Jaan-E-Mann: Good masala fare

Thirty minutes and three songs later, I forgot all of that. On the surface, Jaan-E-Mann is a conventional story of a love triangle between Salman, Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta. We all know how it goes: two boys meet a girl and fall in love with her, and in the end, one of them goes home empty-handed.

Jaan-E-Mann: Rediff Review 1 | 2

But here, things are not quite according to norm. Suhaan (Salman) already has the girl (Preity) but they get divorced. Suhaan is a down-on-his-luck actor, who is trying to find a way to get out of his alimony payments. Enter Agastya Rao (Akshay). Agastya is a nerd who has carried a torch for Preity since college. When Suhaan realises that getting his ex-wife remarried is the easiest way to get out of paying alimony, an elaborate plot ensues to help Agastya woo her. Of course, all forms of misunderstandings, awkward situations and drama occur along the way.

None of this is stuff we haven't seen before, of course. But it is how director Shirish Kunder embraces the cliché that makes this movie refreshing. Shirish includes nearly every Bollywood convention in the movie, and kicks it up a notch higher. And it works.

The self-referential, tongue-in-cheek humour, the nods to filmi situations, and the inventive way of incorporating little Bollywood quirks we take for granted, make this movie very enjoyable.

I really didn't really care about the story as much as I cared about the gags. And that brings me to what doesn't work in this film. Sometimes, it feels that the story was constructed later, after they had worked out all the jokes. It's a shame really because one wonders how great the movie could have been had it been scripted well. Don't expect to find yourself emotionally invested in any of these characters. Character development is minimal, and the only one that comes across as likeable is Agastya (Akshay). In fact, you willl know who finally gets the girl pretty early in the film.

Salman does a competent job, his sub-par acting notwithstanding, and scores big points for dressing in drag and beating up men in Times Square.

Preity, playing a pregnant woman yet again after Kya Kehna and Salaam Namaste, is a very boring character. She has no memorable lines or scenes. She deserves better.

Akshay has the best part. He plays the college nerd brilliantly, completely relishing a change in image. Later, he plays a working man in a way that makes it easy to believe that he was the college nerd everyone picked on. Detailed touches like his goofy laugh and shy demeanor add to the film.

Anupam Kher is good, though the point of making him play a midget was lost on me.

Anu Malik's music is good, and it helps that most of the songs help carry the story forward instead of being mere interruptions.

As for the special effects, luckily, not too many were poorly executed.

I wish Shirish, who edited Main Hoon Na before he turned director, edited his own film better. Jaan-E-Mann slows down towards the end, and could have been chopped down by a good 20 minutes. But as a first-time director, he does a great job. He uses fantasy to depict what's going on in his characters' heads well. In fact, sometimes I felt I was watching a play!

I came out of the theatre feeling satisfied. I didn't think Jaan-E-Mann was a fantastic movie, or even memorable. But it is enjoyable, funny and entertaining -- exactly what I was looking for in a Diwali big release.