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(I've tried to keep things "spoiler-free," but I make no promises...)
I think it's pretty much been agreed upon at this point that the Yash Raj banner is not a "serious-film" banner; the way Ram Gopal Varma's factory mass-produces underworld stories, Yash Raj does little more but operate a factory that churns out various shades of the same "entertainment" product. The days when Chopra made gritty and "meaningful" — yet commercially viable — cinema (you know: Deewaar, Trishul, Kaala Patthar, Silsila, Lamhe, etc.) is undeniably over. Well, fine. Entertainment's just fine, and if that's what Chopra's production house now totally leans in favor of, there's no reason for us to scoff. I love being entertained, and I have an unassailable feeling that even the snobbiest Godfather-thumping, Citizen Kane-sucking, head-held-high-and-eyes-looking-down-nose son of a bitch out there also likes to get his jollies from time to time by easing into the seat of a hall that he knows will offer him nothing but "dumb pleasure." The thing to remember, though, is that a successful (i.e., "good") "popcorn movie" is really no easier to come up with than such a "cerebral film." The question, so, is, is Chopra's factory getting too lazy to go beyond grand production values and top-tier saleable names, and deliver those more important factors — like script, story, and the intangible "heart" — that make us forever cherish our "masala" world of cine-joy?
Of course, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is a concoction of big money and big names, and one can only hope that when so much sincerity has been put into a project, it delivers something watchable. Hooray, then, because that superstar cast of director Shaad Ali actually does do what it's taking, doubtless, years' worth of my salary to do.
When Abhishek Bachchan first hit the big screen, he was unimpressive. Immediately thereafter, he morphed into a fucking disaster. For me, Mani Ratnam's Yuva came along, and not only was "Abhi" redeemed from the clutches of atrociousness, but he was thrown into the world of "really good acting." Then... he fucked around some more (at best, he was "acceptable" in every subsequent effort). Finally, in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, he makes me like him again. Brooding, somber characters are difficult to play, but so, too, is it terribly challenging to play (effectively) an all-round mainstream part in an out-and-out entertainer. Raggedy clothes, a five-o-clock shadow, and curse-laden dialogue might convince people that you're good at playing a poverty-stricken villain in the slums of Mumbai, but it's close to impossible to fake charisma, which is what Abhishek exudes in Jhoom. "Rikki Thukral" is funny, approachable, and likeable, and he even tears up the dance floor pretty well (though it might have helped that his competition there was Bobby Deol: if Abhishek looked like a fool trying to dance next to Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2, Bobby gets to make Abhishek look like Govinda in this one).
Preity Zinta is beautiful and she suits her part. Bobby Deol is fine in his role, too (though, again, it hurts him that, when you focus, you see that sixty-four-year-old Amitabh Bachchan is, in every way, a better dancer than he). Lara Dutta shines the way Abhishek does, only she's given far less to do. It's been said that a good actor has you remember him when he's the hero, and a great actor makes you remember him when he has five minutes of screen-time (if it hasn't been said, then you heard it here first): Lara falls into the second category in her work in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.
Performances aside, Jhoom's biggest offering is its fucking-awesome music. Every track is great, and the title song is one of the best compositions of 2007. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom's most glaring caveat is the persistence of its "fucking-awesome music." Again, I love "Jhoom" (the song), I really do. I don't love it enough, however, to watch about fifty minutes of it in lieu of fifty minutes of actual movie. Big names and good songs are probably essential to a movie of this sort, but they can't be all that's there. Just to give you an idea Ali's unyielding disregard for story-telling, there's a dance competition near the end (don't worry, that doesn't kill anything for you) — a dance competition. Anyone who's watched a fair number of films from the 1980s onward should understand right away what a contrived sort of thing it is to take this route in a film, unless maybe you're providing satire or something (Ali's not). So, what: we're to be grateful that no one runs through traffic to get to his kid's school play at the end? The big money and big actors are there, but in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom there's simply no effort given to those "little" things that make a movie work: script and story. Even when moments do work (e.g., the fantastically surreal unfolding of Preity's relationship with Bobby [Indians go to watch movies like this for stars, so forget bothering with "characters' names"]), we're left with no choice but to assume the product is the unintentional happy side-effect of a well-put-together song sequence.
No wonder "Jhoom" (the song) is so good: Shaad Ali must have informed Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy that he'd be using the piece to fill up about a third of his film.
In the end, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is successful where it tries — names, songs, and money used to shoot the songs in attractive locales — but fails where it forgets to even try — the movie. "Sheer entertainment" is good and it's respectable, and Yash Raj has done it well in the past (Dhoom, Mohabbatein, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge), and the "stars and songs" element can be critical; but stars and songs can't be the the entirety of a picture. At some point, an audience needs some god-damn "film" to fill in the gaps. Says what it does for Yash Raj, Jhoom doesn't do much for Shaad Ali, either: Saathiya was polished and sensitive; Bunty Aur Babli was ridiculous tripe in which Amitabh Bachchan was the only good thing, but good enough, still, to not let you leave the theater pissed; and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is a great, big, beautiful package that makes you sad when you open it to find nothing.
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