In a way similar to that of Stanley Kubrick, Steven
Spielberg and even recent Christopher Nolan, Yash Chopra’s penultimate film is all about being larger-than-life,
the director gunning for nothing less than the Big Picture. From the opening
shot tracking Shahrukh Khan’s
dashing Major Samar Anand riding a
muscular Enfield bike on the highways of Ladakh accompanied by
warm-as-milk-and-honey poetry and A.R. Rahman’s elegant yet energetic
background score ratcheting up to a compelling guitar piece, to the entry of
gorgeous lady Katrina Kaif into the screens, sprinting in slow motion decked
out in a red jacket over a glittering lehenga while powdery snow rains from the
skies, to stunning songs, laughter and tears set across operatic landscapes of
London and Ladakh, this is pure sensation- albeit a film which has Yash
Chopra’s trademark signature emblazoned unabashedly across every frame.
It is the simple story of Samar and his intense love
for the irresistibly fickle Meera (Kaif) and how this love has to go through
challenges and obstacles to actually come alive. As if to justify the film’s
exhilarating if ponderous scope, Chopra and his writers remind us for more than
once that every love has a time and maybe it is not yet the time for their love
to actually blossom.
Yet. Yet. Sometimes, it is best to leave disbelief
and cynicism at the door and surrender completely to the fatal charms of a
really skilled puppet-master. That is of course Yash Chopra giving us a really
masterly puppet act that remains compelling throughout even when not
convincing. With a practiced hand, Chopra twirls and flicks around the puppets
under his hand, eliciting us to react with joy, euphoria or even pain and
despair rather than asking him ‘Why’?
It is storytelling at its most confident, perhaps
even most manipulative. But Chopra has always been known for making his puppets
more than just frames of wood and cloth- real people facing real pain, joy and
heartache. Consider the way how he treats the heroines of ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’.
Meera is a fickle-minded girl, euphoric at breaking out of her inhibitions, yet
strongly and vehemently clinging to her scruples. In ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, Chopra
shines a light of adoration and affection on his heroine- showcasing her
drop-dead beauty, her ebullience yet also her vulnerability and her
predicament. It is a master-stroke of storytelling, lending the film intimacy
and warmth.
It is not just Meera that showcases the same
restless spirit as the heroines of Chopra’s last films. ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ is essentially a love triangle and Chopra’s
warmth and heartfelt affection spreads to the other two dimensions as well. In
Anushka Sharma’s buoyant and exuberant docu-filmmaker Akira, Chopra shows us
another compelling heroine, free from clichés and yet exuding the same essence
of liberation and free will. In Samar’s multiple facets- one as a good-natured
odd-jobs lover-boy waltzing alternately with Meera and his guitar, the other as
the stubbled and laconic defuse expert earning the name ‘The Man Who Cannot
Die’- he gives us a classic Yash Chopra hero, endowed with solid virtues and
with enough chinks in his armor to nail him as both heroic and real.
‘
Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ may not be as smooth as Chopra’s
perennially unforgettable romances of the past but it is in many ways a solid
showcase of Chopra’s obvious strength as a storyteller and filmmaker. The film
is helmed with a iron-fisted determination and confidence- the director
masterfully flipping from one locations, milieus and moods to create a story
that leaps through the contrivances with a spirited sprint. Things do slow down
a bit when Chopra wants his twists and turns to sink in our minds but this is
only a minor niggle. Chopra’s storytelling has a trance-like feel to it- the
film is firmly assured of performing miracles and roping us in through sheer
magic.
In some striking ways ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ is a smart mix of the old and the new- the
director crucially underscoring his trademark elements with nicely subtle yet
distinctive touches of post-modernism. The romance that develops between Meera
and Samar is full of verve- a particularly pumped up dance sequence set superbly
in London’s pop-and-rock underbelly lends the angle flesh-and-blood while the
sexual and intimate frissom between the leads is explored fearlessly, but not
explicitly. The parallel track- of defusing bombs in Ladakh- is treated with an
alternately light and tense fashion but Chopra cleverly keeps politics out of
the fray. The scenes filmed in London refute the sights usually shown to us.
Instead, they shine with a resplendent feel to them. There are enough
co-incidences in the premise to make us disbelieve in everything but Chopra is
bold enough to ask- ‘Why Not?’. And Chopra has made it believable to an extent-
his gift for nuance shining particularly in an overlooked scene when kids rush
into a street that had been moments earlier sealed off for the fear of an
explosion.
Yet, for all its beauty and nuance and Chopra
jazzing up his trademark elements with sensuality, groove and humor, it is a
flawed, if terrifically sensational, piece of work, in no small measure due to
the script by Aditya Chopra and
Devika Bhagat. Sure, the transitions in time, memory and space are effortlessly
sweeping, but the film’s twists and turns are a bit too intentional, perhaps
why the film ends up losing its logic. Also, the romantic angle is at times
forsaken for hefty, though intriguing ideas and one nostalgia trip too many.
Nonetheless, Chopra’s grip on the emotions is quite tough and he makes us
forget the glitches eventually.
The dialogue, on the other hand, is powerful-
blending the old-world charm of quotable monologues and sparky romantic
conversations in vogue today. And the cast is actually good, though it is
little beyond the troika. While Kaif’s Meera deserves a better performance, the
gorgeous actress nevertheless does what she does best-look not just good but stunning.
Clearly, here is a heroine to gape at, to admire and to desire. Sharma, in
contrast, infuses her spunky part with enough enthusiasm and also achieves that
fine balance between being irritating and charming. But clearly this is a
two-men show, and if one is Chopra, the other has to be his quintessential
hero. In what can be called one of his best performances ever, Khan has managed
to bring life and soul to Samar. The actor wonderfully flips between
good-natured charm, a raffish sense of humor and solid conviction that makes
him a hero to root for.
A.R.
Rahman’s music, with Gulzar’s
unconventional wordplay, is a lovely ensemble of diverse compositions which
further make the film a real audio-visual treat. Anil Mehta’s cinematography, after his beautiful work in
‘Rockstar’, perfectly complements Chopra’s dreamy style and creates spectacular
moments of high drama, romance and nostalgia, which linger in your mind.
As a wrapped up gift for die-hard romantics, ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ is a monumental
marvel clocking in at 3 hours. It is all a bit too filmy to be actually real or
even believable but there is something about losing your heart to the sheer
magic of Chopra’s storytelling. And with his last film, at 80, he proved that
he can still pull it off.
My Rating- 4 Stars.
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