Story:
We have a 40-year-old teenager at heart Jazz (Saif Ali Khan) who never reveals his real name Jassi to the ladies around him. At first, we think he has just one job, ‘to dress up and party’ but gradually we see he carries a heart under those Iron Maiden & Rolling Stone quirky t-shirts. He’s a pretty unreal real-estate broker partnered along with his brother Dimpy (Kumud Mishra) and they’re about to close the biggest deal of their career.
It’s a usual night for Jazz as he stumbles into a girl, Tia (Alaya F), at the club and he brings her back home expecting to get some action. Instead, he gets the shock of ‘you might be my dad’. That, of course, shocks him given his colourful personality. It’s what he does next after knowing the truth, is the rest of the story is all about.
Writing:
The story is adapted from a couple of foreign films like Hugh Grant’s About A Boy or the 2013 Mexican film Instructions Not Included. Though not entirely inspired it has a few shades from those films. Hussain & Abbas Dalal do a very mediocre job in penning the dialogues for the film. This one needed the quirk and it has it but in very limited stock.
Performances:
The titular role of Jazz is like it could either be done by Saif Ali Khan or no one at all. Saif is your go-to guy for such roles and he reinvents himself every single time to look dashing in a different way. Alaya F makes an impressive debut. She has a ‘pretty’ confident face for the camera which helps her to build an instant connection. Tabu checks off another wonderful character off her list of portraying a hippie. She gets the nuances on-point with her lost expressions. Kumud Mishra and Chunky Pandey do a decent job as the supporting cast.
Direction:
Nitin Kakkar surely knows how to make his films look visually rich. First Notebook and how this, Nitin likes to keep his slate clean. The only problem with his direction is, he relies too much on the story losing the promptness that should come along.
Music:
Even before the movie starts you’re welcomed with a groovy Ole Ole 2.0 which looked better than it sounded. Bandhu Tu Mera is unabashedly inspired by Saif’s own Tum Hi Ho Bandhu and is nowhere near it. Harshdeep Kaur’s Mere Baabula has a good placement but fails to connect for some reason.
Technical Departments:
Manoj Kumar Khatoi captures the beauty of London in all its glory. He skips the touristy places introducing us to the raw and real streets surrounded by penthouses of the UK. Sachinder Vats and Chandan Arora’s editing leaves behind some unprocessed stuff adding to the decent duration of just a little over 2 hours.
Verdict:
Overall, Jawaani Jaaneman is everything about Saif Ali Khan and a less about the other things. He carries this half-baked film on his sharply-shaped shoulders.
Critics Rating:
Box Office Review
Thumbs Up
- Performances
- Cinematography
Thumbs Down
- Music
- Storyline
