Jannat (2008) - Disappointing story

Mahesh Bhatt has been making movies for a long time, and they have been very good movies. So, for example, I really liked some of his older movies such as Arth, Saransh, Janam, Naam, Murder, Woh Lamhe, Daddy, Ashiqui, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Dil Hain Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak, Sir, Tamana, etc. He has also turned out turkeys such as Duplicate. In recent time, Bhatt has moved out of the director post and is partner in the banner Vishesh films (along with his brother) that produces movies. It is expected that movies made in the banner retain the touch of Mahesh Bhatt to some degree, with a strong focus on human relations, relationships whether they be a marriage, or outside marriage. However, Jannat disappointed. The story of a person who wants to attain success, and a great deal of it (portrayed by Emran Hashemi); he does not seem to know the difference between right and wrong.



I was sitting with a group of around 7-8 colleagues (mostly eager movie goers), and after around 45 minutes (having given the movie enough time, we started laughing and wondering whether we should actually leave during half-time) and it was hard to sit there and watch the movie. The movie seemed corny, there were so many missing gaps in the storyline (such as how he managed to get this 'magical' sixth sense, and why did he have to fix matches if he could anyhow figure out the results; why did the heroine fall in love with him; how did he get the phone number of the heroine (exact call center location), or figured out her address (just from knowing her name). You cannot make a credible story and then assume that all such things happen magically.
Later when somebody asked me why the name was called 'Jannat', the only reason that I could think of was that this was a name given to represent what the hero wanted, and instead what his life turned out to be on earth was actually the reverse. So Arjun (Emran Hashmi playing a typical role with heavy shades of grey) wants to be rich, extremely rich, and this is his single minded agenda. He does not care about what his friends say, about what his parents say, not about the warnings of the initially friendly policeman, and later his girlfriend; he is right in what he does and nothing can shake him from that. It is very difficult to identify with such a person, and the way he breaks the glass in the supermarket initially (when he sees a ring that the heroine wants but cannot buy) seems very strange.
The heroine (Sonal Chauhan), in a debut role as the person who tries to reform Arjun shows some signs of maturity, but her performance when she confronts him seems to be lacking the passion of a person who is trying to do what she strongly believes in. She does look attractive, and shows resemblance to both Sonali Bendre and Deepti Bhatnagar. However, it is the script that seems to let down the overall movie. The dialogues, as well as the inter-meshing of the romance with the story of betting seems mixed up, and the sudden movements of the hero away from a life of betting, and back to it again, seems very sudden and without too much of basis (given that the hero ultimately believes that only he knows best). The ending seems so much unlike the normal character of the hero, especially when such a smart guy seems so stupid that he would do a suspicious gesture in front of the police.
The music was good, but kept on resonating throughout the movie, and by the end, even my colleagues who had liked the music had got somewhat tired of the songs. The attempt to bring in the recent death of the Pakistani coach, Bob Woolmer does not seem realistic at all. The movie is directed by Kunal Deshmukh, starring Emraan Hashmi,Rizwan Ahmed, Sonal Chauhan and Sameer Kochhar. The film is produced by Vishesh Films. Pritam scores the music for this movie.

Video of song 'Zara Se'