Movie review: Jaane tu... ya jaane na

If you are in the mood for nostalgia, candyfloss, good laugh, clean entertainment and bollywood-esque movie climaxes, then this is the movie to watch. The movie engages you from the get go. The cast of fresh new faces and the veterans are marvelous and make the movie simply put, a must-watch. The movie has a fresh feel that the promotions had, the characters have, the locations - all Mumbai - are great but what you really latch onto is the narrative, which is superbly done.
The movie spools as a story-telling/reminiscing session in a group of friends and that in itself could have been terribly handled, but is superbly done. The characters are all one-dimensional - some incidents and character motivations completely illogical - but you don't realise this while you are enjoying this movie. The humour is ever-present, clean and peppered throughout the movie. I think we can all expect great movies from Abbas Tyrewala, he not only manages to elicit great performances from the veterans, but also gets effortless, unforced and sometimes completely frank performances from the newcomers. Both Genelia and Imran seemed like they just walked in front of the camera and played themselves - they both seemed that comfortable in front of the camera and with the lines. Performance-wise I think the best would have to be hands-down Ratna Pathak Shah who not only has a great character to play but does so with great aplomb. The roles of Naseeruddin Shah, Jayant Kriplani, Anuradha Patel, Paresh Rawal are not major ones but they are superbly cast and they do justice to their respective characters superbly. Cameos by Rajat Kapoor and Kitu Gidwani, Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan are nicely done and in the latter case, bring comic relief like no other. I am pleasantly surprised, looking back now, that not one actor seemed out of place or had overacted. The casting by Purbi is nothing short of brilliant. The music score is definitely young and hummable. The dialogue, scenes, stories, side-stories, movie settings, clothes are all superb.
The usual, cliched, over-the-top, jhisa-pita bollywood-ishtyle climax seems incongruous later, but in the movie seems completely keeping with the movie story. Interestingly, not even one scene is shot in any college classroom - indeed only one song gives you a glimpse of the college that the young actors attend. So this movie just catches the kids between classes, after classes, after college and between jobs.
But what really hooks you is the young, colleg-y feel of this movie that makes you reminisce fondly about your gang in college, your friends, your addas, your stories. It speaks to you because you are reminded of your own weird group of friends, the get-outta-here happenings and carefree time and picnics. You identify with the college kids so subconsciously that you start smiling at their jokes, personalities and feeling for their, well, feelings.
Enough outta me already, go watch.