover we know SRK is capable of being.
What annoys me most about the movie is that tries very hard to be a “timeless†love story but it has none of the elements of one. Every love story needs the pain of separation.
Siram being forced to go to India to marry Kuljeet; Anjali leaving because she assumes Rahul loves Tina; Zaara having to return to Pakistan; Paro getting married; Dev and Maya leaving their respective families; Om’s death after trying to save Shanti; Divya realizing that her best friend stole Lovely…
Again there are countless more examples of “judaai ka ghumâ€. I bet you know the exact movies those scene are from…why? Because they are timeless.
And of those scenes are emotional because there is some profound reason the couple can’t be together. But in JTHJ the only reason the lovers cannot meet is simply because the girl promised god. What are they trying to prove? That Meera loves god more than Samar? Is Meera so stupid that it takes her ten years to realize that it’s better to die together then live apart? And when Samar loses his memory she’s fine pretending to be his wife but when he remembers, suddenly she’s thinks it’s wrong. There is no real conflict, just stupidity.
So Samar “faces danger†to remove Meera’s faith in god. Wouldn't the best why to temp god would be a suicide attempt? Samar doesn't want to live…fine. Why bother with a game of chance? Pick up and gun and shot yourself…let’s see if god intervenes, no need for this boy-who-lived drama. Let’s see how the man who can’t die survives a bullet through the brain.
Unless you are trying to testing god like Samar then don’t watch this movie because you will die of boredom, nonsense, and bad acting. Everyone keeps raving about the movie be it was Yash Chopra’s last and no one wants to be rude. But just because it was his last, doesn't make it good.