Jannat: In Search of Heaven...

Emraan – In terms of the shades, the role had immense potential to unleash the true talent in an actor and do what "Naam" did for Sanjay Dutt. Having said that, a confident performance here.

Sonal Chauhan –Barring a few plastic moments, her performance is not too bad for a first-timer. The svelte figurine, if chooses wisely can survive in Bollywood. And very addictive smile.

Sameer Kochhar – This actor is too handsome hunk to be a police officer. And why was he munching all the time?

Vishal Malhotra – there was no value addition of this role to the movie per se'. When the apartment is raided, why does it scare the living daylights of him? And later he jumps in to be a partner in major crime? Bad characterisation!

Vipin Sharma –Probably owing to lack of screen time, the character seems unwarranted. Perhaps hangover of TPZ.

Jawaid Shaikh - I wonder if it is the actor or the writing department who should take blame here for turning it into a character role. Have we forgotten Paresh Rawal in "Naam"? BTW even the one-way street dialogue from "Naam" is reprised here. Perhaps the weakest villain from Bhatt's camp.

Songs as usual from the house of Bhatt's do bear the trademark stamp over it and posses repeat value.

Kunal holds the reigns well for the first timer. By another couple of rounds, time will tell.

The promos set a different expectation bar altogether in the audience's mind. Cricket though infused into the storyline is not integral to it and hence it would be safe to say that justice was "not" done to the subject.

The last 30-minutes could have been easily trimmed to give it a slick finish. The climax was definitely long-winded and practically even the blind can see it coming.

PS: The dig at Sidhu.. I agree too!

The successful combination of Mahesh Bhatt's production team and Emraan Hashmi have teamed up once again after Awarapan for this drama. The story is about the life of a bookie who becomes a cricket match fixer. Mukesh Bhatt's production house delivers great music and hard-hitting plots.

Their latest film Jannat is terrific. The film has a very different story that keeps you interested & entertained right from start to end. Generally I don't have any interest in gambling, betting or cricket match fixing but the story was told in a stylish format, it was about 2 hours 20 minutes and I enjoyed every second of it and there wasn't a single boring or useless scene. I'm glad that there isn't another film about revenge or love because I'm sick of those.

The best thing about the movie is that it shows that a person who spends money unwisely has an ability that can make him rich which cannot happen in real life. It also shows that you shouldn't push your luck and money can only be earned by hard work. The music is great as usual from the Bhatt's production house and the best songs are Zara Sa & Judai. Overall Jannat is one of Emraan Hashmi's best film and has a good message that we can all learn from. Other than that it was shot in great locations at Cape Town of South Africa.

I watched Jannat yesterday evening. I have to say that it was quite an intense movie with good performances except from the female lead (débutant Sonal). A powerful actress could have enacted it with more power and punch. Emraan is very impressive and first rate in this movie. The story is quite novel and good. The twist at the interval was quite shocking to me, I did not expected that. Overall the support cast was also good. South Africa locales are good and cinematography is good. I liked the end a lot even though others may have different opinion. Th movie does not look like that it has been directed by a débutant. I will be looking forward for further movies from the director. Go for it guys..

As it has been said in the media,this movie is not your regular hashmi-flick (which either end up being corny or/and extremely boring).

I went in to watch the movie with very low expectations but was surprised with the the first half.It had a nice and enjoyable plot and i especially liked the opening card game (me being a big time card enthusiast).The second half more or less fell apart with all the emotions flying in.It suffers from what i call "The Soap Opera mentality" where every small thing is made a very big deal of.

Emran Hashmi was extremely believable as the grey-charactered high profile match fixer. His speaking style, i felt somehow, encapsulated the apprehensiveness yet decisiveness of a fixer. I would say this performance by him was his best,second only to one in Gangster. Vipin Sharma(Arjun's dad) was rather flat while delivering his dialogs and so did the emotionless Sonal Chauhan. The one performance i was bowled over by in this movie was of Javed Shaikh(especially the weight in his voice).

Another let down in the movie was for the ones among us who wanted more of insider-story from the match-fixing scenario. There, the movie lacked material.it ended up more as a love story rather than a match-fixing story(which quite a few of us were hoping for).

I would rate this movie a 8/10, a definite watch if you have got the time and can bear the second half that gets all draggy.

The best thing about a Mukhesh Bhatt release is that no one expects much from it. And more often than not, his films turn out to be quite entertaining. He is also credited with having launched budding directors in this new age of Bollywood (Recall : Anurag Basu). Jannat is the directorial debut of Kunal Deshmukh, and among all the flops that have come out of the Indian Hindi film industry this year, Jannat happens to be a huge surprise.

Jannat has two parts to its story. The former set in India, the later in South Africa. Essentially, like most Bhatt films, it is a love story. However, its main storyline deals with betting and match fixing in the cricketing world. Arjun, the character portrayed by Emraan Hashmi, is a man with, what he calls, a 'sixth sense'. He is a master predictor of cricket matches. He becomes a bookie and soon gains attention in the eyes of underworld don Abu Ibrahim, who buys arms and ammunitions with the money he makes from betting on cricket matches. Torn apart by his love for the girl of his dreams, Zoya, and his greed for money, Arjun is left with making a choice between living a normal hard-earned life and an easy, yet deceiving one.

The first good thing about Jannat is that it has a solid storyline. Whether it is the childish, yet well defined love story, or the complexities of a man who is clearly suffering from some obsessive compulsive disorder or other. Then there is the cricketing world and underworld bit. This is one of the most original and well written story lines to come out of Bollywood this year so far. When it comes to being effective, it achieves that in its entirety in its two hours and twenty minute running time. With everything from the mention of a cricketer turned comedy show host, to the murder of a coach at the World Cup, the storyline is the strongest point of the movie.

The music is not as good as one expects it to be. Judai being the pick of the lot. However, the version sung by Kamraan Ahmad is not there in the film. Zara si is just okay. Characteristic of a Bhatt film. Rupam Islam's Hindi singing debut is noticeable, although miss-able. The song is too similar to the songs of his band, Fossils. The background score is very good. It gels in very well with the pace of the film.

Emraan Hashmi, apart from having earned the tag of 'serial kisser', happens to be a freakishly good actor. The versatility of the roles that he has done clearly shows that. From being a wife-thief, to an undercover agent, and now a simple man with quite a serious mental disorder. He is like what his dad states in the film - 'A compulsive liar'. And in order to get himself out of any situation, he does what is characteristic of him. He lies some more. Newcomer Sonal Chauhan is okay, making the transition from a sweet and bubbly Mumbai girl to a sexy bar dancer in South Africa. She does look quite anorexic in certain scenes, but as a whole she looks great. Javed Sheikh, as Abu Ibrahim is cold. Effective. Vishal Malhotra, as the sidekick serves the humor quotient well. The lad has come a long way from hosting Disney cartoons on Doordarshan.

Bollywood's only great film this year happens to Jodhaa Akbar, with Mithya and Shaurya being the other two 'good' films. Race might be a commercial success, but it is a highly frustrating film. Even Bhootnaath failed to click. Tashan is a no brainer! In a year when Bollywood is churning out flop after flop, Jannat serves as a breath of fresh air. Although far from heavenly, Jannat has a lot to offer at a time when cricket is on the lips of almost every Indian (Read : The IPL).

The IPL has come to a stage when it gets boring to sit down and watch an entire game. Do yourself a favor, grab a Jannat ticket and spend two and a half hours in an air conditioned theater watching a film which redefines all the 'Ishtyle' and 'Pharmoola' that Bollywood has been coming up with off late.

7/10. Worth it!