Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007)

Powerful

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Reading through many of the reviews for "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom", I assumed that the film was 100% awful from start to finish. Well, I disagree--it's only partially awful. The first half is impossible to believe but is likable. The second half is truly horrible and all the good will I had early on vanished as the film continually assaulted my senses. Subtle and romantic are two words I'd never use to describe this film.It all begins with a nice song and dance number by Amitabh Bachchan. He appears in the film periodically--though I have no idea why other than he's the father of the leading man in this film, Abhishek Bachchan. Oh well, I really enjoy seeing Amitabh and at least I got a few glimpses of him even though his character was ill-defined and vague.Soon Rakesh (Abhishek Bachchan) bumps into a gorgeous woman, Alvira (Preity Zinta). They are waiting to greet someone arriving by train and it is late. So, they sit and begin talking. He talks at length about his fiancé and she does the same--though in reality both are unattached. This really made no sense nor did it make sense that Alvira would soon fall for Rakesh because he seemed so very obnoxious and full of himself. However, I have noticed that this is a BIG theme in a lot of Indian romances--the obnoxious pretty-boy--and it's a cliché I really hate. For me, you have to like people for the romance to work. Still, despite its flaws, I found the first half of the film watchable and interesting. It could have worked well.Unfortunately, once the train arrives, the film is pretty dead. Both are in love with each other but don't know what to do since they'd been lying. Well, sadly, the same can be said for the writers as most of the final portion of the movie is set at a dance contest which totally assaults your senses. It's loud and looks like a 30 minute Indian music video and the costumer appears to have been Liberace!! It's tacky, loud and pointless.By the time the end occurs and the inevitable occurs, you are exhausted and just want it to end. It's a shame, as the film was not horrible initially and had it been, I would have turned it off and saved myself from the second half! So, first half of the film I'd score a 5 and the last a 1. Overall, a score of 3 seems reasonable as I have seen quite a few movies (both Indian and non-Indian) that were worse....though not a lot worse.By the way, I am shocked that the IMDb goof section didn't include this one. At one point, Alvira exposes the top of her left breast to show a tattoo. Later in the film it's moved to her right breast!!

Finally, got to see 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' after hearing mixed opinions of people. Anurag Kashyap has been credited as the writer but he claimed that he had an idea about a guy and girl meeting at the train station and they tell their stories but then 'someone else' tampered with the script and made changes. That said, I quite enjoyed most of the first half where Riki and Alvira tell their stories at the train station. It is the second half, once they leave the station, which is a downright disaster. The less said about it, the better. 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' starts, intervals, the interval of the post interval (that is an interval that takes place when you've finished watching three thirds of the movie) and ends with Amitabh Bachchan's 'item number' (which is the title song itself). Bachchan is dressed as a flamboyant busker who looks like he's ready to lure children and kidnap them. Back to the song, it's a catchy energetic number. There are two other versions of this song all of which work well. 'Kiss of Love' and 'Bolna Halke Halke' are also foot-tapping songs that have been brilliantly visualized. The costumes are a little too flashy (especially the horrible ones worn in the dance competition sequence, yes, surprise surprise, there's a dance competition). Where acting is concerned, Lara Dutta stands out as the French hotel manager slash British-Pakistani harlot. The character Alvira is nothing new for Preity Zinta and she does a fair job but frankly I'm a little tired of watching her repeatedly do this kind of role. Abhishek Bachchan is irritating to the core. I wonder why a sophisticated woman like Alvira would even like a sleazy toilet brush like Riki, let alone fall in love. Bachchan ought to fire his makeup artist-hairstylist or whatever for making him look like a sleazy turd of a pimp. Bobby Deol is dull. Shaad Ali has probably hit rock bottom (careerwise) with this movie (or at least I hope so because I don't want to see any worse than this). I would like to say this to whoever the writer is, whether it was Kashyap or some script-tamperer: Way to go for ruining what could have been at least good entertainment.

i hereby solemnly swear that i have NEVER EVER left a film in the mid regardless of the matter how boring,pointless or utter rubbish it is and then came along JBJ. one fine morning i woke up and saw the DVD of JBJ on my bed side table which i think my room mate brought last night from the local DVD shop. i had nothing to do so decided to watch the film,,,film started and i realised it was completely diarrhoea soaked roller coaster ride...i took out the DVD and i am not joking i broke the DVD into pieces. i believe in the philosophy of ""if you cannot avoid contact with garbage then you must do everything to delay it as much possible and try to do the same for as many people as you can"" hence i went to that local DVD rental and told him we have lost their DVD and paid for it PLUS i rented 2 more copies of JBJ brought them home...burned one and broke the other one and a day later again paid damages for both....but the BEST thing is i have absolutely no regrets as i played a vital role in stopping the evil and absolutely non-creative , forked up piece of garbage. the director was on crack, the story was thought of in maximum 5 minutes, script was done in 10 and the whole film was shot in 3 hours and POOFFF...there it is for you to watch and appreciate which is what you WILL do if you have nitrogenous waste gases instead of your brain or your brain fell out of you while having a pelvic exam. stay away from this film because any normal human being can think of 100 other ways to waste his/her money.

I feel that the characters in this so-called movie were awfully atrocious. They had a really bad storyline and everyone, even a baby, could have thought of the plot. Please don't see it. I would think that after Bobby Deol's good performances in other movies, he would definitely not choose this kind of movies. I expected way more from Preity Zinta and Abishek Bachchan. My admiration for Preity Zinta has gone from 100 % to 50 %. There was a very bad thing that I noticed in this movie. Were they so unoriginal that they had to get an important part of the movie from a newspaper? This isn't a spoiler since I'm not telling you any important details from this kind of movie that no-one should watch anyway.