Jab we met - A surprise hit !!

Being as much the cinamchi ( Movie buff ) as I am, I went crazy reading how the internet world was split, debating which movie (OSO and Sawariya) would be the first to watch. Several polls were hung online and I checked out all of them and read about all the hype for both of them. At last, I decided to take a chill pill and put my money into 'Jab we met'.

Whoa! What a pleasant surprise! Imtiaz Ali (Director) handled the simple love story with such elegance and the movie sets the scene so beautiful, such as a fresh morning drizzle. Pritam's music which I reviewed earlier here, grew more on me, while I watched the movie. If you are like me, who opens ears wider for the background scores, you will be mesmarized at this one. Certain scenes complimented with the apt background score remain in your memory for a longer time. The songs are placed at appropriate times in the movie and the lyrics are written with much thought. "Manzil se behtar lagne lage yeh raastein....." for a journey that would take two people to different destinations. ( temporarily of course, we like happy endings, don't we? ) Watch for the lyrics in "Aaoge jab tum". Lyricist Irshad Kamil takes you to the 'Chitchor-esque' lands with that song.

The cast themselves did a stupendous job. Imtiaz Ali perhaps brought the best out of Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor. While Kareena's role is of a bubbly Basanti, Shahid's role is of a calm and composed lad with some brooding shades. Aditya Kashyap's (Shahid) character is a typical Rahul of our cinema, which any Shah Rukh and the likes would have easily given their 100% of "overacting" skills. However, Shahid Kapoor gave only as much as any shot required him to. It is perhaps one of his finest performances. Even the hotelia at hotel 'Decent' gives you a 3-mintute laughter ride with his excellent expressions.

If there is someone you could like as much as you liked Basanti (of Sholay fame), that would be Geet (Kareena) in this film. The lass is a loud chatterbox but, will keep you rolling in laughter. Her obsession with shaadi and trains provide the perfect comic timing and emotion. Her train missing scene for the second time, is absolutely hilarious.

This is a young and vibrant film. The dialogues are like any day mumbaikar's, chitchat, "How do you like me, tell me know"??? The plot is simple. Girl is going home to Bhatinda from Mumbai with a later plan to elope with her boyfriend. Stumbles upon the the lost rich boy in the train and after a series of incidents and missing trains, the two end up travelling together, to get her home, help her elope with her boyfriend. Boy returns to his empire and starts pulling his cards together while the girl gets rejected by the boyfriend and disappears being heartbroken.

Girl's family whines to the boy and boy sets out to find her and the boyfriend to bring them back home. The confusion at the end is quite hilarious which sets the right stage for the ending. Watch out for the boyfriend's frustration over the sugarcane field tour. Its hilarious.

So, what exactly is my point, in writing this review 3 weeks after its release? One, I happened to watch it only now and two, to urge you to see this wonderful tale at least now, if you have not seen it so far. I assure you that it is way better entertainment than OSO or Sawariya. In the last weekend in 24 hours, I saw this movie thrice, jee haan, thrice..........but then, I started this review telling you how much of a cinamchi I am, didn't I?

Shahid Kapoor dances like a dream, after all, he is trained at Shiamak Davar's and sports it to good use.

Music review: Jab We Met

Jab We Met, with the real life love duo as reel life love duo, the Shahid-Kareena starrer, is set to be released on October 26th 2007. Shahid and Kareena were seen together in Fida, 36 China Town, which may not have tasted the box office success, but showcased their acting talents very well. I remember this partcular scene in Fida, when Shahid cries his heart out in a train remembering her smiling treachery. The boy has it all and Kareena is a vibrant actress with plenty of screen presence. Be sure to check out our local Novi, Mi theatres for show timings on October 26th 2007.

Music is composed by Pritam and lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil. The movie is directed by Imtiaz Ali. The album has 6 original tracks, 3 remixes and an instrumental. This album, being young and vibrant as it is, is going to be hummed for long, for sure.

Mauja hi Mauja

The album starts with Mika Singh's Mauja hi Mauja. An instant racer that gets your feet up. The visual is sparkling and is oodles of eye candy with Shahid and Kareena against a lit up backdrop. Shahid is a sharp dancer. Despite being short of a few inches in height (in general, not shorter than Kareena, :-)), he dances like a dream. Modern bhangra and reggae fusion make it stand out in the album. A remix version is presented later.

Tum se hi

We are driven into this velvet flavour with Mohit Chauhan's rendition of Tum se hi. Thanks to some of these music directors, Pritam, ShankEzLoy combo, who keep bringing back melody in the age of head-banging music. Wonderfully penned lyrics, mild score, smooth flute and a lovely voice make this an instant favorite. Could have done without the aa-aa-aa-aa bits. The remix version was so not required. While the vocals retain their pace, beats are just sped up in the remix version.

Yeh ishq hai

Instant deja-vu of Mahiya by Suzanne from Awarapan, which by the way, was also composed by Pritam. While that lass was a funky topper, Shreya Ghosal, falls a few ounces short of the punch, needed for this song. Fused together with Reggae and Middle eastern styles, the song is appealing, in a unique way. The remix version looses a little and sounds confusing at fusion spots. Pritam would have been at risk if, he casted Suzanne again for this song, it would have been totally identical.

Nagada Nagada baja

Back to bhangra fusion. Sonu Nigam renders the vocals for this song, showcasing the Punjabi Shan. The song is passable considering the bhangra beats galore, floating around our world.
Sonu delivers ample energy as demanded by the track and the score.

Aao milo chalo

My favorite singer shows up finally. Smoothly slipped in by Shaan, the song sports lovely guitar work. You can see how masterfully Pritam sways his subdued rock rhythms around the song. The semi classical interlude by Ustad Sultan Khan(of recent Ustad and the Divas fame) adds that distant indi pop touch. Gets my full score.

Aaoge jab tum

It is nice to see Pritam stick to our classical roots once in a while, despite his rock image. His recent composition 'Mere Dholna' from Bhool Bhulaiya is such one. None other than the Padma Shri Ustad Rashid Khan sang this lovely semi-classical track. The sargam at the end is soothing and the track serves right for a pining, waiting lovestruct lad.

Tum se hi Instrumental

A complete rip off (read 'inspiration' for politically being correct) from the Titanic theme. Pritam is more than capable of producing quality music so, I am little disappointed with this being a copy. Enjoyable however, the track is ice cream glazed with enchanting flute on the lead and mild orchestra to accompany.


Jab we met is refreshingly pleasing to the ear and some tunes will stay among us for a longer time. The sneak peaks are already promising, albeit with the risk of looking similar to Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge (missing trains, loosing tracks, falling in love, all that good stuff) and numerous others who followed DDLJ religiously later.


The album gets my ***1/2 stars. Write your thoughts to us.