'Jai Veeru'; a ‘humourous’ saga of cops, crooks

Jai Veeru
Cast: Fardeen Khan, Kunal Khemu, Arbaaz Khan, Dia Mirza, Anjana Sukhani
Director: Puneet Sira
Rating: *

Jai Veeru has all the requirements of a formula film — good guys, bad guys, and best friends; revenge, betrayal, romance, dhishum-dhishum and one song for each lead pair: Fardeen Khan (Jai) and Veeru (Kunal Khemu); Jai and Anna (Dia Mirza); Veeru and Divya (Anjana Sukhani).

The contrived story, borrowed heavily from various Hollywood films, centres around Veeru, a petty thief with a good heart and his brother-like buddy Jai who harbours a secret. The film, which turns into a game of cops and robbers and double crossing, might have fared better with a dose of camp humour, respectable performances or even a decent screenplay. But it lacks on all counts. Buddy films hinge on the chemistry between the leads. Though Khemu makes an effort at adding some zing, there is zero chemistry between the characters. Khan sleepwalks through his part.

If any technical department sticks out, it’s for the wrong reasons. Sample this dialogue. During an argument, Veeru throws a bowl of chips at Jai to which the latter retorts: ‘Chips se marega mujhe’.
Priceless. The production values are sloppy. It’s impossible, for instance, not to notice the cardboard edges of the private jet.
If you are expecting Sholay references, there are none barring the character names. Thank god.