Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Jaane Tu...

It's been a long time since I saw it, but why did I enjoy the movie Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na so much?

Apart from the catchy "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi" and other songs I think the movie had a lot of parallel themes intelligently interwoven in the screenplay.

Jai and Aditi "Rats" and "Meow"- appear like Tom and Jerry.

The characters of Bhaloo and Baghera- (Arbaaz and Sohail Khan) and Waghmare (Paresh Rawal) seem to be inspired by Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. 'Bare Necessities' keeps playing in my head when i watch the Khan Brothers add their 2 bits to the screenplay.

The fights between Ratna Pathak Shah and Paresh Rawal and its impact on Jai (Waghmare becomes his nemesis) is again very Jungle Book inspired, when Shere Khan becomes Mowgli's nemesis simply because Mowgli is a Man Cub. Who saves Mowgli? Bhaloo and Baghera.

The friends' circle of Jai and Aditi seems a take off from the Archies comics, esp. Aditi as an amalgam of the temperamental Veronica and the kind hearted Betty, and the super rich beau of Aditi as Reggie.Of course, Mr Jai would be Archie.

The masked rider of Jai's dreams is perhaps a parodied tribute to Zanjeer.

The three tasks for Jai seem to be a parody on the Seven Tasks of Hercules before he would be allowed into Heaven

The conversation with a dead spouse is present in many movies to name. The best one that comes to mind is Ghost (though it has no similarity with JTYJN)

Mr Godot at the end of the movie, is a subtle hint at influence of Samuel Beckett's work on the overall premise of the screenplay...and perhaps even an acknowledgement to Nasseruddin Shah's efforts at staging the play in Mumbai as a part of his theatre works.

Romeo and Juliet's balcony romance is played out in the scene between Jai and Meghana.

The title itself is a tribute to Nasir Hussain- The name of the film is inspired by a song from one of his movies , while the "please-don't-go-I-love-you-so" routine at the airport is present in one of Aamir Khan's biggest movies- Dil. As the film's producer, Aamir has taken potshots at himself through this scene and the in the song "Pappu can't dance" (Papa kehtey hain bada naam karega, mera pappu aisa kaam karega...full on with guitar, waistcoat and pose)

That leaves the curious repeated screen presence of the Victoria. And the voice of conscience- Pratiek Babbar. As an actor, he IS like his immensely talented mother Smita Patil.

Subtle hints to pick the idle mind...Or maybe I read too much between the lines?

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