Jaan-E-Mann
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2006, Color
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Jaan-E-Mann is a reasonably positive directorial debut for Shirish Kunder. Deliberately corny, over the top, goofy, irrelevant and escapist with a truly scene stealing show by Akhsay Kumar – the film works quite well as an entertainer with no pretensions to being otherwise.
The film has an interesting enough premise in that Suhaan Kapoor (Salman Khan) the failed actor and wannabe superstar helps NASA Astronaut Agastya Rao (Akshay Kumar) to help woo his ex-wife Piya (Preity Zinta) and get her to marry him so that he can get out of paying alimony to her since he’s broke! Ten years earlier the threesome had formed the classic love triangle in college but Suhaan, the dude, had eloped with Piya at the cost of breaking the geek, Agastya’s heart. Now as he helps Agastya win Piya over, complications ensue as he starts falling in love with her all over again…
The film ‘borrows’ from several influences - Cyrano de Bergerac, Hitch, Moulin Rouge, Kal Ho Na Ho, the Broadway Melody Sequence from Singin’ in the Rain just to name some but manages to blend all this pretty effectively into the story which plays out more in the nature of a modern day fairy tale treated like a Broadway Musical. The screenplay toys effectively with standard Bollywood clichés and stereotypes - including them and yet taking a swipe at them and yes, at times even giving you a fresher take on them. The film manages to make you suspend your sense of belief – in fact you go along with the ride like for example the college flashback sequences resembling the flashback of Ross and Chandeler’s college days in the popular sitcom Friends.
The twist in the tale leading to Suhaan’s change of heart, re-falling for Piya and thus understanding his responsibilities and turning into a better person thus switching gears in the film works well. Other sequences that stand out include mixing up footage of various Filmfare award functions down the years as Suhaan dreams of winning a Filmfare Award given to him by Meena Kumari no less (ala Forrest Gump), Agastya calling out to Piya pretending he’s just run into her at the traffic signal (Akshay is just too funny here) or Agastya goofily rehearsing proposing to Piya with her grandfather’s ring as also do the tender’ handshake’ scenes between Suhaan and Suhaani. What essentially makes the film work in moments like these is that you feel the people making the film had great fun while doing so.
However there are times the film however tends to go way overboard (the riot of colours in places) in its stylizations and treatment. Sometimes you feel the first time director Kunder wants to include each and very idea in head into the film without realizing how it could be used best thus creating a mish mash at times. The biggest glaring problem here for example is Chachu, the dwarf. It adds nothing to the screenplay and barring a gimmick does nothing for the film as well. Or take the instance the sequence where Agastya tells Suhaan that Piya has responded to his proposal. The glass on the windows shatter literally showing Suhaan’s shattered heart – Not only too obvious but underlined as well especially as the film had shifted to a comparatively more subtle gear by then!
The film is aided to a degree by the three spirited central performances. Salman though looking his age now, is a natural in the corny humour sequences as the dude with loads of attitude and manages to show a tender side to himself as well (though strong emotional scenes are not his forte) while Preity is more than adequate with the role not making too many demands of her. She manages to make her character endearing enough for both men to fall in love with her. The outstanding performance of the film is undoubtedly Akshay Kumar. Razor sharp comic timing with full control over the emotional sequences as well, the actor just seems to be getting better and better with each film. Be it his bumbling laugh or his self conscious wooing of Preity or his realization that she still loves Salman, he wins you over completely. Anupam Kher as mentioned, suffers from badly sketched roles in both avatars - the dwarf Chachu and his look alike in Manhattan.
The lyrics by Gulzar and Anu Malik’s music work well with the film especially Humko Maloom Hai Ishq Masoom Hai and Ajnabi Sheher which is particularly well written. Sudeep Chatterjee’s cinematography too deserves a mention though one wonders what’s with the glut of tilted frames throughout the film. Where the film could have done with some strong help is in the tightening up of the second half especially as things get heavy. But one suspects that Shirish Kunder the director-in-love-with-his-material vetoed Shirish Kunder the editor here.
All in all – decent time pass!
To be honest, maybe it's a good thing for LSD that I did not review the film as it did not really ge
good movie.
Thanks everyone for your comments. @Akash: High time for Suriya the actor to choose his films now
Ahhh Karan, this is a great read man! I have had the privilege of being in the same school and cl
Insightful indeed ! Karan has the ability to dig deeper to reveal small details that make his writin