Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Love Cookie
By Vishal Verma

Rating:- * * 1/2

What is it?
Lady Diana, Supermalvira, a railway station and Love Thukral…………?  Got it .. Never Mind .

After happily dealing with complex husband wife relationships in Saathiya, & romancing the con in Bunty aur Babli, director Shaad Ali Sahgal, now tries to grove in to the beats of peppy love in JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM.

But let me tell you, the impact or the kick rather comes a bit late. You start feeling the intoxication only when the 2nd half stars and it continues till the end.

Shaad Ali does a better job in the second half and keeps the momentum going. The title song, which is already becoming a rage is in perfect sync of the film and is been used well to its effect.

Alas, the first half is equally boring and the immensely gifted Big B is reduced to a Jack Sparrow meets London Bagpiper outfit, who comes, sings, dances and then disappears.

Whats it all about?
Busy London station. Delayed train from Birmingham. Two strangers waiting for the train... Rikki Thukral (Abhishek Bachchan) born in Bhatinda, living in London; and Alvira Khan (Preity Zinta) more Brit than the Queen herself, however with Lahori blood in her veins.

Crowded café. One table to share. Two hours to kill. Perfect setting for the start of a love-story. Hitch? Both Rikki and Alvira are engaged and have come to pick up their fiancés who are coming by the same train. To kill time, they end up telling each other their “how I met my fiancé” stories.

Rikki met his fiancé Anaida (Lara Dutta) at The Ritz (Paris), the same night that Princess Diana and Dodi walked out of the hotel and into the paparazzi. Alvira, a princess by nature discovers her prince at Madame Tussaud’s. When a gigantic wax model of Superman falls from the ceiling, Alvira is a sitting target. But Steve the Prince (Bobby Deol), a lawyer by profession saves her life but steals her heart!

Stories unfold, time passes, the two strangers start enjoying each other. That Alvira is a Pakistani Brit and Rikki originally from India... that Rikki is crooked, earthy, and rakish, where as Alvira is prim-n-proper, wannabe blue-blood, stiff upper-lip but none of these details really matter. They have gotten alarmingly attracted to each other!

Their brief encounter has created a complicated quadrangle... Rikki Thukral and Alvira Khan have gotten themselves and Steve and Anaida into a lovely mess...

What happens in the end, well you do not need any special gyan to predict.

What to look out for?
Shaad Ali Sahgal deserves praise for turning the lucklusture 1st half into an equally exciting 2nd half . The dance competition becomes lively with the boisterous versions of the title track, which are wonderfully composed, picturised and choreographed.

Camerawork by Ayananka Bose is splendid. Dialogues by Habib Faisal have its punches. Production values are excellent.

Music is a winner, the combination of Shankar –Eshaan Loy, Gulzar and Shaad Ali Sahgal, has done it again after Bunty aur Babli. The title song, ticket to Hollywood and all the versions of the title track are excellent.

Talk about performance, well Abhishek is the soul of the film and he does full justice to the role. Lara Dutta gets the scope to portray her acting talents and she deserves kudos for her performance. Bobby Deol does a fine job.

What Not?
Kya yaar, ek to itna long first half, where hardly anything happens, and on top of that you reduce our dear Mr Bachchan to a mere gypsy from somewhere in this earth to bajao the guitar and sing and dance to the popular title song. What a waste.!

Surprisingly Preity Zinta disappoints.

Overall, Yash Raj Films JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM, is a ticket to loyal Yash Raj fans and also to other genre of cinegoers.

The lack of competition and the lively music will act as a bonus.