Review: Jab Tak Hai Jaan
larger and larger as the clunky plot progresses, and it gets stuck in the oldest shtick in the world : a lead character suffers from a bang on the head, twice, and, believe it or faint, memory loss. So you don’t quite get a ‘main kahaan hoon, main kaun hoon’ kind of solemnly-intoned ‘retrograde amnesia’, but it’s close. There are also a few laugh out loud sequences while sundry bombs are being disposed, a few more which involve the Indian army going about its business, and others which escalate in the second half. But I’m not going to spoil them for you : you need to experience the hilarity first hand.
Chopra’s trademark expertise in keeping the drama at just the right pitch is only patchily evident. Not all the songs have emotional connect, another Chopra strong point, and the A R Rahman soundtrack doesn’t quite overwhelm either. I loved the ‘Challa’ song, though : in its sweep and its lyrics, it encompasses the kind of romance that was completely Yash Chopra’s. Of the two ladies, Kaif rises to the occasion only occasionally; the rest of the time, she’s too pallid to leave any impact. Where’s the spirited Kat? And Sharma’s bubbliness, though nice, seems stretched, and much too familiar.
Finally, what keeps you with the film is Shah Rukh Khan, who is on the top of his game. He pulls every familiar trick of his, and he comes up with a couple we haven’t seen before. This
