Jaane Tu …Ya Jaane Na Completes 17 Years

Abbas Tyrewala’s directorial debut has a certain sparkling spirit, a zest for living life quirk-sized and a certain zing thing about the way the characters look at life and love.

It’s not only about the way the characters’ exuberant yearnings connect with the audience. It’s also about the casual free-flowing downloading of events and dialogues in the narrative that give the characters an edge over other urbane youngsters who have come and gone in the past creating a spirit of lingering joie de vivre.

The bunch of collegians here take their cues from Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai, Rakeysh Mehra’s Rang De Basanti and even Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Echoes from these iconic youth -films fill out the outer edges of the ‘cool’ canvas creating for the characters at-hand a sense of wondrous and informal perpetuity as they go from humorous heartbreak to sober self-actualization in a plot that accommodates both impulse and pre-meditated thought in a mix that is engaging endearing and fairly original in spite of the derivative echoes.

While the supporting cast of friends are both real and tangible, at the core of this romantic musical are Jai (Irfan Khan) and Aditi (Genelia) who are “best friends” in the coolest sense of the term. Bantering bum-chums at the surface but sharing a much deeper bond underneath, all their friends can see that the twosome is made for each other.

But they can’t.

It’s an exceedingly old formula for a romantic comedy given a fresh new spin by a storyteller who picks on moments from ordinary lives and converts them into a celebration of life and love.

Old songs (R.D Burman mainly) and new original music (A .R Rahman) coalesce with the minum fuss while Jai and Aditi’s love story goes through several turns and twists until they arrive at that traditional end-game for romantic films: the grand reunion at the airport seconds before the girl is scheduled to take off for good.

The flurry is charming, though a little to self consciously designed at times.

Peep underneath. And you see the narration covering a lot of familiar ground.

The freshness lies in the way the characters respond to the familiar material often exceeding the domain created by the script.

Every actor pitches in at just the right volume of vivacity. There are stand-out supporting performances by Naseeruddin Shah (playing the hero Jai’s dead father in a portrait), Ratna Pathak (superbly skilled as Jai’s mom), Paresh Rawal (flawless as a boorish cop) and Arbaaz and Sohail Khan (as a couple of outlandish cowboys they supplant the believably urbane love story with a touch of the surreal).

Then there’s Manjrai Phadnis as the hero’s could-be love interest. Living in perpetual denial she thinks her embittered parents(Rajat Kapoor and Kitu Gidwani) actually love each other under the acrimony.

The characters never claim to be extraordinary in their desires. It’s their ordinary dreams and down-to-earth desires which give the narration a spirited spin. Then there are protagonists. Not just young Imran Khan and Genelia. But their friends. Each one played as though the wall dividing the actor from the characters had disappeared.

While Genelia is a natural in most scenes, Imran’s unassuming boy-next-door personality lends itself with picture-perfect precision to the mood and tenor of the narration.

Here’s a young actor who had a long innings ahead. He doesn’t think before he acts.

It’s not about how deep he goes into his character. It’s more about how much at home he’s occupying the space provided by the script.

The same is true of the other actors.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na exudes an urbane cool. It’s not really trying to be anything. It doesn’t have an earth shattering message for the masses.

What it has is an honest story about a bunch of credible characters told in a fashion that’s casually trendy and warm. Manoj Lobo’s cinematography and Shan Mohamed’s editing assist the director in making this a film that you’d probably like to watch again just to see if you missed out a vital bit of the characters’ lives while they were looking for love.

What went wrong with Imran Khan’s career? Abbas Tyrewala’s Jaane Tu …Ya Jaane Na was released on the same day as Harman Baweja’s Love Story 2050 on July 7, 2008.

I remember how insecure Harman was about Imran’s debut…after all, Imran had the mighty Aamir Khan as his Maamu (uncle) Jaan. Poor Harman had only Harry Baweja as his father. As luck would have it, Imran’s debut was a hit. He was seen as the Next Best Thing alongside Ranbir Kapoor. Imran had the best of roles rolling out at his feet. He decided to turn his back on stardom. Uniquely, Imran opted for anonymity over fame. There is no chance of a comeback. Imran is just not interested in being a film star.

Aamir Khan was determined to make a success out of his nephew Imran’s career, come what may. And even if that meant taking on the competition headlong, so be it. Anything for family, seemed to be the marketing motto, as Harry Baweja put in his all to ensure his son’s super success on July 4.

Entered Aamir Khan with nephew Imran’s Jaane Tu …Ya Jaane Na on the same Friday as Harman’s debut Love Story 2050. The Bawejas were shocked. They had planned and strategized their film’s release almost six months in advance. They had spoken to all their potential competitors. Harman called them up personally to make sure his film comes on a freed Friday. Then suddenly, Aamir showed up to create an almost Saawariya-Om Shanti Om crisis.

Jaane Tu …Ya Jaane Na’s release was nowhere in sight when Love Story 2050 was announced. Harman’s dad Harry Baweja made a panic call to Aamir. Harry Baweja knew Aamir from the time Aamir did B. Subhash’s Love Love Love where Harry was an assistant director. Ever since then they’ve been in touch. When they spoke, Aamir told Harry he was indeed thinking of coming on 4 July. The reason given was that Sanjay Gadhvi’s Kidnap in which Imraan had a key role was coming on July 25. Aamir reasoned that Imran couldn’t have two releases so close to one another. Later, the Bawejas were horrified to know that Kidnap was scheduled for August 22. Harry urged Aamir to move his film to July 11. But Aamir was adamant.

Jaane Tu …Ya Jaane Na turned Imran into an overnight star. In an interview in 2008, Imran had confided in me: “When I shot for Kidnap and Luck, I was treated like a star. I was called ‘Mr. Khan’. I had my van and all the trappings. People started treating me differently. And I was very uncomfortable with that. What I like about stardom is the great service I get at restaurants. The best part is that I don’t even need table reservations. I don’t attend events and parties as I don’t know what to do there. My only regular outings are films. After making films the only thing I like doing is seeing them, preferably with my (then) girlfriend Avantika.”

Imran was suddenly a star. “I’m now reduced to doing interviews in cars, in the shower, anywhere. I’m also being offered ridiculous sums of money to just attend functions, parties and events.I’m really surprised by the lengths people are willing to go to get stars into their orbit. I’m offered unheard of money to simply attend parties, have a drink, hang around and leave in ten minutes.”

Then things went wrong quickly. Wrong selection of roles hurdled Imran’s career and hurled it towards an inevitable disaster. Soon there were whispers in the industry calling Imran a one-film wonder like Kumar Gaurav.