I have always loved the movies of the movies of Bhatt camp and therefore Jannat was one of my most awaited movies of 2008. The movie had created tremendous hype and curiosity due to its fantastic music and because of its cricket-centric theme. Many felt that Jannat will fail since the movie shows cricket in a bad light and India is country where cricket is a religion. But surprisingly, Jannat took a fantastic opening at the box office. And most importantly, the film rocks! With a wonderful screenplay, direction, story, performances and music, Jannat truly emerges as a winner!
The story of the movie: Arjun (Emraan Hashmi) is an obsessive gambler who wants to make quick money. He’s completely opposite of his father (Vipin Sharma). Arjun always used to lose and he felt that the reason for this is that he didn’t had a ‘queen’ in his life! One day, he finally met his queen, Zoya (Sonal Chauhan), who worked in a call center. At the same time, Arjun gets a chance to become a bookie. Soon life changed for Arjun. He earned lots of money by betting on cricket matches. Zoya also started loving him. Then Arjun is called to Cape Town by a don, Abu Ibrahim (Javed Shaikh) and invited him to work with him. Soon, Arjun also became a match fixer. More money started pouring. But there was one problem-he didn’t tell Zoya that he’s indulged in such an activity. He had told a lie that he’s doing a business of importing and exporting cricket goods. What will happen when truth will dawn on Zoya?
Debutant Kunal Deshmukh took a big risk by making Jannat. Firstly, it was his debut film. If he would have failed to hit the mark, it would have affected his future and his career. Secondly, he chose a subject on cricket betting and match-fixing. No one had attempted a film on this subject and cricket is worshipped in India. But Kunal Deshmukh succeeds in each and every way! He has wonderfully directed the movie and came up with a winner! And the credit for success goes to Vishesh Bhatt too for writing such an interesting screenplay. And surprisingly, both of them are debutants!
Besides having an interesting subject, Jannat is unpredictable. Take for instance the very first scene in which Arjun is playing a card game. Arjun was about to reveal his 3rd card. We all feel that Arjun will win the game. But he loses.
There are several scenes which were excellent! But the best among them is undoubtedly the intermission point and the climax. And shockingly, both the scenes were not original. While the former was taken from Gangster (which was also a Bhatt product), the latter was taken from Blackmail (Ajay Devgan, Priyanka Chopra, Suniel Shetty). But Kunal Deshmukh perfectly handled both these important scenes and made them look fresh. Marvelous!
But sadly, Jannat has its share of flaws too. Cricket is an unpredictable game and no one on this planet can sometimes predict what will happen next. But Arjun is shown to have a ‘sixth sense’ and was able to guess correctly who will win, who will score a six or four, etc! This may not be acceptable to hardcore cricket fans.
The film belongs to Emraan Hashmi! Even though he doesn’t know much about cricket in real life, he managed to perfectly portray the role of a bookie cum fixer! And the way he has done a fabulous job in some important sequences leaves one stunned. After Gangster, The Killer and Awarapan, this is Emraan’s another memorable performance! This wonderful actor has suffered a lot of unnecessary flak. Hopefully, he’ll be seen with more respect after Jannat.
Newcomer Sonal Chauhan also does a great job. She has an important role to play in the film and she does a perfect job. She’ll surely get a lot of film offers after Jannat! Javed Shaikh who has mostly played a ‘good man’ in movies like Shikhar, Namastey London, Apne and Om Shanti Om gets a chance to play the baddie in Jannat! And he gives a fantastic performance. He also proves that if given a chance, he can play a wonderful villain!
Vishal Malhotra as Vishal does a great job throughout the movie! Samir Kochar as ACP Malhotra also does a nice job and was quite funny! Vipin Sharma (who played Darsheel’s dad in Taare Zameen Par) does a fine job. Others were good.
Pritam’s music was as usual excellent and suited the movie. Kamran Ahmed who composed ‘Judai’ does an outstanding job. The song rocks and it’s the best song of the movie. But sadly, the male version was missing. It should have been placed in the end when the credits roll.
Manoj Soni’s cinematography was normal. Dialogues were sharp and played an important role in some of the sequences.
Vishesh Bhatt’s screenplay and story was top notch and he has the ability to direct a fantastic movie. Kunal Deshmukh, the director also does an equally brilliant job. After Mohit Suri and Anurag Basu, Kunal Deshmukh has surely got a place as the ‘permanent director of Vishesh Films’!
Some of the best scenes of the movie:
1. Arjun and Zoya’s first meeting in the mall
2. Arjun coming in Zoya’s house to give her the ring
3. Arjun’s first betting
4. Arjun meeting Don for the first time
5. The song ‘Zara Si’, ‘Jannat Jahaan’ and ‘Haan Tu Hai’
6. The intermission point
7. Arjun meeting Zoya in the car parking area
8. The last 20 minutes and climax
9. The final scene
On the whole, Jannat is yet another marvelous movie to come out of Vishesh Films. It has everything-performances, music, direction and a great message. Not to be missed!
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