Ok Jaanu Reviews by Critics

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Ok Jaanu Review by Indicine

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

OK Jaanu doesn’t offer anything new. In fact it repeats a lot of negative traits from previous unsatisfying movies like frustrating character traits, going round in circles around the same plotline and underutilized supporting characters. It is not very entertaining and AR Rahman’s music makes it somewhat watchable. It would be wrong to say that OK Jaanu is a waste of potential because not a lot could have been done with the basic story. Shaad Ali disappoints once again as this time even a remake of his mentor’s film can’t save his movie. OK Jaanu eventually finds it difficult to be called even an OK film.

Ok Jaanu Review by Bollywood Hungama

Rating: ★★½☆☆

OK JAANU, which happens to be the official remake of the hit Tamil film O KADHAL KANMANI, has been directed by Shaad Ali. After having directed the disastrous Ranveer Singh-Ali Zafar-Parineeti Chopra starrer KILL DIL, Shaad Ali returns with OK JAANU. Even though Shaad Ali exhibits sincerity with his direction, one cannot help noticing the fact that the film is many ways seems like a rehash of SAATHIYA. On the whole, Shaad Ali fails to build a convincing story with OK JAANU. However, thanks to Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor’s performances, the audience stays glued to the screen. While the film’s first half sets the ambience and the mood of the film, it’s the film’s second half that actually gets the film going. The flip side of the film’s second half is that, the climax looks way too thrusted and dragged in order to highlight the simple aspect of realisation of love between the lead characters. The biggest letdown, however, is the film’s writing. It’s the film’s writing gets convoluted and confused trying to address the concepts of love, live-in relationships and career. In an attempt to do so, the film goes astray, thus, not doing justice to any of the above-mentioned aspects.

Review by Shubhra Gupta on Indian Express

Rating: ★½☆☆☆

In Ok Jaanu, we can see Shraddha has progressed on the acting scale, and looks pretty and fresh. Aditya Roy Kapoor has some nice bits too, but the whole enterprise is beset by a drabness, which is surprising because you can accuse Ratnam of anything but being drab. And given that Shaad Ali did such a good job of the previous time he remade a Mani Ratnam film, it is even more surprising. I can see Saathiya and listen to its lilting songs any number of times (its Tamil original Alaipayuthey is mandatory viewing for anyone interested in mainstream romance).

Ok Jaanu Review by Manjari Saxena on Gulfnews

Rating: ★½☆☆☆

It’s disappointing to see a man of Mani Ratnam’s calibre pen a story that loses its plot as it keeps presenting the same thing over and over again in slightly different settings. Yes, we get that Adi (Aditya Roy Kapur) and Tara (Shraddha Kapoor) are discovering their feelings for each other and the song and dance in the rain is all necessary. But Ali could have easily established that in three scenes rather than using the entire first half of the film — and then carrying on the humdrum after the interval. Moreover, Kapur and Kapoor are nothing like the ardent lovers from Aashiqui 2. The spark we witnessed between the actors in the other film seems to have been doused by the rain in this one.

Ok Jaanu Review by Lokesh Dharmani on Masala

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Ok Jaanu doesn’t convince you with the couple’s fear against marriage. Neither does it showcase real career problems. The parents and family are also such boring cardboard characters. You can see the climax well in advance but can hardly see any logic or reasoning in their change of hearts.

Review by Nihit Bhave on The Times Of India

Rating: ★★★½☆

In this seemingly tailor-made role, Aditya Roy Kapur shines as a goofy, shorts-wearing man-child. Shraddha is mostly sincere too, but there are scenes where you can’t help but flashback to Nithya Menen, who had charmed people’s socks off with her performance in OK Kanmani. Adi and Tara’s impulsive infatuation is countered by Gopi uncle (Naseeruddin Shah) and Charu aunty’s (Leela Samson) golden-jubilee marriage; both senior actors grounding the movie and saving it from becoming frivolous. In spite of its Pros, one can’t deny that unsure young lovers and their battle with commitment phobia is a tired topic to begin with. Moreover, if you’ve seen the original Tamil film, it’ll get tedious after a while, knowing exactly what’s coming next. If you haven’t seen the original though, you’re sure to walk out of the theatre with a warm-fuzzy feeling.

Review by Rashma Shetty Bali on Bollywood Life

Rating: ★★★½☆

While Shraddha and Aditya both fare decently through the first half, the emotional scenes are a major let down. There’s very little scope for an actor to NOT perform in this film, and the climax is where the real test lies. Unfortunately both Shraddha and Aditya fail to make you feel for their characters when it is most needed. What’s worse is you have two prolific actors in the same frame. And yes, Shaad Ali has a massive Saathiya hangover. Well, OK Jaanu will be a treat to Shraddha and Aditya fans. If you are a sucker for romantic films or then easy movies then you wouldn’t mind spending your two hours and fifteen minutes in the theatre for this one.

Review by Raghav Jaitly on Zeenews

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I was a bit disappointed to not find anything new in ‘Ok Jaanu’ as all its promos and trailer highlighted the gen next spark. Shaad, who previously made ‘Saathiya’ and ‘Bunty Aur Babli’, struggled hard to live up to the pre-release faffing. At times, the plot even felt directionless. Only in the last few scenes of the second-half, we get to know where the film is heading. If we talk about the performances, veteran Naseeruddin Shah stole the show, hands down. Otherwise, ‘Ok Jaanu’ lacks the enthusiasm and fervour that the youth expects. Aditya and Shraddha were decent in the movie but we have already seen their best earlier. So, this time, they didn’t quite hit the bulls-eye. Leela Samson has also done a fair job.

Review by Sweta Kaushal on Hindustan Times

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Mani Ratnam’s screenplay is the star of the movie, and the actors are natural and energetic enough to convincingly portray it onscreen. While Aditya and Shraddha share a naturally organic chemistry, Nasser and Leela remind us why they are two of the best among veteran actors today. AR Rahman’s music and Gulzar’s pen add to the charismatic, positive vibe of the movie – while the music keeps it peppy and new-age, Gulzar’s dialogues ensure that melodrama does not overpower the film.

Review by Rohit Bhatnagar on Deccan Chronicle

Rating: ★★½☆☆

If you thought that ‘OK Jannu’ is a peculiar love story, you will be disappointed. However you can still watch it for Aditya and Shraddha’s organic chemistry. Looks like their sizzling reel life chemistry has stemmed out of their real life romance.

Review by Sameeksha on News18

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Everything in OK Jaanu is beautiful and real solely because of its story. If you haven’t watched O Kandhal Kanmani, this might appear as one of the best love stories of the recent times. It’s real with minimal melodrama, passionate, refreshing and relatable, and the credit goes to the original screenplay. This breezy romance deserves a watch for its story, good chemistry and the character of Adi, Mr. Gopi and Rahman’s music. Even if you are not a romantic, you will fall in love with this charming love story.

Review by Tushar Joshi on DNA India

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Ok Jaanu is Okayish when it comes to the heavy duty parts. Shaad teases you with the real drama but only manages to scratch the surface. We never really get to see Adi and Tara’s deepest darkest fears or their honest understanding of the complexity that comes with a love story like theirs. The first half particularly emphasises too much on sugar coating ever dialogue and ensuring every frame looks pristine and well lit up. The beauty of imperfection is missing in this love story. Naseer and Leela’s scenes and their exchange of words takes the story to an expectation that is let down by Adi and Tara’s attempt to be goofy and cute. There is also an eerie Saathiya hangover courtesy the collaboration between the same team (Mani Ratnam-Shaad Ali). As we near the climax we expect Adi and Tara to finally some sort of a showdown, if not at least a conversation about their future, instead we cut to a song that is patched in to give the mandatory romantic ballad to the soundtrack. Despite being set in 2017 with a contemporary look and feel, Ok Jaanu’s idea of love feels dated. Brand placement in the middle of a romantic scene that’s meant to evoke some emotion is a terrible idea!

Review by Manisha Lakhe on Nowrunning

Rating: ★★½☆☆

You get so tired of the dialog you wonder why the Tamil version directed by Mani Ratnam (thankfully this follows frame by frame) was not such a bore to watch. Then you realise that in staying true to the original, there are pauses and silences induced because Dulquer Salman and Nithya Menen have far better screen presence and acting chops than Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapoor. Aditya has played characters who commit suicide in most of his films, and this romance also seems to drive the audiences to it, especially in the second half.

Review by Saibal Chatterjee on NDTVMovies

Rating: ★★½☆☆

A breezy, feel-good romance with its share of highs, OK Jaanu floats along through some interesting thematic territory without managing to soar to the altitude one expects it to. This is a slightly modified remake of Mani Ratnam’s Tamil smash hit OK Kanmani, enlivened by a charming and lively pair of leads and lent a degree of gravitas by the supporting duo of Naseeruddin Shah and Leela Samson. OK Jaanu is composed of consistently pretty frames, with DOP Ravi K Chandran capturing the rains and trains – and much else – of the city of Mumbai with an unfailing eye. The sounds that AR Rahman generates, both in his background score and in the form of songs, are pleasing to the ear. The dialogue penned by Gulzar is more than just the icing on the cake. In the main, it is the cake itself. It radiates warmth, wit and wisdom. But, sadly, the enormous wealth of inputs in terms of language, visuals and acting do not quite add up to nonstop magic. And that’s highly disappointing.

Review by Sukanya Verma on Rediff

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Ok Jaanu raises but doesn’t resolve questions about juggling professional and personal life, the dilemmas it poses for a woman. But it does address the changing face of modern-day relationships and the alternate arrangements it’s looking at in a wishful way. In Ok Jaanu, characters live in a bubble that doesn’t burst till the end. Who wouldn’t be OK with that?

Review by Samrudhi Ghosh on India Today

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

It was Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen’s breezy chemistry that made the original so popular, and Aditya and Shraddha don’t disappoint on that front. Shraddha has come a long way in the acting department from her Luv Ka The End days, and Aditya slips into the role of a man-child figuring out life one day at a time with ease. But it is the elderly couple who make OK Jaanu worth a watch. Naseeruddin Shah effortlessly conveys the pain of loving someone with a degenerative disease, and his relationship with his wife in the film is endearing. AR Rahman’s songs in the original were all chartbusters, but the title track does not sound half as good in Hindi. Enna Sona is quite likeable, though. The strength of the film is that it remains faithful to the original, and if you haven’t watched that, OK Jaanu makes for a decent watch.

Review by Kunal Guha on Mumbai Mirror

Rating: ★★½☆☆

A chief reason why this one falls flat in comparison to the Tamil version, despite being largely the same frame-to-frame, is the lead cast. Both Aditya and Shraddha are a let-down and a lot weighs on their performances since the supporting cast is peripheral to the story. While Shah and Samson are adorable as a cute old couple for whom the spark hasn’t gone out yet, even they can’t save the day. Director Shaad Ali, who has previously remade Mani Ratnam’s Alaipayuthey as the much-loved Saathiya, ensures much is lost in translation here. Retelling a story in another language means being sensitive to the nuances of the recipient language as not everything will translate precisely, something that wasn’t taken into account here. Much has been said about the cover of AR Rahman’s Humma Humma but sadly, none of the other songs from the soundtrack impress either.

Review by Vishal Verma on Glamsham

Rating: ★★★☆☆

On the flip side, the movie is overpowered by predictability in the second half making it appear boringly longer then the duration. Bollywood rom-coms continue to nurture this cliche idea that marriage is the end of life and love but many a times it’s not the case, for a considerable chunk it’s a beginning. Mani Ratnam made a comeback by ‘playing safe’ with O KADHAI KANMANI and his follower Shaad Ali has just repeated what Mani did. Mani’s film was feel good, fresh but not a great cinema as per the calibre of the prolific helmer who is said to have left his influence on RGV, Shaad Ali, E Niwas etc. Shaad Ali though successful in making a feel good and harmless rom-com losses mark on not being original and mostly rehashing his mentor’s work in OK JAANU for the thinking audience.

Review by Meeta on Wogma

Rating: ★½☆☆☆

Of course, I watch one after another, the romantic in me even looks forward to almost all of them. This is in the hope for that one moment of “spark”, that one fresh insight on relationships, that one instance of being together which connects me to the characters. OK Jaanu has none of these. Interestingly individually some of the departments worked very well. Some scenes, especially those shot in the Mumbai trains went well with the pace of the relationship and its confusion. The background music and absence thereof also provided just the right amount of calmness between the mad, supposedly intense love between the lead couple.

Review by Mayank Shekhar on Mid-Day India

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

And that’s what makes this film rather breezy with light romance, and slight humour for the most part, and the lead actors, perfectly paired, to add a touch of both. This is what the teenagers eagerly packing in the FDFS (first-day, first show) in my theatre had been drawn towards anyway — speaking of the point of remaking a film! Besides that, mainstream audiences rarely watch movies that are not in their own language (unless dubbed, in the case of Hollywood). And many of them could have been lured by the rather odd version of ‘Humma Humma’ because they were too young or perhaps not even born when the original appeared as the first proper ‘item song’, in Ratnam’s ‘Bombay’ (1995). Beyond these fine and obvious baits, the film itself seems so strictly okay. Going back to the title, and pardon the petty peeve (it’s mostly thanks to Whatsapp), the word is okay, or OK, even O.K. will do — not ‘Ok’ Jaanu. OK?

Ok Jaanu Review by Indiaglitz

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

There’s no doubt that ‘OK Jaanu’ is much better than director Shaad Ali’s last film, but nowhere in comparison to his debut romantic film ‘Saathiya’. He manages only to recreate some of those many wonderful moments due to which the movie falls flat in the second half. Aditya Roy Kapur is sweet in parts due to his goofy antics. Shraddha displays a decent performance and does justice to her character. Naseeruddin Shah and Leela Samson do full justice to their track, which is one of the strongest positive point of the film.

Review by Subhash K Jha on Bollyspice

Rating: ★★★★☆

While Aditya Roy Kapoor tends to get out of rhythm and clunky with his jaunty cool-dude act, Shradha Kapoor is pitch-perfect. Her Tara is a waif, a child-woman lost in her ambitions trying to find her bearings in a relationship that takes her by surprise. Not only does Shradha capture the sur of the romance– part playful, part questioning, somewhat uncertain and yet in control—she has never looked more beautiful on screen. Sadly Shradha’s scenes with her estranged mother come off extremely trite and selfconscious, for no fault of hers. Kitu Gidwani, generally known to be a skilled performer here plays the working mom on a one-note scale.

Review by Joginder Tuteja on Movietalkies

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Ok, so with Shaadi Ali [Kill/Dil, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom] as the director, you do wonder if a thorough entertainer would indeed be in the offering. Well, he doesn’t make a Saathiya but does better than before. Ok, so with the talkie promo not quite offering much, there was always an apprehension around how the final product will shape up. Well, it is indeed better than the promo, though not thoroughly engaging. Ok, so with 2016 churning out many films with good first half and average second half, you do hope that’s not the case here. As it happens, one does wish second half was equally good as the first half here.

Review by IANS on Sify

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The climax is stretched unnecessarily if only to make the young couple realise and declare their love for each other with the devotion of the older couple towards each other as the backdrop. A deliberate attempt that appears very contrived. The scenes appear disconnected and the actions of the characters often defy logic. Shaad Ali merely goes on with the narrative, as if with a set intention of telling a story, no matter how cliched. There is no element of freshness to the plot.

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