Jab Harry Met Sejal Review

In the recent times, Bollywood has seen some of its most accomplished filmmakers failing to live upto expectations; Dilwale, Tubelight, Befikre are examples of big-name directors failing to excite the audience. With ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali known for classics like ‘Jab We Met’, returns with two of the biggest names in the industry; Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma. Will the director deliver a romantic classic that lives upto the hype? Does Shah Rukh Khan still have something new to offer in the romantic genre? Let’s find out!

Story: The story of ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ is about Harry and Sejal’s journey across Europe. Harry (Shah Rukh Khan) takes visitors on a tour across different European countries. He’s a bit aloof, rude and finds it difficult to maintain long lasting relationships. Sejal (Anushka Sharma) is a tourist who has taken the services of Harry along with her entire family. She gets engaged during the trip to Rupen. Her engagement ring goes missing and she refuses to go back to Mumbai until she finds it. She compels Harry to help her find the ring and he agrees to do so.

Jab Harry Met Sejal Still - Shahrukh, Anushka

Jab Harry Met Sejal Review – Shahrukh, Anushka

Review: ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ starts well with some good interactive fun between the lead pair, which does remind you of some of Imtiaz’s earlier films. The proceedings in the first hour are fairly well-paced with some ear-pleasing songs like Safar, Radha and Parinda. A special mention to the episode leading upto the Hawaayein song as it brings Shah Rukh Khan back to his romantic roots.

However, the film fails to move with its storyline and the plot related to the ‘lost ring’ is stretched beyond its elasticity. The second hour begins on a very average note and it is through these portions that the film begins to drag. The writing lets the film down big-time, which is surprising because most Imtiaz Ali films – Tamasha, Highway and Rockstar in particular – have improved in the latter half. The climax is the weakest link of the film, which also ends pretty abruptly.

The only silver lining in this otherwise disappointing tale of Harry and Sejal are the performances. Shah Rukh Khan delivers a likeable performance, but is let down by a film with a wafer-thin plot line. Harinder Singh Nehra had the potential to be Ved Vardhan Sahni of Tamasha, but unfortunately the same hasn’t been explored by Imtiaz Ali during the last hour. With all due respect to the legend and the evergreen ‘King of Romance’, after having achieved everything and more in the romantic genre, it’s time to do roles with more substance at this stage of his career. His legacy and stardom deserve better films than this.

Anushka Sharma is excellent as Sejal, she plays the role of a Gujarati girl to perfection. The supporting cast comprising of actors like Chandan Roy Sanyal takes the graph of the film down. In fact, the movie would’ve probably worked better without the whole ‘Illegal immigration’ angle involving him which fails to raise any laugh and ends up making the film feel longer.

The music is pleasing with good cinematography thrown in even when the screenplay doesn’t require songs. Radha, Hawaayein and Raula (the unreleased Diljit Dosanjh Punjabi track) are the songs that stands out. But too many songs, as many as eleven, can test the viewer’s patience.

On the whole, even though Jab Harry Met Sejal travels through 6 countries in those 145 minutes, the film fails to take you on an emotional ride that you expect from an Imtiaz Ali – Shah Rukh Khan film. The charisma and acting prowess of the lead pair make the film watchable, but ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ is a romantic film that lacks soul. When you don’t feel for the characters or want the lead couple to fall in love and be together, it makes the whole film pointless.

‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ is one of the biggest disappointments so far this year.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

What works in Jab Harry Met Sejal:

  • Performances by the lead pair
  • Some good songs
  • Visually beautiful

What doesn’t work for Jab Harry Met Sejal:

  • Lacks soul, all style with little or no substance.
  • Imtiaz Ali’s direction
  • Poor second half
  • Some dialogues and scenes that can make you cringe
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199 Comments

  • srkians made fun of S26,baby,gabbar,brothers ,SIB ,airllift ,rustom lifetime .
    karma hit back in form of dilwale ,fan ,raees,jhms.
    srkians made fun of akki opening
    after 2013 .(till 2012 akki movies used to take excellent to bumper opening)
    karma will again hit back wait for some more craps by srk .
    if srk will do as much movie as akki do per year ..
    srk will be out from this industry.

    global star my foot.
    Srk film opening depends on Hit song , top heroine ,good trailer,high ticket price ,corporate booking of 3-4 cr ,good promotion( 2-3 month promotion ) ,srk presence.

    akki film opens on akki presence , good trailer and 1 week promotion.
    still give 13 -14 cr average opening 3/4 times per year .

  • This time srk won’t even get avg or semihit it seems.it needs more than 160 CR’s to get hit .now what will be the reaction of some srk fans like sayar,jab romance met sejal who were celebrating tube lights failure n bashing akki.

  • Jeez, I hope this is not the end of the road for SRK, you wouldn’t even know what the Indian audience wants, he experimented with fan and failed, now back to his comfort zone same thing. The audience are the problems.

  • Same problem again – won’t sustain after weekend and will crash badly like all Srk films in recent years…Bad reviews will hurt JHMS badly…Let us wait for Monday to see a single digit number and the film finished by next Thursday

    I go with 110-115 crores for this movie …shocking and disappointing for industry

  • As expected…. Bollywood is making crap films every now and then….
    Superstars are signing crap films which their lack of maturity of mind..
    .
    Any how I am waiting for TOILET-EPK

  • Thanx for the honest review indicine So another Flop in Srk’s kitty now better watch Mubarka or wait for TEPK

  • Absolutely agreed. Watched it FDFS (just like all other SRK films) and was highly disappointed with the film.

    There was no story to tell in the second half. The movie was being dragged for no reason. Have never felt so bored in any other SRK films before.

    And now the next SRK movie is 1.5 years away. :(

  • SRK is known as king of romance so all his fans love to see him in these kinds of movies.SRK here is in his comfort zone as he known for doing romance on screen…he should be able bring his fans to theatre atleast on first day so it is time to see his star power(which his fans were screaming since the time of Tubelight)

  • “after having achieved everything and more in the romantic genre, it’s time to do roles with more substance at this stage of his career. His legacy and stardom deserve better films than this.”
    @Indicine… no he dont .. Agar koi use bolega to pure attitude ke sath ye bolta hai ki mujhe bohot saal huve hai is idustry me .. I know whts good and whats bad.. aap mat samjhao.. Ja phir doob mar..
    Hame bhi hamare paise pyare hai nahi dekhani teri movie..
    And I have no hopes from Anand L rai’s movie either.. someone else should book xmas 2018 … he will ruin it..

  • I m a big SRK fan but really his some films dispoint me a lot first happy New year then dilwaale and now JHMS screenplay, story,direction, nothing was there don’t know where we lost old SRK chakde, devdas, my name is khan, swades

  • There are no ifs, buts or two or multiple ways to look into it. You cant blame content every time, WTH is Gloabl power ? Salman failed with Tubelight, as a fan of Salman I accepted the failure and looking forward to TZH. It is high time @Indicine and SRK fans stop living in illusion and accept the reality, SRK has lost the charm and pull towards audience, the things will get only worse for him. How long you will cry or hide his failures with excuses ??

  • . With all due respect to the legend and the evergreen ‘King of Romance’, after having achieved everything and more in the romantic genre, it’s time to do roles with more substance at this stage of his career

    Ha ha ha m……..

  • As expected…. Bollywood is making crap films every now and then….
    Superstars are signing crap films which shows their lack of maturity of mind..
    .
    Tamasha had found some acceptance but this is Colossal disappointment.
    .
    Any how I am waiting for TOILET-EPK

  • Hopefully srk will learn something from this and start taking serously his fans and provide us some good films.

  • Biggest flop of the year now what will do srk sir fans bashing at the time of tubelight now ready your excuses and abusive others

  • @srk fans:instead of bashing akki n salman watch ur idols movie repeatedly so that atleast it can get average verdict.

  • Salman is ruling this decade but akki is Baap of srk anyday .
    stardom pichwade mae ghus gyi ..
    3-4cr corporate booking..
    hike ticket price ..
    real value
    15-3.5 = 11.5 cr
    srk is only ahead in overseas …

    when akki do metro oriented film raise ques on his stardom .
    same thing srk do then genre come into play ..choice of film etc etc

    trade people and indicine????

  • Another failure and disappointment .Unless you reinvent yourself things won’t change Srk Sir.I have been one of your biggest fans and it pains me to see you having become someone whom I don’t identify with.I still watch K3G and KKHH on Star Gold and relive the days I spent wanting to meet you and become someone like you.And I will be your fan forever Sir.I will watch every single movie of yours in theatre alone even in future.But for once do ask yourself does your fans who made you one of the biggest superstars deserves this.Nobody is perfect everyone makes mistakes but please learn from it sir.Doing Dilwale after HNY.Saying that rejecting classics like 3I or Robot doesn’t bother you because it’s the director’s loss and not yours is a foolish statement.There hasn’t been one brilliant film from you in the past 7 years.The last film that could be considered a classic is MNIK.But just see the excitement among all your fans for JHMS and you’d realise how blessed you are.We all love you soo much.You can’t satisfy everyone we know but once in a while do remember that don’t take your stardom for granted.
    You have changed.The way you take your stardom for granted sometimes saying that if you are a fan of someone it means you’ll love everything your idol does is so wrong Sir.You clashed with your dear friend Hrithik unnecessarily.You give silly excuses that you don’t mix business with friendship but don’t dare to clash with Sultan.
    And one more thing my Dear Srk fellows please learn to be humble.You don’t have to be polite all the time but fighting with every single fanbase all the time and claiming that Srk is King God etc etc creates only hatred for Srk.Why can’t we celebrate our favourite star’s success without degrading his competitors.I have known so many people who wish bad things for Srk just so that you people learn a lesson
    @sss @kaali @nn @javed I hope this failure is a lesson for all of you to start respecting others and don’t consider yourself superior to others :)
    All the best Srk sir for your upcoming film with Anand L rai.I am sure you will bounce back

  • Srk is the best in romance but not in this age.
    He is 51 who romances at the age of 51 with a girl 29 years old Anushka is 22 years younger then Srk she is like your daughter how can you romance with her.
    You can romance with some one like Madhuri dixit but not anushka or katrina or any young actresses.
    Lastly a girl with age of 29 never falls in love with an unmarried 51 years old man.
    Man what type of movie are you making do you think ppl are mad they will watch this garbage srk you are the best but don’t do these type of roles plzzzz.
    Srk if you want to romance go and romance with someone who is at least 46 years.

  • For me it’s A FORGONE CONCLUSION coz after so called mini trailers
    Only songs that worked well

    Xmas 2018 will now HAVE A CLASH
    2 much fun

  • Can we now say that SRK is finished and shouldn’t be compared to likes of Aamir & Salman in terms of boxoffice & stardom?

  • Great movie..good direction and awesome acting in the movie.
    Since this movie is a romantic genre people expecting collection like masala movies which totatly unfair.
    Masala movies are adventurous in nature which give thrills whereas romantic movies are emotional in nature which take time to grow.
    Masala is like whiskey..Romantic is wine.

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