Jaaneman Movie Review

Bollywood Movie Review 

 Shirish Kunder’s directorial debut ‘Jaaneman’ uses a style of storytelling that has never been seen in Bollywood before. The film combines magical realism with Bollywood sensibilities to present a story that makes you laugh and cry.

Janeeman perhaps one of the most hi-tech Bollywood films ever made, with abundant use of motion control camera and the use of visual effects as narrative.

The marriage of realism with escapism as also form and content is evident in Jaaneman. There are moments that offer tremendous entertainment. There are times when Shirish borrows incidents straight from life; you've seen it happening to someone or perhaps, it's happened to you.

Preity Zinta plays Piya Goyal

The movie takes off beautifully. The camera zooms out from lunar craters and pans into a space capsule in which Agastya Rao (Akshay Kumar) tells the story of his good friend Suhaan (Salman Khan) to his astronaut companion, a blonde female whose face is not shown until the end.

Janeeman begins with Suhan [Salman Khan] receiving a notice to pay the alimony. He has to shell out Rs. 50 lacs to his estranged wife Piya [Preity Zinta], now settled in the U.S. Suhan's 'Chachu' Boney [Anupam Kher], a lawyer, thinks of ways to wriggle out of the situation.

It's at this juncture that Champu aka Agastya [Akshay Kumar] walks in, looking for Piya. He was in love with her during the college days, he tells Suhan and Chachu, but she was in love with someone else [Agastya is unaware that Suhan is the guy]. Piya had ignored Agastya then, a nerd, and even broke his heart by courting another guy. A heartbroken Agastya had left the college for this reason.

Akshay Kumar plays Agastya Rao

Back to the present: Agastya is now at NASA. His outwardly appearance may've undergone a change, but he still doesn't know how to communicate with a girl, forget dating her. Suhan and Chachu hatch the plan to get Agastya and Piya together, so that Suhan is out of the mess.

Agastya flies to New York, so does Suhan. They hire an apartment right opposite Piya's residence and monitor each and every move of her through binoculars and telescope. Suhan helps Agastya to woo Piya. A reluctant Piya eventually gives in. But the story changes when Suhan gets to know of a certain reality and that changes his life completely. He feels responsible towards Piya.

Suhan realizes his folly and wants to make amends. But oblivious to Suhan's presence, Piya is now preparing for a life with Agastya. One wouldn't like to reveal the climax, since that would take the sheen away from the enterprise. We wouldn't be able to reveal the finale either, which is sure to bring a smile on your face.

Piya is a college beauty.

Janeeman balances humor and emotions beautifully. In fact, a film on relationships ought to rest on a solid emotional ground and JAAN-E-MANN has those scenes in abundance, especially in the second hour. Salman's journey from a mere spectator of Akshay-Preity's courtship to being a part of the love story is beautifully depicted. What prompts Salman to have a change of heart and feel more responsible [the reason is withheld by the reviewer] is again a brilliant stroke from the writing, execution and performance point of view.

Salman Khan plays Suhaan Kapoor

To sum it up, ‘Jaanemann’ is a film that ought to be seen once at least. Some people may be put off by Kunder’s unconventional style, but the movie merits a recommendation solely because of its uniqueness. It gives birth to a completely new genre of filmmaking in Bollywood.

E-mail this to Friends

Register to get complete access to all the sections/features of the website. (eg. commenting, discussion forums and more)
This website is 100% FREE, no charges ever and registration is quick!
If you already have an account then please login using the login box below main menu.

Click to register