Jab Tak Hai Khan?

I know that this is late but better late than never.

This is no review but just another way of seeing the film. Not that JTHJ is a thought-provoking masterpiece that one has to post something. I have seen many of my friends dismissing the film in one line on Facebook. One of them said its better you take aspirin rather than popcorn to the cinema hall, one wanted to be blessed with retrograde amnesia and erase out the whole span of the movie - witty one-liners indeed and each one to his own. Nonetheless, for me, it becomes important to write about a film that is 12-day old at the box office, is a member of the 100-crore club and also the highest earners in the US.

JTHJ, like all Yash Raj films, has had a solid promotional campaign and the presence of Shah Rukh Khan and a Diwali release already assured that the film would be a grand money spinner. The film per se has nothing substantial in it. The plot is loose and predictable and an intelligent viewer would not miss much if taking a break for five to ten minutes. Direction has never been the forte of mainstream Hindi cinema and it is better not to talk about logic as it is simply not there. There are too many loopholes which ‘bashers’ have rather elegantly pointed out. Yash Chopra till his last movie continues to portray women in a mould which a 21^st century girl should disapprove. But who expects anything Avant-garde from the late Chopra either?

Bollywood has always depended on dialogue and (melo)drama and JTHJ does no different. Like any film from the YRF stable, JTHJ offers the audience its meaty share of well-scripted sequences and there is hardly anything that is unpredictable- the twists are in tandem with what one finds in routine YRF films and certain sequences remind you of Chopra’s earlier films featuring Shah Rukh Khan- the main man.

Indeed the film’s box office success has to do a lot with SRK. It is needless to say that he stands out in the film, even though Anushka is also money’s worth when at her chirpy best. In my opinion SRK comes close to that eternal romantic hero Raj yet fails to deliver that magic. The goodies that came after DDLJ (from YRF and Dharma Productions) have been stereotype milestones for SRK but JTHJ does not do justice to that reputation. In fact, SRK’s attempt to live up to that image is very obvious. In that tube station when he says to Katrina, who as usual serves her purpose as long as she keeps quiet, ‘tum mujhe nahi mari’, it is a direct throwback to the fellow 17 years back who swept a nation with his dimpled smile. But alas, the same does not work here.

Nonetheless, the film is a massive hit and that has to do with the stardom of our man. SRK, perhaps, is very much similar to David Beckham. Even though his football is slowing down, Brand David is attracting multi-million pound offers from every corner of the world, that’s the craze he generates. Similarly, even if SRK is losing that cupid touch of romance, his fan following refuses to die. The business JTHJ is doing shows how much of a sway Brand Shah Rukh still holds in the industry and if this be true, then JTHJ is an out and out SRK fan’s movie. It is for those who are blinded by admiration for the man, just want to see SRK on screen, support KKR because it’s SRK’s team, and would even go to the extent of buying every product their hero endorses. Apart from that, JTHJ offers hardly anything. Yes if you talk about the cinematography then it offers the stock YRF European vista, here London, and the foray into Kashmir and Ladakh are well-shot, but nothing special because good cinematography reminds me of Sholay and Kabul Express.

A very weak link for JTHJ is the music. YRF has been successful in presenting very good musicals but unfortunately JTHJ is a blot in AR Rahman’s CV. Fans of the Oscar-winning musician too have been very critical of the soundtrack and here is a major difference between fan bases of AR and SRK. While those of the former readily point out the rather cavalier work of Rahman, those of the latter are stauncher in defending the man’s rather pedestrian display. (My personal interactions with people, some on FB and some face to face make me say so.) Grow up! SRK has done a lot better!

Yet the film is a big hit! It has made good business and in the end in Bollywood that is what counts. If you are a person who loves Satyajit Ray, Kurosowa, Polanski, De Sica, and Hitchcock and so on then JTHJ is not for you and the reactions you would give could be in one line. But if you are in the SRK club, then the film is your money’s worth, definitely you would be happy to have contributed in the 100-crore, and what would be a better way to see you smiling than naming it Jab Tak Hai Khan!