Nicely done.
Quite like the third little bear's stuff from Goldilocks, JTYJN was just right. Imran and Genelia have a natural flair for acting realistically. There are no "heros" in this film - just real people. Its not pretentious, not groundbreaking. Just pure good ol' simple Bombay fun. Just what the doctor ordered. Love the way the various relationships are portrayed, especially Jai and Aditi. As well as the various interplays between the friends, and between the kids and their parents (especially Jai and his mom).
The Meghna chick could've been replaced by someone better and a little less Maharashtian. She was as disjoint as Sonali Kulkarni in Dil Chahta Hai, and she was a major disappointment of the Rajat Kapoor/Kitu Gidwani sequence, which was awesome.
Talking of them, the cameos were lethal, and what made the movie really special. Naseeruddin and Arbaaz/Sohail were hilariously over-the-top. The music was perfect. Majorly disappointed that "jaane tu mera kya hai" never made it up on screen, and I really feel I'm the only one batting for this song. What to do, I love it so much.
And that brings me to who blew me away, leading me to rewatch his sequences, many a time over. Pratiek Babbar (Smita Patil's son). In a less than 10 minute performance, this kid packed in a role of a lifetime - one of the most powerfully-etched characters of the film, and displayed immense potential. In his short role as Amit (Aditi's son), Pratiek plays the artistic rebel brother whom the parents cannot reform - a behavioral deviant with a pet rat and a constant foul mood/mouth.
What Pratiek managed to do, was something that actors like Ajay Devgan, Abhishek Bachchan and Akshaye Khanna have never done - "displayed the OPTIMUM amount of intensity". While they are all immense intense actors in their own right, they conform to the Bollywood definition of "intense" which was written back in the 70s, and a little outdated - the serious eyes, the frown, the nonchalance, the voice. What Pratiek brings to the table is all of that coupled with the "natural" intensity that he displays. And of course, his mother's striking features screaming out of him. They way he sailed through this role, bringing it into his own, makes this one actor who could (if given the right opportunities) single-handedly change the way on-screen portrayals are done in Bollywood.
5 comments:
Agree with you 100% regarding the supporting cast, esp. Pratiek Babbar. I really enjoyed his performance and the way his role unfolded. In all, I would have preferred a little less of the dopey Maharashtrian chick (I made the same analogy to Sonali Kulkarni too) and more of Amit. In fact, I have been mulling over a screenplay regarding brother/sister interplay for the past few years and just recently I've nailed down a story, for which a lot of the inspiration came from JTYJN and, oddly enough, Darjeeling Limited. Remind me to fill you in on this soon.
Anyway, you'll be happy to know that "Jaane tu meri kya hai" (male and female versions) were both shot but left on the cutting room floor because of the film's length. So actually last week Aamir Khan released a new version of the film in theaters and included both songs in it. (Yeah I read his blog a *lot*) Unfortunately the longer version won't be run outside India but we'll prolly get it on the DVD. It was a smart move on his part as a producer - guaranteed way to get repeat viewers of the movie once the initial hysteria has died down among the teen crowd. But they were included initially and you may get to see them after all :)
Yay!!! Thanks for that ray of light, Zee!!! Will look for it.
And I'm so glad to hear someone I know appreciate Darjeeling Limited!
It was a little too spaced out for me, but still quite an engrossing movie. Of course I was watching it really really deeply (by myself) and 20 mins before the end, the entire khandan (Sarwar and his parents/sister) traipsed in from an afternoon of shopping and completely disregarded my concentration and began yapping away. So I had to finish it off on my laptop in my room :P I don't get how people can't shut up when someone is watching a movie. *eyeroll*
I heart Imran Khan. He's the hero of this new story I've come up with. Guess who's the heroine? :D:D:D
My fave bits in Darjeeling are
1) all scenes with Adrien Brody. Yum.
2) when Owen Wilson orders for his brothers, and decides the beds for them, and plans everything ahead for them. And then you see how the mom does it even more and that's probably where he learned it from. It's hilarious! That's exactly how neuroses get passed down from generation to generation and you almost always have one complete control freak in every batch of siblings :P I love it when art imitates life like that!
Jaane TU was undoubtedly one of the most overrated movie of that year. while the acting was decent by Imran and very good by genelia...the supporting cast was reduced to mere tum tums without any depth. The time tested college story has worked again but it is disappointing to c an average movie rated so highly. The story narration is slumpy and goes slow mid way. the songs have no flow with the movie and are force fitted. Inspite of a fresh song like aditi...the other tracks are just not of rehman standard..because of the bad lyrics.
The only upside of the film are Naseeruddin Shah who is a maverick and does even the slightest of roles to the best and leaves a mark.Arbaaz and Sohail khan deliver a very good comedy in an industry starved of good comedy for generations together.
PS: Sonali's character in DCH was completely in the place and in the flow of the movie. when a movie is set in mumbai..wats so wrong in having a maharashtrian. i guess it imroves the feel of the movie.
Regards,
Venkatesh Kumar
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