Shaad Ali is known to be a very intelligent filmmaker and his latest offering Jhoom Barabar Jhoom has been cleverly crafted as well. There is no plot or story as such in the film, and yet it manages to hold your attention for the better part of its duration. This is a film which does require a suspension of disbelief and a certain amount of indulgence on the part of the viewer.
The basic premise of the film is about two strangers, Alvira (Perity Zinta) and Rikki Thukral (Abhishek Bachchan) who meet at a railway station. The girl is a snobbish Pakistani, while the guy is an Indian from Bhatinda, living in Southall. They both profess to be engaged and while sharing a table for coffee, they end up swapping stories about their respective love lives. The stories are outlandish and quite wild in themselves. The train that they are waiting for gets further delayed, giving Rikki and Alvira some more time to spin more yarns. And the result is that they both fall in love with each other.
But having already confessed to be engaged, the duo are forced to continue with the pretence. Their fake choices are, of course, far removed from what they were portrayed to be in fiction. Rikki's French mistress Aniada (Lara Dutta) turns out to be Southall's street smart hooker Laila, while Preity's hot shot lawyer boyfriend turns out to be Mama's boy Satvinder (Bobby Deol). In between, we have Amitabh Bachchan, who plays a wandering gypsy. He saunters in and out, with a song on his lips and breaks into a dance.
With the 'twist' in the story arriving a little late, the first part of the film doesn't really see anything much happening in terms of plot. There are dream sequences, exotic locations and the song-and-dance routines but it still seem to be stretched. At intermission, you may well begin to wonder, 'now what?' But Shaad does pick up the strands and gives us quite a rollicking second half.
Most of the action in the film is dialogue driven, and there are brilliant gems here. The best are reserved for Abhishek as Rikki Thukral from Bhatinda and Piyush Mishra, who plays his sidekick. Together, the two of them create quite a riot. Though it does appear that Abhishek is trying too hard in places, in general, he does a very good job of getting into the skin of the character with his body language and expressions. Also his walk and his Punjabi-laced accent. The director unfortunately cannot resist the temptation of playing to the obvious. So we have Rikki talking about Ashji and Amitabhji. Or even later in the film, we have the duo of Bobby and Abhishek riding a motorbike with a sidechair, a la Sholay!
The real show stealers of the film are Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta. Bobby as Mama's boy is really funny. As for Lara Dutta, besides looking gorgeous, she does her bit as Laila the hooker excellently. The duo are a treat to watch. Preity Zinta plays her bubbly self in the second half and is charming as usual. And Amitabh in his cameo, with those light coloured eyes, double barreled guitar and a colourful coat, is quite a treat to watch. That man just oozes charm, and one cannot think of anyone else who could carry off his role, which really is nothing in substance. But Amitabh makes up for it with his presence.
The music is very good specially the title track which is bound to top the charts for a while. It has an irresistible energy. Jhoom Barabar has all the ingredients for a hit, yet one feels that it goes slightly off the mark. It all boils down to the 'twist.' It's timed so late in the film that it could almost be considered 'off.' What could have been a fantastic entertainer, remains a normal potboiler.
