Jhoom Barabar Jhoom had almost everything going for it.
- Abhishek?s next after the blockbuster Dhoom 2 and critically acclaimed Guru
- Shaad Ali?s next after the very successful Saathiya and Bunty aur Babli
- Produced by Bollywood?s most successful production house Yashraj Films
- Great Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy
The expectations were sky high. All eyes were on the movie. But who in their wildest of dreams could have expected JBJ (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom) to be such a pathetic flick?
Ok, now the story (Even though there is no story at all) *warning some spoilers ahead*
The movie starts with Amitabh dancing to the title song. Rikki Thukral (Abhishek Bachchan) is at the railway station waiting for his fiance Anaida (Lara Dutta). Alvira Khan (Preity Zinta) is also waiting for her fiancee Steve Singh (Bobby Deol) at the same railway station. The train has been delayed for an hour. They bump into each other. Both have a really long and boring discussion about their personal love life. The first half is full of how they met their fiance?s, how they sang, danced and eventually fell in love. Just then the train arrives. They exchange phone nos and part.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom Barabar Jhoom Barabar Jhooooooooooooooom?.. Amitabh dances again.. Intermission.. thank god.. Feeling of relief sets in..
Now we have a twist in the second half. The stories narrated in the first half is fake. Both are single and ready to mingle. And infact Rikki and Alvira are madly in love with each other. Rikki goes to a prostitute (Again Lara Dutta) for help and Alvira takes help from a mama?s boy (you guessed it right Bobby Deol).
(Note:- At this point, 20% of the people in the theatre have disappeared and a few are fast asleep.)
Then its all too easy.. They meet at a dance competition. The prostitute has sex with mama?s boy and he falls in love with her instanty. On the other hand, Alvira and Rikki get to know the truth and kiss.. And we again get to see Amitabh dance and make a fool out of himself on screen. Sad to see a legend of Hindi cinema in such a pathetic role. End of the movie. Phew.. You feel relieved once again..
Bobby Deol is good and so is Lara Dutta. Abhishek Bachchan overacts and hams throughout. Preity Zinta is completely out of form in the first half, overall inconsistent. Amitabh is at his worst ever.
Shaad Ali is undoubtedly one of the worst directors in the Yashraj Camp. And JBJ is by far the weakest product from Yashraj Films ever. They need to realise that a movie is not just about Gloss and glamour. The content is most important.
So overall, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is by far the biggest disappointment this year. No entertainment value, below average performances and unbelievably bad direction.
Dont ever watch it.. Not even on television..
Rating: 
Am pleasantly surprised. Very much so indeed. A lazy afternoon, and just wanted to chill before the grind starts on Monday, so slipped in this supposedly godawful DVD and sat back. Back in June, when it had garnered unanimously 1-starred reviews, I thought Shaad Ali had truly and definitely lost it. But boy, I was pleasantly surprised. Really was expecting a lot after hearing the energetic soundtrack, and was deeply shattered. But I really enjoyed this one.
It conveys two subtle themes of “love-just-happens” and unflinching, even impenetrable talent at yarn-spinning which all of us are capable of in the company of strangers. And it does it in a rocking song-dance format. So I dunno where the problem was. What were people expecting? Some kind of social message, some new romance mantra?It looked like a thumpingly glamorous escapist fare from day 1 of the trailer. The title says its an out-n-out dance flick which you just gotta let flow.
I feel kinda sad for Yashraj studios now, the way everything they shell out is under such immense and rather unfair scrutiny by this army of critics and pseudo-intellectual urban crowd. Seriously, have we forgotten to enjoy Bollywood in all its essence or what? Maybe I am carrying this defensive tone a bit too forward suggesting Jhoom is the next best thing to sliced bread, but really the film’s butchering all over was rather brutal.
Coming back to the movie, the peppy soundtrack’s got some of the best choreography I have seen this year (I am a Vaibhavi fan now, and can’t wait to see what magic she’s created with madhuri in Aaja Nachle if she could disguise the left feet of the foursome in this movie so adroitly) and really the romp’s pretty cool in the second half.
Granted, the first half could be just a little less baked (Preity’s made up story is a little too cringe-worthy but then its such a girl thing. One can always trust girls to conjure up Cinderella like dreams at the click of the finger, especially the mainstream Bollywood, growth stunted-in-teenage-crap LOL), but Abhishek’s story and then the follow-up meeting and final denouement is pretty convincing.
Shaad Ali has a knack for North indian accents and eccentric characters and I really enjoyed SmallB’s accent, his colloquialisms and Punjabi-isms and his sidekick-Haneef bhai (Piyush-Maqbool-Mishra as the foul-motor-mouth UPite bhaiya is too cool!). Since half of the movie’s basically music videos, every one of the song is resplendent. Gulzar’s poetry, the cinemato- and choreography, SEL’s music… it really is rocking! So much better than the mess of last year’s Jaaneman which had downright bzzarre and rather unmelodic claptrap by the name of songs. And what brilliant colours and bling all the way through… man its put me in such fab spirit.
Of the cast, Abhishek’s so chilled and un-guarded and totally enjoying the character that he hooks you bigtime right from the start. 2nd consecutive performance I was impressed with by this guy after Guru. The guy’s going back to his roots with his trademark Refugee-OJJ sincerity visible again on screen. Good stuff indeed and he shares quite a warm chemistry with Zinta… which makes you suspend disbelief in the final 15 mins despite both of their’s cliched characters.
Lara’s downright awesome as the French mademoiselle and as the prostitute-down-the-road. Bobby’s cool and relaxed in the best way that he can be but I was sorely disappointed by the very reason I slipped in the DVD- Preity Zinta! What happened to her? Her comic timing was glaringly off, she was visibly hamming in most of the scenes and looked bored in more than one instance. Thankfully, the final scenes see her back to being her chirpy and bubbly best although being a fan, am so glad she’s switched gears and moved to serious cinema now for a change. The talented girl needs a breather from being dolled up so often. She looks like a million bucks though!
And I was all for the tongue-in-cheek climax where BigB as the quasi-narrator musically exposes the minor motifs which the two strangers-now-lovers used. Kewl, peppy musical that was well worth the time and delivers what it says on the cover.
3/5 easily!
PS: I am not generalising my defence for YRF since TRRP was a genuinely hokey and old-school movie. JBJ offers something new and I think cinema that delivers something new and manages to keep the spirit of the old film-making alive should be enjoyed for what it is!