All Bakwaas!

Here comes one of the awaited movie of 2008. So far 2008 has only given us bad movies and none has been actually a blockbuster recently! With the holidays on the mood upbeat everyone is trying to hit the target sales by selling us anything on their platter. Jannat does exactly what Bhootnath did, read further how it fails and yet will be success on a average because audiences have No choice!

As children our parents would promise to tell us one story before we went to bed. So every night we’d beg them to tell us a really long story.

But what would start as a fascinating tale of kings and knights would end up becoming so banal and boring that one of us would either just ask them to stop or just fall asleep.

Debutant director Kunal Deshmukh’s Jannat is a classic example of this kind of storytelling. For those who haven’t been able to figure out the story of this film from its hoarding here goes:

Story

Arjun Dikshit (Emraan Hashmi), a compulsive gambler finds himself in trouble once every other day with the loan sharks. One fine day he sees Zoya (Sonal Chauhan), a call center executive eyeing a beautiful diamond ring. A bit of a Casanova, Arjun spends the last of his money and buys it for her.

Somewhere along the way, he realises he is so good at predicting cricket matches that could well make a living out of it. By now he is in love with Zoya and so he impresses her with his singing and driving abilities just like Rajesh Khanna did in Aradhana. That is not to mention the expensive gifts he buys for her every other day, while exercising his vocal chords simultaneously.

About a couple of songs later, he finds himself in Cape Town. He graduates from betting to fixing matches for an underworld don.

Zoya, of course, is under the impression that his ‘import-export’ business has suddenly flourished. So she’s quite happy, (though not quite because she can’t spend as much time with him anymore) till a CBI Inspector tells her the truth.

She gets him arrested and in the process, Arjun’s ring falls dramatically to the ground. How Arjun manages to get out of the fixing game forms the second half of the story.

It’s not you; it’s the ring

At its very heart, Jannat is a story that begins and ends with a ring. Arjun and Zoya meet because of the ring. They fall in love and Arjun goes all lengths to make sure that the ring finds its rightful place.
But with each passing moment the weight of ring starts bearing upon his conscience (yes, our very own Frodo). The ring continues to be a major part of the film, till even the climax scene where by its very being it shapes the future of our lovebirds.

Gems of dialogues

If the gem on the ring does not impress you, the ones in the dialogues will. Zoya is justifying her handing Arjun over to the police. In a fit of desperation she yells out – “I love you, so I got you arrested.” Now, that’s unconditional!

Then there’s another where Arjun catches one of his players eyeing a good looking girl. Cheekily he says, “I know on the ground you like fielding at fine leg and off it you like looking at fine legs. But let me take you to a place where you will not only find fine legs but also gullies, slips and deep cover.” Profound.

Cricket

There are some very clear references to certain cricketers and real-life incidents. Those who follow the game would probably find many parallels between this movie and real life. There are clear references to Azharuddin, Shahid Afridi and of course Bob Woolmer throughout the 140-odd-minute long movie.

Family comes first

By itself, a film on cricket would have made for great viewing. But as the narrative unfolds, the movie loses its focus – after the girlfriend comes in, there’s the father and finally also a child.

Cricket used to be a family game, but not any more. And as far as we know neither is betting or fixing. So the whole family connection somehow is lost on us.

Emraan and Sonal

Sonal Chauhan is a known model. She has done some popular commercials and falls in line with all the rest of the models who simply cannot act to save their lives.

Hair and beard makes a man, they say. We know of John Abraham who has made a career out of his mane. Emraan Hashmi is a guy who may just make his with his beard.

As a senior colleague pointed out a few days ago, shave the guy’s beard and you’ll know how expressionless he is. There is a scene where he has indeed shaved. And we couldn’t help agreeing better.

But besides that, he isn’t entirely unbearable. And now that his kissing scenes have come down to just one or two, we must confess it’s not so bad watching him.

Verdict

If you are an Emraan Hashmi fan, go watch it. The film belongs to him (he’s the producer’s nephew, after all!). If not give it a pass.

Rating
2/5 (One for the theme, half for a guided tour of Cape Town and half for Emraan)

Review excerpts from Buzz18 network.
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