Review: 'U R My Jaan', old bottle, old wine

Cast: Mikaal Zulfikaar, Priti Soni, Aman Verma, Himani Shivpuri, Rajesh Khera

Director: Aron Govil

We have heard and seen people changing their lifestyle and ambition for the sake of the real love. 'U R My Jaan' is no stranger in that respect.

Reena (Priti Soni) is a Chandigarh girl who lies to her non approving parents about a photo shoot in Delhi, which was actually scheduled to take place in Mumbai. Reena always wanted to move out of her small town, where the biggest need of the hour seems to be her marriage.

Reena reaches Mumbai and meets the modeling agent Sandy (Rajesh Khera) who reveals that the shoot is cancelled and she will get no return ticket, leave aside the fee and accommodation cost. On top of it, Sandy had already arranged a photo session with a celebrated photographer. Now, Sandy wants his money back, which he had paid as advance to the photographer.

Sandy provokes Reena to strike a 'compromise' with a salivating producer-director duo which she denies promptly, but the crunch still exists.

Next time when Sandy proposes Reena to become the escort for a NRI billionaire Akash Gupta (Mikaal), she bows down to the pressure.

They fall in love after some days, which were apparently the best days of their lives, but Akash is a commitment phobic and Reena is a 'touch me not before wedding' types and thus their emotions are kept platonic and clean.

Meanwhile, Akash who is simultaneously a ruthless business magnet wants to acquire a company, without caring much about those employees who will go jobless after the deal. Reena persuades Akash to not acquire the company which he eventually does against his management board's wish.

Soon Reena's parents come unannounced to Mumbai and take her back to Chandigarh, where she has to marry as per their will.

After some dilemma and confusion Akash finally arrives to the wedding venue in a chopper and confesses his love for Reena.

The story proceeds without twists and turns, in fact, there is not a single moment in the film which you can't predict.

Mikaal Zulfikaar fits the role and he remains the same throughout the film. He does not do anything extra to look a tycoon, which makes him human, unlike typical Hindi films where business magnets seem to be more powerful than elected leaders.

On the other hand, the heroine looked at ease in a world completely alien to her. This will probably not go down well with audiences who will naturally expect at least slight hesitation from a small towner walking in to an ultra posh hotel.

The director seems puzzled about the accents of the characters. Himani Shivpuri speaks in a language which is neither Punjabi influenced Hindi, neither Hindi influenced Punjabi. The time has indeed come when filmmakers should understand that a character does not pass off as Punjabi by simply adding 'balle-balle' or 'puttar' to their dialogues.

The first half of the film entertains to some extent. The verbal dual between two businessmen including Akash clearly brings forth the idea behind the characterisation.

Second good thing for which the director should be praised is the timing of the song 'Kya kare dil bechara'. The song starts at the perfectly right time; otherwise the audiences would have all the reasons to attempt small talk with fellow audiences, if there are any.

The basic storyline also has some loopholes. Akash becomes highly frustrated in love even before the tempo touches a proper level. Secondly, it's simply beyond imagination that why would the parents not call their girl even once before appearing in flesh and bones to take her back.

The hotel manager talks to a high profile guest in a manner which is difficult to achieve for anyone other than childhood friends. Nobody can answer why the omnipresent piano player persuades Akash to try his hands at piano every time he comes down to the lounge. Last time such an useless character was seen in Ram Gopal Varma's 'Nishabd'. No one has established the reason for that servant of 'Nishabd' to remain in the background till date.

'U R My Jaan' is dodgy in its message. Almost the entire film presents the heroine as someone who is clingy and needs someone to help her out. It's true that Akash willingly helps Reena, but she also does not show any will to make it big on her own. Reena represents a weak middle class girl who does not mind taking her big shot friend's help all the time.

There is one stupid scene in the climax. Reena, who has a great faith in 'Ganesh Jee', has this habit of collecting his idols. A sudden divine ray appears from nowhere the moment she completes 101 idols and everything works as per her wish afterwards. Who says we have left the divine rays with corrective qualities with 'Amar Akbar Anthony' and 'Dharam Veer' years ago.

Last but not the least, Akash's arrival on a chopper at the marriage site simply demonstrates the victory of money and power and makes mockery of traditional values. Of course, the heroine wants him but he also does not seem to be giving any weightage to societal rules. A police officer escorts him to the venue and he heads straight towards the girl, absolutely sure about his acceptance. The arrogance and aura surrounding his persona simply contradict the central message that money can't buy love.

Over all 'U R My Jaan' is a film for those who do not believe in women emancipation and equal status for all.