Movie Review: Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Alisha Coelho

Director: Yash Chopra
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma

In contemporary times when, love stories have more or less turned into instant make out and instant breakup escapades and in a generation where sex comes before love, it's heartening to see a full-blown romance saga which has good old values and yet a very modern outlook. Like most love stories, even Jab Tak Hai Jaan has sacrifice and sanctity at its footing yet at no point is it depressing or disheartening. And thereby, the immortal filmmaker Yash Chopra celebrates the true spirit of life.

Shah Rukh Khan continues his cinematic legacy of wooing girls who are already engaged to someone else. So Samar Anand (SRK), a smalltime labour in London and Meera (Katrina Kaif), a millionaire fall for each other. And just when everything seems to be going hunky-dory, a mishap separates the star-crossed lovers, with each longing for the other. Years later, a documentary filmmaker Akira (Anushka Sharma) meets Samar, now a bomb-squad officer in Kashmir. And when Samar comes to London for Akira's film, another fortuity changes his life drastically.

The film starts in a regular romance zone where the lover-boy goes guitar-strumming on London streets, the girl seems confused about her engagement, they cross paths, he teaches her to live life to the fullest, she says she had the best time of life with him and cupid strikes. So far so trite! But the actual story initiates thereafter with faith for God coming into picture and changing the fate of humans. That forms the core-conflict of the film and Yash Chopra brings out the dilemma in the lead pair convincingly enough for you to feel for both and yet not blame either for their outlook.

Aditya Chopra and Devika Bhagat come up with an impeccable screenplay that is well-etched to arrive at a strong interval point and is consistent enough to not lose steam till the very end. With Samar's return to London in the second half, things could have taken a convenient route by unswervingly bringing the ill-fated couple together in some way. But with its layered writing, the narrative takes a different twist altogether. Thereby, like a rich wine, the story takes its time to mature but only gets better over period. At times, the multidimensional narrative might seem spread out but it never wanders aimlessly.

Structurally, the film reminds of Yash Chopra's earlier venture Veer-Zaara where the lead couple is separated by circumstances and another woman is instrumental in bringing them together. Thankfully the inclination to induce a love triangle here isn't taken too far either. When it comes to a love story, Yash Chopra weaves such magic that a mere hug causes more applause than a mass-appealing heroic entry. While the love story is essentially desi at heart, the filmmaker has shown advancement with times in making the chemistry between the lead couple sexier and scrumptious. Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif are simply sizzling!

At the same time the film also has a very progressive point of view. It strongly endorses to have faith in love over fear of God. It puts love before the Lord. The conflict that separates the lovers is so potently plotted initially that there seems to be no antidote to it in the screenplay. Aditya Chopra's well-worded dialogues come to the rescue and make things easier. Also through the sensitive Rishi Kapoor - Neetu Singh cameo, the film spreads the message to set love free. Appreciatively the Kashmir army milieu is only employed for a bomb-diffusing backdrop and not exploited beyond necessary.

Technically the film, like any Yash Raj production, is proficient. Anil Mehta's cinematography is strikingly beautiful. While we have seen enough of lovely London landscapes on Indian screen, it's the pristine Kashmir that catches your eye here. A.R. Rahman's music is pleasing and, like always, takes time to grow on you. In an era of shorthand cinema, the three-hour runtime does seem long enough. But the film's full-scale romance justifies it to an extent.

Shah Rukh Khan is in absolute comfort zone and the audience is as much comfortable in accepting him as the romance king. With a constant smirk on his face, he is charming and more persuasive than his recent wannabe escapades. Yash Chopra gives back the SRK that he had introduced to cinema. Katrina Kaif is not only sexy and stunning but also comes across as a pleasant and convincing actress. She glides effortlessly through her character and scorches the screen with Shah Rukh. Anushka Sharma as the bindaas girl gets kinda over-expressive at times but otherwise has good screen presence. Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh appear in graceful cameos.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan is a sublime story about love and life. They don't make them like that anymore. Yash Chopra will live forever...

Verdict: Very Good