Young love has never been better

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
Cast: Imran Khan, Genelia, Ratna Pathak Shah
Director: Abbas Tyrewala

Taare Zameen Par saw last year off and now Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na breezes in half way through an otherwise lackluster year making us thankful to Aamir Khan for producing two of the better films of the last seven months.

Unlike the emotional 'Taare Zameen Par', Jaane Tu is a frothy romcom which follows a set structure and introduces template characters at appointed moments. The strength of the film does not come from an original story but from the first-time director's skill and experience as a writer. On the flipside, the issues with Jaane Tu are also those of a novice director working with new and unpolished talent.

This is a love story about college friends Jai (Imran Khan) and Aditi (Genelia) as told by their loyal gang of friends. Jai and Aditi are inseparable and, understandably, all those around them believe they are in love and destined to be together, a reality that is clear to all except the couple in question.

Adamant that they are just good friends, Jai and Aditi make a pact to find each other doting partners who will also be accept their friendship. And surprise of surprises, they get jealous of the new people in each others' lives and finally admit their true feelings for one another.

So far so what, but credit to Abbas Tyrewala, writer of films like Munnabhai MBBS and Main Hoon Na, for skillfully preventing his film from hurtling towards the completely conventional. Besides his dialogues, which are expectedly good and naturally conversational, he has crafted some quirky and engaging devices.

For instance Jai's crusading non-violence preaching mother Savitri (Ratna Pathak Shah) has daily conversations with her deceased husband's portrait (Naseeruddin Shah is superb and seems to be having a ball) or the use of flashbacks to tell Jai and Aditi's story thereby converting the cynic into a believer through the magic of storytelling, and the touching sibling relationship between Aditi and Amit (Pratiek Babbar). The exception is the airport climax which finally succumbs to the absurdly clichéd. Some scenes are handled very well while others tend to slacken.

Overall this is a rather sanitised but entertaining movie which offers a wonderful canvas for portraying nascent talent. Imran Khan gets a great launch with a role tailor-made for someone of his age and experience. The lack of acting proficiency can be assigned to the awkwardness of a young man's rites of passage. Easy on the eyes, Imran is surely going to be a heartthrob for college girls and teenagers. He makes a very respectable debut and his acting chops will hopefully get cemented with time.

Genelia has nailed playing the tomboyish teenager, and does hugely better here that in her other recent release Mere Baap Pehle Aap. But with other Bollywood roles highly likely to come her way she could do with improving her Hindi diction.

The real surprise of the film for me was Pratiek Babbar, son of Smita Patil and Raj Babbar. As Aditi's misunderstood and impertinent brother Amit, he makes a remarkably smooth entry into cinema, without fanfare and hype. Manjari's performance as Jai's girlfriend Meghna also stands out and Karan, Alishka, Nirav and Sugandha infuse infectious energy into their roles as the friends. The ancillary characters like the inspector (Paresh Rawal), and two cowboy brothers Bhaloo and Bagheera (Arbaaz and Sohail Khan) simply play to the gallery. This film is, among other things, a casting success.

The editing could have been tighter, and the songs better placed with Kabhi kabhi Aditi, Tu bole, and Pappu can't dance, almost slamming into each other in the early part of the film.

I look forward to seeing Imran's next feature; and to the next film Aamir Khan presents and to Tyrewala's next work.