JAI VEERU
Heart of the 70’s, Look of the 90’s Action Comedy Targeted For The Audience From The Oblivion
by Vishal Verma
A Venus Presentation of a Siddhivinayak Movies Production. Producer: Shyam Bajaj.
Director: Puneet Sira. Story: Raju Saigal. Screenplay: Viekeena Dhillon. Genre: Action. Target Audience: General.
Starring
Fardeen Khan…….. Jai
Kunal Khemu……….. Kunal Khemu
Arbaaz Khan……………. Tejpal
Dia Mirza…………….
Anjana Sukhani……….
Technical Analysis
Like the old wrist watch in the movie which Fardeen doesn,t want to change for a better one which is in synch, some of our helmers still stick to their banal ways when it comes to mainstream entertainment.
Anyway’s, we missed the ‘Maa’ thingie but otherwise the whole enterprise is a weak bollywood adaptation of Ernest R. Dickerson’s ‘Bulletproof’ starring Damon Wayans & Adam Sandler.
The original itself was a damp squib & its hard to understand what made a producer like Shyam Bajaj to invest on this project to be helmed by Punnet Sira who had already entered his name in the books of bollywood disasters with a film like ‘I... Proud to Be an Indian’ starring Sohail Khan and those weird goras.
Coming to Puneet Sira’s ‘Jai Veeru’, the movie’s stringent passion for the masala of the 70’s, may still find some die hard bollywod fanatics in remote pockets of U.P, Bihar & eastern circuit but its old fashioned for the audience in metros, plxes & even in small towns who as a trend are now following the current age of cinema (Dev .D, Rock On, Jaane Tu……., Wednesday etc).
Khair, Puneet doesn’t seem to care & "Jai Veeru’ is penny ante compared with the felonious slaughter of story, character and logic exacted by the filmmakers. A rehash of such freewheeling buddy actioner, the film is bigger and louder than its antecedents, but a league behind on the entertainment meter.
Kunal Khemu is the only one who shows sincerity in his job. Rest of the cast and crew struggle even to sign the musters. Production values are fair enough. The movie gets one point out of five for Kunal Khemu’s earnest approach.
The Story
The screenplay, credited to Viekeena Dhillon adds some Indian twists to this Hollywood adaptation, there is elaboration but an unsatisfying setup. Which results in a boisterous and banal buddy-buddy formula that arbitrarily pairs Fardeen & Khemu in a tiresome banter.
Veeru (Kunal Khemu) is a small-time crook who steals cars and sells them to a buyer. By a chance encounter, he meets Jai (Fardeen Khan), a mechanic, who can break into cars. They become friends; the mutual admiration culminates into a fine partnership of crime.
But an unexpected twist changes everything. Jai and Veeru feel betrayed by the other. One person who hates them more than they hate each other is the ruthless gangster Tejpal (Arbaaz Khan), who wants to kill both of them. Jai and Veeru are on the run. Will they survive?
Promotion
The movie didn,t had anything to offer to its promoters to be used as highlight in the indoor & outdoor promotional campaign, so as a result the buzz is missing.
Business Analysis
This strictly average fare is for those die-hard fans who by habit never wish to miss any film. Following a brief theatrical run the movie may expect some return in T.V. & DVD circuit.
Other Credits
Creative Producer: Narendra Bajaj. Co-Producer: Varun.S. Bajaj. Exec. Producer: Chirag N. Bajaj. Stunt: Allan Amin. Camera: K.Rajkumar. Editor: Kuldeep Mehan. Art: Chookkas Bhardwaj. Dir Cassettes and CD's on T-Series. Lyricist: Sameer & Omer Inayat. Music Director: Bappa Lahri. Media Relations: Parul Gossain. Reviewed at Eros Mini Theatre, Mumbai on March, 12, 2009. Running time: 2 Hrs (approx).