Jab Tak Hain Jaan - the alternative review

Teri aankhon ki namkeen mastiyaan
Teri hansi ki beparwa gustaakhiyaan
Teri zulfon ki lehrati angdaaiyaan
Nahi bhoolunga main
Jab tak hai jaan, Jab tak hai jaan
Tera haath se haath chodna
Tera saayon ka rukh modna
Tera palat ke phir na dekhna
Nahin maaf karoonga main
Jab tak hai jaan, Jab tak hai jaan"

The movie starts with the leading hero going by the nomenclature of Samar Anand ( Raj???) driving away from the sunset on the arid bad lands of Ladakh with just his priceless bullet for company against the above mentioned poem playing while the credit lines roll. This brief does sound good on paper and is a pre curser for the events to unfold.

As a struggling immigrant SRK  shacks up with a fellow Pathan , sings Punjabi songs for a living in the cold climes of London  by the day and does odd jobs till he lands a job at a decidedly upmarket restaurant as a waiter.Meera played by the ethereal Katrina is a daughter of a rich business man going by the chauffeur driven Bentley she glides in. Samar and Meera represent different spectrums of society and the director does not dwell much on it. The pauper and the princess do fall in love after a series of encounters in different environs and yes music does play a supporting role here.

As is his wont, The director focuses on the lead pair and their relationships without really getting into details on the choices they make. He does try to marry the old fashioned romance with a  contemporary treatment of love with astounding results. Case in point Srk does a little bit more than just pecking his heroine and breaks his no kissing clause, cavorting with his heroine in phone booth and making out in bed. There is a  special appearance by a celebrity couple who have played star crossed lovers many a time in YRF movies and they do add a positive spin on infidelity .The fairy tale romance hits a road block thanks to a deal with god based on life and death post which the lead pair separate and the male protagonist comes back to India

Cut to the present. Ten years down the line Samar has grown into a bomb diffusion expert , rechristened by his fellow colleagues as” the man who cannot die “ ( that’s a nice job description to have )  difusses bombs and has  a certain pocket diary for company killing it in sun soaked Kashmir and Ladakh. Enter Akira- a feisty independent documentary film maker  who believes in  instant make out and break out ( sounds like a advert for instant noodles!!!) and has a bucket list of making out with men having different accents ( colorful!!!). She is instantly drawn towards Samar , his brooding intensity and predictably falls hook , line and sinker for him.

The second half is a mash up of clumpsy plot twists ( similar accident happening twice , a certain spot for amnesia , loud conversations with god and the obligatory confrontation scene between the leading ladies) The  story telling is quite indulgent and drags its feet in some portions. The movie is a tad too long at 180 minutes and requires enormous patience.

The movie does have loopholes in its story- pray how does SRK transition from a dejected lover to a bomb diffusion expert, the love saga spans a time period of 10 years only shows the leading hero growing old in the form of a scruffy beard (and I thought the armed forces was very particular about their male officers being clean shaven) while Meera has not aged at all with no trace of wrinkle or laugh line to boot. The Leading man  in a foreign land is allowed to diffuse a bomb in the train based on his incoherent mumbo jumbo on the chemical make of the bomb. In spite of all the loopholes the movie has the yrf stamp on It.

The movie focuses a lot on  the SRK aura and his moments. He does try his hardest best to  sell romance in only the way he does and he does try ( akin to selling ice to an Eskimo) but is let down by the leading lady’s lack of acting skills ( fluttering eye lashes, pumped up lips and one energetic dance number just cannot cut it) .SRK infuses a fair degree of sincerity as the hurt lover as well as the subdued bomb diffusion expert ( watch out for his eyes  and you will get the answer).Anoushka as Akira starts on a very shrill note and is quite irritating initially in playing the exhuberant lass ( though she does infuse a lot of energy in the jiya jiya re song) and has one delightful line on love in different times at the end of the movie.

Yash Chopra has the innate  ability to make heart ache so enduring and noble that the lead characters effortlessly wear it like second skin.This movie is for die hard romantics , please don’t go looking for logic in this one.

PS- Given a choice to pick between JTHJ and SOS , The majority would pick JTHJ. There in lies the answer.