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 Sheear 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!
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