Download Latest Movies: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom -- Sway Baby Sway**

MAIN CAST:
Abhishek Bachchan -- Rikki
Preity Zinta -- Alvira
Bobby Deol -- Steve
Lara Dutta -- Anaida

BRIEF PLOT OVERVIEW:
When Alvira and Rikki meet by chance at the train station, it's hate at first sight. The two instantly start trying to one-up each other, and in typical Bollywood fashion, this leads to a variety of crazy twists.

FILM -- 3/5
I watched this film with a friend of mine, and after a mere 10 minutes, we were already positive that this movie was going to be completely crazy. Sure enough, the script is nothing but fluff, and half of what happens makes no sense or happens for no reason. You can spot every "twist" from a mile away. The pace is surprisingly steady, however, and in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom's defense, it's never boring, although it is occassionally very cringe-worthy and dorky. Some of the camera angles are absolutely horrible, and Bolly fans with epilepsy may want to avoid the dance sequences. The songs are definitely this movie's strong point, however, and I can honestly say that I loved the choreography. It's not always the most intuitive or the most flattering for the actors' bodies, but it's usually fun, funky, and energetic. For the most part I liked the costumes, but I have to dock a whole half a point for Bobby Deol's absolutely HORRENDOUS appearance in this movie. I don't find him attractive to begin with, but the orange curly mullet HAS to go! In short, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom boils down to, "Shallow story, mediocre direction, but oooo, let's dance with the beautiful people!"

CHARACTERS -- 2.5/5
I'm honestly wondering if Yash Raj plonked the cast down prior to filming and begged them all to overact. I usually find Abhishek Bachchan and Preity Zinta incredibly charming, but they didn't impress me at all during Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Actually, they annoyed me more than anything. Abhishek's performance was nothing noteworthy, and Preity's dialogue is so forced, it often sounds like she's having the words punched out of her. Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta probably did the best out of the main cast, which is saying something, since I generally ignore Lara Dutta and hate Bobby Deol with a passion. These are the best performances of their careers--which isn't saying much, considering how wooden they are in their other films--and I was surprised by how much I loved Bobby's character in the second half. Nobody has any romantic chemistry, with the exception of Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta, who manage to muster up a bit of sweetness in the film's final scenes. With all of that being said, the main cast does seem to find some way to wriggle in to your heart; even when their acting sucks, their talent for physical comedy tends to make up for it. The best character, though, is Amitabh Bachchan, who plays a mysterious wandering minstrel. I don't know what it is about Big B that makes him so damn magnetic, even in his old age, but every time he popped up on screen, my friend and I squealed with joy! (The wacky outfit earned him a few bonus points, of course.)

SOUNDTRACK -- 4.5/5
Do I care about Jhoom Barabar Jhoom as a film? Eh, not really. Do I like the comedy in it? It's pretty hilarious, but if that were all this movie had going for it, I wouldn't pay much attention. So what is it that draws people to this movie like moths to a filmi flame? Why, it's the soundtrack, my dears! The absolute best song--and one of my favorite Bolly songs ever--is the title song, which goes through several reprises and remixes throughout the film, but is constantly entertaining. "Kiss of Love" and "Ticket to Hollywood" are really stupid, but they're also really fun, especially the guitar twang during the chorus of the former. I didn't think "Bo Nal Halke Halke" was anything special compared to other love ballads, but my friend loved it. The vocalists are especially impressive on this album; I thought my beloved Sukhwinder Singh's pipes were flunking out at me at first, but he really picks up when he gets to belt during the title song, and K.K almost manages to match the Greatest Singer In Modern Bollywood. (Wow, is my fangirl showing?) I'm normally annoyed with Bollywood soundtracks don't sound Indian at all beyond their Hindi language, but JBJ is a rare example of a hyper-modern soundtrack that I enjoyed because of its pop-rock beats. The lyrics are embarassingly bad, of course, so I had to dock half a point for that.

OVERALL -- 3.5/5
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is loaded with glaring flaws, flaws that the body of this review can hardly cover, flaws that are so blatant that even the less-picky-than-I-am friend who watched the film with me could spot them from a mile away. And yet, for all of that overacting and ridiculousness and bad chemistry...we really enjoyed Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. We were amused by the first half, laughed hysterically throughout the second half, and absolutely adored the soundtrack (adored it so much, in fact, that we literally danced in our seats when the title song came on at the end of the film). JBJ is nothing but fluff, but in its defense, it really doesn't pretend to be anything else. It has pretty good replay value, especially if you already know what's going on and are willing to skip straight to the second half or to your favorite songs. If you enjoy crazy timepass flicks that are entertaining despite their faults, give Jhoom Barabar Jhoom a try.

TOTAL SCORE -- 13.5/20 (really good)

Movie: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Pretiy Zinta, Lara Dutta, Booy Deol and Amitabh Bachchan.

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