Yesterday as I was relaxing in my room, the door bell ranged and my dost party was all set to pick me up for some masti. The activity decided was to go to the night show of some latest released movie. Mutually it was decided…..OJJ.
Enter the hall, take ur seats and start waiting till the 70mm screen lights up. We meet the great Batra family. A happy family that lives by ideals preached in everything from Raj Khosla’s Do Raaste (1969) to current TV soap operas. Om (Anil Kapoor), a sweet music executive who can tell a gung-ho tenor from a gana bajaanewala, his US-bred sibling Jai (Fardeen Khan) and the brattish collegian Jagadish (Abhishek Bachchan) dot the do. Furthermore, there’s pyari maa Sarsawati (Waheeda Rehman) who overflows with the milkshake of human kindness & mamta. Fortunately, there are no pigeons or Pomeranians or monkeys to add to this happy assortment. Enter the virago on high heels, Neetu (Urmila Matondkar). Jai returns to the Big Apple. Jagadish is caught hacking into his own university site. Meanwhile the family home is in danger of being auctioned away. There is a regrettable patness to Om Jai Jagdish.
Everything that has been attempted by Sooraj Barjatya (the Ram-Lakshman cliche in Hum Saath Saath Hain), Karan Johar (the patriarch presiding, the shaadi shindig in K3G) wends its way into this enterprise. Although its heart is in the right place, OJJ, from the debutant director Anupam Kher proves, at best, uneven. The bigger problem is the wildly fluctuating tone. From broad comedy to overwrought melodrama, the picture shifts gear so often that one gets lost. Even if u sleep watching this movie, I won’t be surprised. Wonder what writer Rahul Nanda was thinking of while regurgitating his dad the late Gulshan Nanda’s Do Raaste story ? Some of the dialogue by Raman Kumar, Rumi Jaffrey and Kher make references to redundant Indian muddle-class values. But there’s also higgledy-piggledy dialogue like, “Pyar koi TV show nahin.’’ The regal Waheeda Rehman, despite a trite role, manages to raise a lump in your throat. The ever luscious Urmila Matondkar has her big moments when she bares her fangs. Fardeen Khan is happiest when he has to intone a Manhattan twang. Abhishek Bachchan is endearing in some parts and completely over the top in others . Finally, it’s left to Anil Kapoor to carry the picture with his crinkling eyes and Job-like perseverance. He adds gravitas to his big brother act and gives OJJ its mellow-drama. To give director Anupam Kher his due, the film has no bone-crunching or odes to lung-power. There are some warm moments among the three brothers. But give us Anupam Kher the actor of Saaransh and Daddy any day.
Overall a one time dekho is recommended.