Janasheen Movie Review

 Feroz Khan’s JANASHEEN has everything going in its favour –

* It brings Feroz Khan and Fardeen Khan together for the first time. Watching a hi-profile father and son duo on the big screen always holds a certain charisma.
* JANASHEEN has been shot at some of the most exotic and eye-filling locales across the globe.
* JANASHEEN boasts of plenty of skin show by Celina Jaitley, Kashmira Shah and Pinky Harwani.
* JANASHEEN is embellished with a good musical score. A few songs are extremely popular as well.
* Like all F.K. products, JANASHEEN has gloss, grandeur and style.
* Most important, it is directed by Feroz Khan. The name is synonymous with qualitative fares.

Perfect to set the box-office ablaze? No, not quite! Like a majority of Hindi films, JANASHEEN lacks in that one vital department that is the lifeline of every film – script. And that is what takes the graph of the film downhill!

JANASHEEN is the story of Lucky Kapoor [Fardeen Khan], living in Australia, who’s driven by the ambition to be a motorbike racing title holder.

Lucky’s life takes a drastic turn when his father [Harsh Chhaya] dies in an accident and he has to return to India for a short while. Here, he meets the girl, Jessica [Celina Jaitley], who loved him since childhood. At the same time, deception, evil and lies surround him at every step, trying to keep him away from the truth.

JANASHEEN is also the story of Saba Karim [Feroz Khan], a fugitive from Afghanistan now living in Australia. A rich and ruthless businessman, in Lucky he finds a likeness to his dead son.

Saba plays a game of hearts… unknowing to him, this game entangles his own heart when he tries to deceive Lucky by becoming his foster father, only to realise that his own paternal instincts are still alive.

Feroz Khan is a master story-teller. APRADH, DHARMATMA, QURBANI, even JAANBAAZ had a story to tell. JANASHEEN also has an interesting plot, but the plot has not been elucidated well to keep the viewer hooked on to the screen for two-and-a-half hours.

 What begins as an exciting fare gradually falls prey to mediocrity as it advances. The film loses grip as the drama shifts to Australia, where a grown up Fardeen Khan hates his father for reasons that aren’t explained and which puzzle the viewer no end. For, in a sequence or two earlier, the father and son duo [Harsh Chhaya with the child artiste enacting Fardeen’s childhood role] were shown on great terms, behaving more like friends than father and son.

At this point, the songs [well executed] and the motorbike race [exciting] are woven to the script, which does take away the audience’s attention from a half-baked script.

The film takes a turn for the better as Feroz Khan enters the scene – his get-up, his dialogues, the overall screen presence, the signature tune when he appears on screen elevates the film to another level altogether. You actually start ignoring the deficiencies in the script till the interval point, for the film has some well canned individualistic sequences.

But the post-interval portions take the sheen away from the enterprise. The screenplay meanders from arresting to implausible to least exciting with amazing regularity. For instance, the sequences between Feroz and Fardeen are the best part of the enterprise, but the same cannot be said of the moments Fardeen and Celina share with each other. The romance looks completely one-sided, as Celina’s heart pines for Fardeen, but Fardeen does not reciprocate in a similar fashion.

The climax is a downer. Though well shot, the impact is not as exciting as one would expect it to be. The sudden turn of events in the pre-climax, which lead to the climax, should’ve been stronger for the climax to have a hammer-strong impact.

Feroz Khan’s work as a technician is, like always, absolutely flawless. The manner in which the director executes each shot proves yet again that here’s a veteran who believes in changing with the times. The film has style, but how one wishes the maker would offer substance as well. The screenplay has its engaging moments, but is inconsistent, jerky and not as intriguing.

F.K. products have always been embellished with a good score. The songs that stand out are ‘Nashe Nashe Mein Yaar’, ‘Pyar Hone Laga Hai’ and ‘Teri Chahat Mein Paagal Hoon’, However, at least two songs – ‘Ab Ke Baras Poonam Mein’ and ‘Marhaba’ – should be deleted right away since they disturb the flow of the story and act as speed breakers.

 Cinematography is first-rate. Dialogues are well penned, especially those delivered by Feroz Khan.

Coming to the performances, JANASHEEN clearly belongs to Feroz Khan. The actor sets the screen afire every time he appears. His presence is electrifying!

Fardeen Khan is inspiring in a few sequences, although one expected him to hit a boundary knowing that he has evolved as an actor after a captivating performance in KHUSHI. Celina Jaitley looks like a doll, has been photographed amazingly well, acts better than her maiden film [KHEL], but still needs to work on the emotional and hi-pitched dramatic scenes.

Johny Lever irritates. Kashmira Shah, in a wierd get-up, is ok. Yash Tonk is alright. Ditto for Archana Puransingh. Harsh Chhaya is efficient.

On the whole, JANASHEEN pales in comparison to F.K.’s earlier works, although it has some plusses on its side. However, the plusses aren’t enough to have a successful run at the box-office, more so in the wake of a mighty opposition in the form of KAL HO NAA HO. The Idd holidays should prove advantageous to an extent, but a long run is ruled out.