Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

I am so depressed. What the heck was that all about? Jhoom Babarbar Jhoom is a topper. It has made it all the way to number 1 in my list of "Movies I hate the most" overtaking the place of Yashraj's previous release Dhoom 2. What is the fuss all about? Who wants to sing, shout and dance with actors performing their most idiotic characters ever. There is no way anyone in any way can relate to this movie. Great sets, great locales, great actors - yet JBJ is a loser in every sense. If this is how Indian cinema is going global then it must stop, immediately.

Director Shaad Ali leaves everybody disappointed. His earlier movie Bunty aur Babli rocked the nation. He approached Jhoom.. is almost similar retrospective manner. Unfortunately, it does not work out this time because there is nothing Jhoom.. can be considered as decent cinema. Rikky and Alvira meet, erect a heap of lies, an idiotic nomad (Monsieur Amitabh Bachchan, the Great!) appears out of nowhere and does almost nothing, now the two are making up stories to conceal their lies and bingo - guess what, they're in love.

Why, why do they have to do it? They call it a rom-com, but let me tell you - it's neither romantic nor comic. It's not a movie that fits into comedy genre neither does it happen to be a love story (no, don't call it a love story. Idiots don't fall in love.) If there is anything in the movie, then it's the lush cinematography, great editing works, that breathtaking 360-degree rotated view of Taj Mahal, the dance sequence in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Superman falling sequence at Madame Taussad, Lara Dutta's French accent + the swearing and everything, and Preity Zinta (her Brit accent does not seem to work out for me.) Abhishek Bachchan needs to seriously think about his selection of roles and Bobby Doel, welcome back. A lot has changed while you were gone. They don't make those good movies anymore. But Bobby looks good, both as the hunk and the geek.

Kudos to Vaibhavi Merchant - she is the only person who does justice to her work. Shankar Ehsaan Loy fail to impress (Ticket to Hollywood.. is too Rahman style!) Gulzar is caught up with a bunch of people who don't know what they're doing. The casting director seems to have accomplished a hectic job. And finally Yashraj! (sigh) Least spoken is best. They're making money and that's good, perhaps they know Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is the substance that sells. And if films like Jhoom.. continue to sell, then Indian cinema wouldn't be very proud as the world's largest film industry.

I love Bollywood films. Ravishing, well-invested musicals, song and dance, dialogues which are larger than life, wonderful actors, strong characters. The song numbers have been an artistic tradition Hindi films, and what particularly amazes me about all these films is the complete irrelevance of the song numbers to the film's story itself (unless it's a film like Dil To Pagal Hai, where the music is part of the script).

I think Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is a brave attempt to make a film with the songs being part of the screenplay. But even then, it just doesn't work. Why? Because there is NO screenplay. The entire film is a big dance show. And it shouldn't be like this. When there are no songs, the film consists of silly jokes and plastic "acting". Some sequences are so ridiculous that you start hating anyone who's been ever involved with this film. It is intended to be funny and crazy, which is a good purpose, but this film manages to be neither this nor that and instead, it sadly ends up being a big silly show. I do admit that the songs are well danced and catchy, but they become tiresome at some point, mainly because most of them are actually the same song in different versions.

The acting (not that it can be called acting in this case) is bad. Abhishek is annoying and miscast. Pretentious performance. Preity, an actress I like immensely, is her usual bubbly and vivacious self, but here, somehow lifeless. The fact that a great actress like Preity could even think of appearing in this film makes me want to slap her. Bobby and Lara are terrible. They ham, overact, and even in the dance numbers get overshadowed by the leading stars (at least here they make some sense). Lara is particularly horrible as a prostitute with her fake French accent. All in all, I do recommend to watch it if you intend to go and dance through the entire film. Quite a special watch buhaaaa...

I read in an Abhishek interview that when he was initially presented with the JBJ story idea (while shooting Bunty babli) it was set in a Delhi train station platform......i can just about imagine the charming scene. Abhishek and his heroine chatting over a cup of chai next to the tea stall. How did that potentially charming romantic tale turn into this over the top Bollywood film based in London? Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was an utter disappointment to me considering the same banner and director came out with the thoroughly entertaining Bunty Aur Babli. The movie felt like a 2hr long music video/ fashion show. I felt the person who would get the most mileage out of the movie would be the fashion designer/stylist of the movie which had a lot of outlandish costumes none more so than the attire of the Big B in the title song.

The first half felt awkward although there were a few funny moments thanks to the Lara and Abhishek. The movie picks up in the 2nd half but it was more due to the performances of the actors rather than the progression of the story. The actors did a relatively good job considering the weak script. I felt Lara Dutta and Bobby Deol were the standout performers from the movie as they had the opportunity to portray characters that had different shades to it. Lara was especially cute with the French accent and the potty mouth of the 2nd half. Bobby had some excellent comic moments in the 2nd half. Abhishek took a bit of a risk by playing such a loud character...he does go a bit over the top at times but I still think he is a good actor and he has his moments. For me Preity Zinta has been repeating herself in all her movies recently (except maybe Lakshya)...ever since Kal Ho Na Ho, she seems to be playing the same character over and over again i.e. an Indian who is either born and brought up abroad or living abroad. She too improves only in the 2nd half when she is not trying to put on an accent. There was not enough chemistry between the lead pair although you could see that they are buddies.

The music was excellent although Shaad Ali managed to drag all life out of the catchy title song since it pops up all over the film. The slow romantic number was also good.

I feel that Yash Raj films are catering more to the NRI crowd with their movies and subsequently took the soul out of this movie by presenting on this enormous scale.. you cant really blame them as it is a business and they need to recoup their costs.

The film has its moments but it is in no way anything more than an average product.

Yashraj Films know they have a set audience that will turn up and watch whatever they put in the cinemas. I've never known such loyalty towards a production house.

But JBJ will be a massive wake up call for all concerned. The film has its good moments and some worthy performances. But the overall product is nothing short of being a complete disaster. Fair enough the Director may have thought that he has come up with an ingenious idea, but sometimes certain ideas or thoughts are far better off staying within the confines of ones head, as they sound and look a lot better swirling around 'up there' than on a large screen.

The protagonists (Abhishek Bachchan and Priety Zinta) look unconvinced by their characters and the whole scenario. And despite Abhishek's best efforts, you almost end up hating both the main characters, purely because the film has bored you senseless by the time proceedings really begin. And by this I mean the introduction of the other two main characters (Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta) - this time in person rather than in the imaginary world of AB and PZ.

Bobby Deol does a very good job considering that he is offered very little in the way of screen time. He plays both his characters very well, in particular the mummy's boy. Lara Dutta is amazing and really puts Priety Zinta in the shade with her performance. Despite both BD and LD having peripheral parts in the film - they both, in my eyes, walk away with the honours as the most entertaining pair on screen.

Amitabh Bachchan is wasted and only appears every time they need to break the monotony of the main characters. He also appears in the dance competition to lend his support to a rather over long sequence.

Overall, JBJ offers very little in the way of a storyline. The treatment of the subject is what you expect of Yashraj films. But even they couldn't dress this weak subject up. DVD rental material at the most.

My 2 cents: This movie was highly recommended to me by a friend. He "sms'd" me the previous night and told me that it was an awesome movie... something that I should see the very next day. Taking his advice, another friend and I bought tickets at a "premium charge" (being newly released and all). Halfway through the movie, I wanted to tear my arm out and beat myself to death with it. The movie has an abysmal storyline. The intended "plot-twist" most moviegoers can predict when they are 30 mins into the movie. We stayed back after the intermission coz after all, a movie cannot be _that_ lame and boring.... Well, to our horror, it actually was. So USPs of the movie: 1) Lara Dutta looks hot 2) Nice song (only one... but after the 100 billionth repetition, it actually becomes really irritating) 3) Big B in a cool outfit.

Why you should not see this movie: 1) Extremely boring and slow. 2) Very lame jokes - courtesy small B. (Ash's man-toy) 3) Predictable storyline. 4) Big B needs to buy a ticket to Pluto and come back after a gazillion years... somebody needs to tell him about something called "OVER-EXPOSURE".

Conclusion: DO NOT SEE!