Everyone, please welcome new entrant, Shirish Kunder, to the Gentleman's Club of Direction! Jaan-E-Mann is one of the finest directorial efforts of the year after Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai.
When anyone mentions musicals, I can't help but think of four-hour wedding videos in the guise of movies like Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! which bored me to death. Finally, here's a musical which tries to break the mould of the traditional Hindi film story-telling with an innovative out-of-the-box approach. The songs are integrated within the story and they succeed in moving the story forward.
Jaan-E-Mann: Rediff Review 1 | 2
Well, let's see what the plot of the movie is: Suhaan (Salman Khan) plays the dude, who is trying to hitch Agastya (Akshay Kumar) the geek with his estranged wife, Piya (Preity Zinta). In the process of playing cupid, Sallu realises that he still has the hots for Preity and voila, we have a love triangle!
The movie moves with dizzy abandon and single-mindedness from Kunder to tell a story which does not have the trappings of tragedy and heartbreak like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
Cinematography is brilliant and New York City, where the film is shot, plays an important part of the narrative. Gulzar's lyrics are beautiful.
Anu Malik's music has always been a bone of contention. Here's a music director who, on one hand, unabashedly lifts tunes from the West, and, on the other hand, composes beautiful music like Border. In Jaan-E-Mann, he gives us great songs like Sau Dard, Ajnabee Shaher and Humko Maloom Hai.
Humko Maloom Hai is also one of the best choreographed songs I have seen in Hindi films in a while. Farah Khan's choreography is definitely one of the highlights of the movie.
Preity Zinta does not have anything different to do here than what she has been doing in the Karan Johar/ Yash Chopra kind of movies -- she simply needs to look stunning, flash those dimples, and of course, shed a few tears. But as Piya, she delivers a good performance.
As the geek, Akshay does a marvelous job and your heart goes out to him. Here is one actor who has broken the wooden actor stereotype and is definitely one of the best of the current lot. As the awkward silent admirer and wannabe suitor who finds himself unable to carry a conversation, Akshay's portrayal of Agastya with his goofy laughter is one of his best performances till date.
Salman's Suhaan in Jaan-E-Mann is all about intensity and passion. Salman's chemistry with Akshay is great, especiall the funny parts. The emotional scenes are heart-tugging and every time Sallu cried, I could hear sniffles in the theatre. This is also Salman's finest performance after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
Jaan-E-Mann will have its share of detractors. But isn't it time that someone stepped up and decided to make a musical love story that doesn't need the seven-song format with the mandatory pre-engagement songs with the main leads, the engagement song with the saas and sasur, the song with Tommy the dog, and finally, the wedding song?
Kunder stepped up, people.
Kiran Kamath, 30, is currently based in Houston, Texas, USA, and works at a software firm.
