Bollywood is breaking new grounds. Most production houses are experimenting with new scripts, directors, and styles of filmmaking. Nadiadwala Grandson best known for their high budget masala flicks like “Mujhse Shaadi Karoge”, “Har dil jo pyaar karega”, “Judwaa’’ have once again introduced us to a novel idea in filmmaking with their latest production – JAAN-E-MANN.
JAAN-E-MAN revolves around Suhan(Salman Khan) who has divorced from his wife Piya(Preity Zinta). His lawyer cum “chacha Boney (Anupam Kher) notifies him that he must pay a sum of 50 Lakhs to her as he hasn’t been able to pay her the monthly settlement shes meant to be getting because he’s broke.
At that moment enters(literally) Agastya aka Champu(Akshay Kumar) who has just returned from the U.S and is looking for Piya. Agastya was in love with Piya during his college days but Piya was in love with another guy(the guy being Suhan which Agastya is unaware of) and hardly noticed his presence as he was the school nerd! We learn that Piya had broken Agastyas heart at the school dance. Heatrtbroken, Agastya left college due to the incident.
Agastya has now improved his appearance and is a good looking young man who works for NASA, though he is still unable to talk to girls, and despite his exterior, at heart remains the same geeky, awkward boy he was in school. Suhan and Boney then have a brainwave that if Agastya marries Piya then he won’t have to pay her the settlement and at this juncture Suhan decides to help Agastya win the girl.
Actually JEM has no story to talk of, but it’s the treatment of this waferthin plot, the characters, the moments, the dialogues, the overall impact that makes it so very special.Director Shirish Kunder surprises you with his command over the script and techinique. Despite being his first film, he has handled the complex of scenes with sensitivity. The first half of the film includes all ingredients that contribute to the making of a love story – the meeting, the affair, the marriage, the tiffs… In fact, the roller coaster ride in the first half is flawless in terms of writing, execution and interpretation.The film also scores in the technical department. Cinematography is brilliant. Dialogues are well worded.
Salman looks dashing and performs his scenes with maturity. One actually runs out of adjectives and if asked to describe this performance by the actor. Clearly his most brilliant performance since Tere Naam , he delivers a performance that is bound to be a big hit with one and all.Preity slips into the character with amazing ease, proving that she’s a reservoir of talent. Looks-wise too, she has never looked as gorgeous as in this flick.Akki scores yet again! He handles this complex role with flourish
One only wishes more attention was paid to the pace of the film. Crispier editing and a shorter running time would have made this film slicker. The music by Anu Malik is soulful and suits the tone of the film.
All in all JEM is targeted at the gentry, not the masses, which will restrict its prospects to a major extent. Trimming the film in the second half is a must.