Jab We Met

If a director has courage and the guts to take an outdated story line and execute it to a perfection that is altogether to a new height; new level, the director seriously has got some talent. If you ask me a good/talented director is all you need to get the best out of everything; be it a story line, situation or performers. Same situation same actors has brought such a new , absolute fresh piece of cinema, which probably would have been another needle in the hack had it been directed by any run of the mill director. The store line is the usual girl meets boy on a journey moving towards their own destinations and eventually fall in love but again the execution is so damn superb and realistic that no situation in the movie looks out of place. The dialogs are sparkling despite being mature. The funny moments are truly funny and emotions look absolute real. U immediately relate to them. Over all the chemistry Imtiaz Ali (who directed soocha na tha) manages to built between the lead characters is stunning, absolute real, natural and believable, I have not seen (and I am sure people would agree) such a sweet and heart warming chemistry in any romantic couple for a loooong time. Music is good as well with 2 absolutely amazing romantic songs........"Tum he se" and "Aaoge jab tum". People specially couples whose heart throb with a universal feeling called love go and watch the movie, you would come out mesmerized by the romantic extravaganza.......trust me.

In Jab We Met, a heartbroken guy meets a wacky, headstrong girl on a train who upends his life as she drags him into her adventures.

Kareena Kapoor is hilarious as the wacky girl. Her endless monologue to the guy is long-winded prattle that is both annoying and charming. She is the equivalent of characters like Katherine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby; a madcap who irritates and fascinates the guy she has swept into her tornado.

The movie bounces along effortlessly for the first couple of hours, with scenery, chemistry, and pleasant but generally forgettable musical interludes, but gets a little messy in the final third. Kapoor's actions go a little beyond wacky, a lot of very unlikely things happen, motivations seem arbitrary and it's all a reminder of why American screwball comedies stay well under 2 hours.

In spite of a shaky and somewhat peculiar (or just so Indian-specific that a westerner like me doesn't get it?) final hour, overall this is a charming, funny, and romantic movie well worth watching.

Remember Hrishida's movies? We laughed with it, loved it, because he created the characters who we could relate. You look around, these characters are in one of your friends. Imtiaz Ali is in the same league. The characters, the shots, the sets, the train, the bus - we have been there! We have lived them.

And he creates a gem incorporating these elements. It is humour in pure form! It will brighten you up, no matter how grumpy you may be feeling! I think this is one of the loveliest movie of the year. Pure, unadulterated fun! The strength of the movie is in its script, and in its characters, esp that of Kreena Kpoor (try saying that, you know what I mean) - yeah - Ms Kapoor is in her elements. She plays the role of sikhni convincingly! The lingo, the body language, the attitude, she is 100%! Kareena Kapoor 2.0 (that's what I call post Chameli) rocks! Every movie, she surprises with histrionics, that is very few in current Bollywood can match! And what a transformation from Omkara's Dolly? That's real actress right there! Shahid Kapoor... mmmm, could improve in the acting dept. If I were to choose, I would choose someone like Shreyas Talpade for this role. Shahid has definitely matured as an actor from his chocolate-boy image, but still leaves something to be desired.

In my opinion, the comedy is one of the most difficult of the genres. To execute it well without sounding cheap, or going overboard, or cheesy, is not really easy. Imtiaz Ali, in this case does justice to two most important depts, Writing & Direction! A word about music: Pritam brings a fresh set of music, some of it grows on you after listening few times. Definitely I am not talking of the radio-friendly Mauja Hi Mauja, which is tailor-made for music video channels. Songs like Aao Milo Chalo, Tum Se Hi are real nice pop or soft-rockish tunes. Sandesh Shandilya shares the burden on Aaoge Jab Tum, and Rashid Khan does a fine job on the vocals. On Tum Se Hi, watch out for Ustad Sultan Khan's ever soulful crooning.

I still give it a 8/10 because Shahid Kapoor's acting has rooms for improvement, the second half has rooms for editing and making it more compact. But the movie is worth watching just for Kareena Kapoor's acting! Way to go Imtiaz Ali!

I love everything about Indian movies. Even if they sometimes come as unrealistic, but this movie is something different. I've had the misfortune of watching many movies that were either too unrealistic or too westernised which made them lose that special magical Indian touch.

This movie had that touch. Kareena proved that she can indeed act without over-acting and the chemistry between her and Shaheed was incredible. Shaheed also proved that he can be taken as a serious actor.

I loved the songs and the simplicity of the sets. there were no over-budgeted scenes of Indians living abroad. This movie was all in all Indian in its essence and that's what made it a big hit.

Jab We Met is definitely one of the best movies I've seen so far. Everything is very nice about this movie, totally perfect.

My Reviews: Kareena Kapoor - She really impressed me with this movie. I love how the way she portrayed the lovable & talkative Geet to the sensitive & sad Geet on the second half. She is the life of the movie, no doubt.

Shahid Kapoor - We all know that Shahid is a good actor, but in this movie, we saw something different. We are used to see Shahid in chocolate, college stories, but Jab We Met proved that he can do serious roles without any problems.

Music: Mauja Hi Mauja would definitely my favorite. They saved the best for the last. Mauja Hi Mauja is the best song for the film. But for some reason, it reminded me of "Macarena" (a popular Spanglish song) and "Simarik" (a famous Turkish song).

Story: It's really a very predictable story, but I can say it's refreshing. Why? Most Bollywood movies have heroines that are very "damsel-in-distress" and have no relevance in the story. Jab We Met, on the other hand, has a female for a lead. You can see a woman's pain when she's heartbroken, which I can say is very realistic and I can totally relate to it.

Overall, 9/10 is my rating. Good movie, good actors, good story, good music. Very good. :)