Review - Jhoom Barabar Jhoom: Over-hyped nonsense!

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable ^(?)

Director: Shaad Ali Sahgal

Cast: Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan

Running time: 130 minutes

Genres: Comedy, Musical, Romance

I wonder which college Shaad Ali went to…either he has studied abroad, or he hasn’t made it to a college at all! Because had he gone to a conventional desi college, he would certainly have known how to play the game of ‘spin a yarn’ effectively.

Shaad has disappointed by not encashing the opportunity that the mighty Yash Raj banner presented to him. Patchy storyline, lackadaisical screenplay and an overdose of theatrics have completely killed the movie. Add to that the not so great music score from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, and you have a half-baked, mediocre chitrahaar called Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.

The saving grace in the movie comes from Aki Narula, the Costume designer and Abhishek Bachchan the actor (in that order). The costume donned by Big B is quite impressive, as is the distinct look given to Abhishek; though I wonder if Amitabh would have done this role had his son not been there in the movie. Lara Dutta gives a steady performance, but Zinta babe and Deol puttar are clearly below par.

A word on Abhishek’s performance: he has shown remarkable comic timing and doesn’t look wooden anymore in facial expression or dance movements. His look has been well worked at and it is sad that poor direction and a poorer story would deny him the adulations that he would otherwise have received.

Ayananka Bose, the Cinematographer has done a steady job, but then you simply can’t opt for the movie because of its Cinematography. Of late, there has been a plethora of movies showing Western locales (KANK, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Cheeni Kum) and therefore there isn’t any novelty left in the way foreign locales are picturized. So never mind the Eiffel Tower or the Waterloo station or indeed our pride Taj Mahal, you would not miss much if you give this movie a skip.

Shaad Ali’s fetish for the Taj though leaves a stale taste in the mouth…apart from the ‘Taj for Sale’ sequence in Bunty aur Babli (where present-day UP’s CM Mayawati was lampooned as Phoolsakhiji), he had picturized the ‘Chup Chupke-2, chori se chori’ song using Taj as backdrop. In JBJ too, a reasonably long (and therefore irritating) sequence is picturized, using portions of the song ‘Bol Na halke halke’ as well.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have largely disappointed, and barring the title track and the mellifluous ‘Bol Na halke halke’ (rendered by Rahat Fateh Ali & Mahalaxmi Iyer), the tracks sound monotonous and jarring.

The Editing by Ritesh Soni is just about OK, and barring the climax, isn’t too great.

Vaibhavi Merchant’s Choreography also fetches her pass marks, and that is rather disappointing because the scope for her was tremendous. She has given repetitive steps to Abhishek, which was avoidable. Worse still, she has made a good dancer (Bobby Deol) look average. I wonder if this was done deliberately at behest of the now powerful Bachchans, just like Big B was made to look the weak dancer in K3G’s ‘Shaava Shaava’ by Farah Khan as the behest of Shah Rukh Khan.

In a nutshell, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is a David Dhawan type of movie and should be watched only if you endorse the ‘dimaag nikaal ke dekho’ school of thought. Since the promos of the movie are a few leap years ahead of the full-length stuff, I suggest that you shouldn’t strain your time and money on this flick and instead be happy with the promo.

This review is by guest reviewer Anurag Anand. Anurag is a Chemical Engineer by accident, an HR practitioner by profession, and a lotus-eater by choice. Based in the historical city of Panipat, he is passionate about bollywood (in fact, the music more than the movies). His other passions include cricket, equity analysis and reading.

20 reviewers^(?) - 4 yays 5 so-so 11 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Aparajita Ghosh, Apun Ka Choice : ...Even in romance there is teasing and humour... full review

Thumbs up, by Renuka Vyavahare, indiatimes : ...What surprises you about the film is that you like it inspite of the fact that it has absolutely no concrete story!... full review

Thumbs up, by Aditya Pant, MovieWalah : ...Gulzar's rustic lyrics add to the charm of the song and dance routines... full review

Thumbs up, by Akshay Shah, Planet Bollywood : ...The movie is a full-fledged fun-filled ride with little in the way of a story... full review

So-So, by Abhijit Mhamunkar, indya.com : ...Preity looks a little jaded in the film... full review

So-So, by Vaibhav Wankhede, M TV : ...Keep your logic at home and you'll have a great time watching this movie... full review

So-So, by Amit R Agarwal, merinews : ...Cinematography and production design match the vibrant mood of the film.... full review

So-So, by MovieTalkies.com, Movie Talkies : ...As for Lara Dutta, besides looking gorgeous, she does her bit as Laila the hooker excellently... full review

So-So, by E-now Weekend Team, Times Now : ...Jhoom Barabar is funny, is consciously absurd, sometimes inventive and at times plain silly.... full review

Thumbs down, by Poonam Joshi, BBC : ...While the humour is at times contrived, the curiosity factor and the slick style keeps you engaged... full review

Thumbs down, by Sanjay Ram, Business of Cinema : ...Lara and Bobby, special appearance. Amitabh Bachchan very special appearance. The story, very very special appearance... full review

Thumbs down, by Aprajita Anil, Express India : ...When a film flies too high on fantasy, it has to fall. And Jhoom… fell flat.... full review

Thumbs down, by Martin D'Souza, Glamsham.com : ...But that extra something, which makes the movie extra special, is missing.... full review

Thumbs down, by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live : ...is still a tough pill to swallow because so much of it is so damn boring.... full review

Thumbs down, by Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM : ...In desi lingo, unchi dukaan, phika pakwaan.... full review

Thumbs down, by Mayank Shekhar, NDTV : ...But never mind the story-line too. That isn't the purpose either.... full review

Thumbs down, by Sukanya Verma, Rediff : ...is like one big song and dance of a movie where the story, a daft one at that, is purely incidental... full review

Thumbs down, by Raja Sen, Rediff : ...Once young and bubbly, today's Zinta looks heavy on both botox and frustration... full review

Thumbs down, by Satyajit, SmasHits.com : ...Shankar Ehsaan Loy's music is the worthiest aspect... full review

Thumbs down, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ...here simply is no spin in the tale... full review

Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.

1 readers - 0 yays 1 so-so 0 nays

So-So, by Consumer Goods

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

Rikki Thukral (Abhishek) meets Alvira Khan (Priety Zinta) at a Railway station where they have come to receive their respective fiance. The train is delayed by 2 hours and the duo share a table in a crowded café. They recite their ‘How I met my fiance’ tale to each other, Rikki saying he is betrothed to Half Pakistani -Half French Anaida(Lara) and Alvira saying she is engaged to Half Indian-half Brit Steve Singh (Bobby Deol). Both Rikki and Alvita are actually reciting concocted stories, and actually fall in love during the two hour wait. With aid of Laila (Lara in non-concocted avtaar) and Satwinder (Bobby in non-concocted avtaar), the couples are re-aligned: Rikki with Alvira and Satwinder with Laila.

What Worked

Aki Narula’s Costumes are very apt and happening. Never mind the Jack Sparrow angle, Big B looked fabulous.
The tinge of Punjabi accent in Abhishek’s dialogue delivery was surprisingly smooth, reminded me of Ranvir Shorey’s exploits in Khosla Ka Ghosla.
Exchange of expletives between Lara and Priety was fun.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

The gross overdose of drama whilst Rikki and Alvira are reciting their ‘Harry met Sally’ episodes.
Big B is used only for the title track, he does not play any character, his presence has no link with the progress of the story, and his only dialogue in the movie is a 10 second laugh. Add to that his dance steps, especially the ones at the stroke of interval, are a mere caricature of his 70s avtaar.
Why on earth did the censor wallas pass this movie uncut? They should have edited the sequence where Rikki dares Alvira to play the game of ‘Run your way up on a down-moving escalator.’ Just like Tridev’s Oye Oye became the National Anthem for Eve teasers and the bike mania of Dhoom lead to a spurt in road accidents, I suspect this wreched sequence might actually trigger a few accidents inside shopping malls.
Bobby’s dialogue delivery is almost as bad as the mumbo-jumbo that Hritik Roshan ususally dishes out. Bobby’s pre-kiss dialogues with Zinta are barely audible.

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

Why does the shop where Hafeez Bhai is munching jalebi bear the STD code of Jalandhar(0181) and not that of London, Paris, Bombay or Karachi?
Why does Rikki plead with Satwinder to lead him to Alvira;s place? Was it just to recreate history of ‘Deol & Bachchan in side-car’ a la Sholay, because Rikki did have Alvira’s mobile number anyway.
Why does the lottery ticket mention the first prize in small font and the second prize (7 days in Hollywood) in extra-large fonts?