Jab Tak Hai Jaan - ***1/2
‘Very satisfying, succulent and sumptuous experiences despite being a tad touch lengthy and dumb cliché’s ingrained’!!!
Yash Chopra returns after a hiatus of 8 years for his final swan song, which might not stand to be among his best works, but definitely succeeds in bringing Sharukh’s charm and romance back on track. JTHJ oozes oodles of romance, highlighting the feeling of yearning for one’s lost love in classic poetic style albeit filled with clichés and has its share of potholes, more on that later. And Yes, Sharukh Khan is back and how!
We are taken to the world of Major Samar Anand who is a bomb diffusion squadron officer, who has diffused 97 bombs till now and is on verge of diffusing 98th and he is called as ‘A Man Who Cannot Die’! Enter Akira a free spirited, bubbly, young and dynamic (ala Band Baaja Baarat Anushka in Western style) news reporter from Discovery Channel who chances upon Major’s secret diary ( sic ) in a clichéd scene, that takes us to flashback 10 years ago.
Here we have Mr. Samar an immigrant in London doing all kinds of work viz. cleaning, washing, marketing, chef and importantly singing Punjabi folk on streets. And as expected stumbles on Meera, a rich NRI who dislikes Indians and as luck would have it, in a clichéd manner both hero and heroine teach song and English to each other respectively and in process fall in surreal love. But only to be separated for a reason which I sincerely felt dumb, but as always ‘epic love happens to dumbest of all’: P
Akira being the smarty pie tries her bit to cheer up Samar only to hopelessly fall for his rugged charms, and Samar’s enjoying the new attention too, so is it going to be another romance evolving? But destiny has something else in store. So it leads to all the characters back on one platform thanks to the most hackneyed reason bollywood has come across ( can one ever finish a movie without a psychiatric diagnosis?) Will not let the cards off on what happens next! The second half has its share of twists and turns and takes its own sweet time to unfold!