Jab Tak Hai Jaan
directed by: Yash Chopra
cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma
genre: Romance, Drama
The doyen of Bollywood romances, Yash Chopra, bowed out with his boots on. That's what the title of his last directorial venture—Jab Tak Hai Jaan (JTHJ)—seems to connote.
The best parts of JTHJ are those that exude romance. The songs (music by A.R Rehman and lyrics by Gulzar) blend beautifully with the movie. The settings are gorgeous, and all the actors are (as is the norm for Yash Raj Films) dressed impeccably – even the poor and jobless! Anushka Sharma is called on again to play a spunky, bindaas girl, and is easily the best performer. Shah Rukh Khan tries hard, and his best expressions probably are in the scene where Katrina rejects him. Katrina looks beautiful, but her intense romantic scenes seem to lack the passion demanded; she is at her best in the street dance sequence. Despite the entire movie hinging on their romance, the Shah Rukh-Katrina pair does not display the required chemistry.
JTHJ had the potential to be Yash Chopra's true swan song, but Aditya Chopra (the story writer) and Namrata Rao (the editor), could be held responsible for the opposite end result. Chopra has also injected so much hyperbole, that it begins to jar at several places. The romantic scenes are unable to save the movie from slipping into prolonged periods of disbelief and boredom. Rao has hardly done any editing. The end result is that JTHJ stretches for nearly three hours. A less convoluted story, and crisper trimming, could have made this movie a better watch.
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