Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

Shaad Ali

Writers:

Habib (screenplay) and
Faisal (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 June 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

This June dance... jump... shout...

Plot:

A man and a woman, engaged to marry different people, spend a couple of hours chatting together at a train station only to fall for each other.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Lawyer | Dance | Indian | Fiancé

Cast

Abhishek Bachchan	...	Rakesh 'Ricky' Thakral
Preity Zinta	...	Alvira Khan
Bobby Deol	...	Satvinder 'Steve' Singh
Lara Dutta	...	Anaida Raza / Laila
Robert Galas	...	Paul Pimply
Piyush Mishra	...	Huffy Bhai
Hubertus Geller	...	French Buyer
Ameet Chana	...	Shahriyar
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Dancer / Singer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sanjeev Bhaskar	...	Shopkeeper
Sheena Bhattessa	...	Karishma
Taru Devani	...	Alvira Khan's Auntie
Sadie Lyth	...	Anna
John Newcomb	...	Newstand Attendant
Terry Royce	...	Man on bus
Asha Sachdev	...	Shabnam
Kenny Solomons	...	Bell boy
Sudhir	...	Contest co-announcer
Meera Syal	...	Satvinder's mother

Also Known As:

Dance Baby Dance (India: English title) (literal title)
J.B.J. (India: English title) (promotional abbreviation)

Runtime:

USA:138 min

Country:

India

Language:

English | Hindi | Punjabi

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Esplanade du Trocadéro, Paris 16, Paris, France

Company:

Yash Raj Films

Trivia:

Vaibhavi Merchant (choreographer) reprises her famous "Kajra re" step from Shaad and Abhishek's previous Bunty aur Babli in the song "Ticket to Hollywood"

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During the scene where Abhishek is telling the story of him and Lara he mentions that she is a Pakistani and he met her in 1997 around the time when Princess Diana was in Paris, France. This was fifty years after an Independant India and Pakistan were created. In one scene with him Lara he says to himself "She will take revenge for the past 60 years" So he jumped ten years ahead.

Quotes:

Steve Singh, Alvira Khan: Kiss of Love, Kiss of Love / Stay away from the Kiss of Love!

Movie Connections:

References Sholay (1975)

Soundtrack:

Bol Na Halke Halke

A playful, knowing, kitsch film about self-mythology and the power of Bollywood fantasy

I saw Jhoom Barabar Jhoom while travelling in Rajasthan, in the Raj Mundir in Jaipur, which is, with some justification, described as the best cinema in Asia (and it certainly beats watching a film in a 'Multiplex' on a screen the size of a large TV in London).

As the film ended and the huge audience of all ages rose, making its way into the grand, pretty foyer, I turned to an Indian man in his thirties next to me and asked him in Hindi if he liked it. He said he loved the songs, particularly the song of the title, which he thought would get even the most unlikely person in the cinema dancing in the aisles. Then he added,

'But the the rest of the film is nonsense'.

I certainly agree with him about the infectious song of the title, having badly hummed it often. However, I don't think the rest of the film is nonsense. What I believe many people mistake for nonsense is actually a playful, kitsch, knowingly referential film revolving around the desires and problems of self-mythology, and the power of Bollywood fantasy.

The film is set in Waterloo station where a young Indian man and woman of Pakistani origin bump into each other and form an acquaintance while waiting for infamously late English trains. But their talk about themselves, we come to see, may not quite be so credible and ingenuous. Not only this but there is something magical in the air at Waterloo Station, for a wondering busker, Amitabh Bachan, looking like a sixties drop out, is somehow mysteriously involved in the lively plot.

The two leads, Bachan's son Abishek, and Preity Zinta, make engaging leads and, alongside the wonderfully outrageous Laura Dutta and Bobby Deol handle the film's sense of fun and comedy vigorously (though perhaps the nods to the famous Bachan/Deol partnership in Sholay goes too far).

Another thing about Jhoon Barabar Jhoon is its sure sense of place, something few Indian films set in Britain can claim. Preity Zinta's Alvira is an NRI and the film makes a playful but genuine attempt to engage with the London Indian diaspora.