My diary - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa - It's different.

Finally caught up with the latest offering of Aamir Khan, actually the first where he just produces and does not even show up with a guest appearance. My thoughts on the film:

Normally after watching any film, one spends a few hours thinking about it. These thoughts can range from awe to praise to disdain to absolute disgust. Taxi Driver drove me crazy for one full week and The Departed made me appreciate the work of cops good or bad. Thinking about Black was fun - for two days I was actually raving about it. Then on the third day, I started figuring out the absolute manipulation of one's emotion that was going on. From day 5 onwards I was one of the film's staunchest critics. Rang De Basanti was easy in contrast.... I did not like the film's message and the opinion has not changed (the film is very well made though). With respect to JTYJN, it has been 12 hours since I have watched the film and I am still thinking about whether it is a good film or a great film. For many, a good film is enough. However this is differant. We are talking about a film which has behind it such great forces as Aamir Khan, AR Rehman and Abbas Tyrewaala (note the A's).
The film's story need not be talked much about. The story is simple - boy and girl are friends, boy and girl do not know they are in love, boy and girl hook up with other girl and boy, boy and girl realize they love each other, break ups occur and boy and girl finally hook up. What is not simple is the treatment. First it is told in a "storytelling" format. The format though old is effective and the reaction of the story listener sets the mood up a little. The leading pair's characters are interestingly etched with Imran striving to become the next Mahatma and Genelia being the exact opposite. The in depth characterization is normal and is a featured in most films just because they are on the damn screen most of the time. However here as a bonus we get a set of quirky and interesting supporting characters who are very well defined and seem to have a strong backstory. We have Ratna Pathak Shah as the hero's mother who in my opinion is the best "hero's mother" ever seen in Hindi film. We have Naseeruddin Shah as her dead husband's spirit who irritates her from the confines of his photo (Abbas misses a trick somewhat by not garlanding the photo though but never mind) and is very keen on seeing his son show some violent tendencies which will make the Rathore family proud of him. We have Paresh Rawal  as the Inspector having a problem with Ratna Pathak Shah who as a social activist is hellbent on getting him suspended. We then have the two stetson hat wearing horse riding pubhopping duo played really surprisingly well by Arbaaz and Sohail Khan. They are very funny and their relevance to the plot kinda surprises you in the finale. The friends of the leading pair are pretty average characters though the Gujarati Jignesh is a little too stereotypical. Imran's temporary GF is a beautifully etched character with some really good touches. Genelia's temp BF is the stereotype jock character. The surprise of the pack is Prateik Babbar's character. It is so well written that one can actually make a film on him as a sequel to this film which is a real possibility considering the film's success. 
This set of characters is definitely the film's trump card. Normally side character scenes are obligatory with their use being just to move the story forward. Here the scenes with them are actually worth watching by themselves and make watching the film more enjoyable. The film's screenplay could have been tighter and the film drags a little in the second half before the climax. The climax has been criticized by a few of my friends as being filmy. Hello, but it is a film. The climax worked for me because it is well, very filmy and fun. The song placing is a little strange with all the fun songs getting over before the serious stuff in the second half starts. 
Regarding the performances, Imran Khan is very good and understated. This film is not a launch vehicle for him per se. A launch vehicle in Hindi films normally involves the hero making a flashy entrance strutting his stuff for the first half an hour and showing his "acting skill" for the remaining part while hogging the screen unneccessarily all the time. Here he is there only when required. His voice though is very similar to Hritik Roshan (Hrithik's ego must be on an all time high though with his lookalike and voicealike being lauched the same day). Genelia is lovely - both lookwise and actingwise. She has a great quality of expressing emotions through her eyes just like dare I say, a certain Ms. Nene. Jayant Kriplani and Anuradha Patel are good as Genelia's parents. Kitu Gidwani and Rajat Kapoor were very good and potrayed their mutual animosity perfectly in the couple of scenes they were in. Seeing Kitu Gidwani and Jayant Kriplani made me suddenly very nostalgic about the old DD days. Hope to see them often. Imran's girlfriend (forgot her name) is very good and does justice to her character. The freinds are also quite good and natural. 
Ratna Pathak Shah is awesome as the social activist who wants her son to be the embodiment of non violence. The way she puts emphasis on the word "mard" while yelling at her husband's spirit makes you lugh out loud. Such a great actor. Why the hell is she not given good roles. Naseeruddin Shah as the happily violent spirit caught in a picture complements his real life wife really well. A great performance from this acting powerhouse is a given. However one could see that he was having a ball. I have not seen him this cool since Tridev. And his jig during the climax is well worth the ticket price. Arbaaz and Sohail Khan are as said earlier surprisingly good. Prateik Babbar is a revelation as the misfit loner. The eyes speak a lot. So it should conidering he inherits his genes from the great Smita Patil and the not - so - great- but- good Raj Babbar. He should work a little on his voice though.
Direction by Abbas Tyrewala is good for a first timer. He has his limitations with the pacing of some of the scenes being a little problematic. But as a story writer he excels. 
All in all the film is definitely worth a watch. However the characters will make you buy a DVD just so that you can watch their scenes.

I am feeling: cheerful