Jannat movie rating and review

Jannat (2008) movie photos :

 

 

 

Jannat (2008) Movie Rating and Review :

Rating :

Acting – 7/10
Direction – 6/10
Screenplay – 6/10
Music – 7/10
Technique – 6/10

Review :

Reel meets real

It may tread the tried and tested Bollywood path of man’s meteoric rise to the top and the subsequent spiral downwards, but Jannat is a riveting film for most of its three-hour duration. And that is just one of the many good things about this latest Bhatt venture, which is one of the better films to have released for many Fridays now. For Jannat not only has a gripping script and commendable performances, it scores in other departments as well – the most significant being the merger of real-life events in the world of cricket and their repercussions on the life of the common man.

The desperate quest for jannat (paradise) compels small-time gambler Arjun Dixit (Emraan Hashmi) to try his luck at cricket betting. Discovering that he has a knack (which he calls his ‘sixth sense’) of understanding the game, the Mumbai chawl resident suddenly finds himself fixing matches in South Africa, till he becomes a master of the trade. Egged on by his success and the support of underworld don Abu (Javed Sheikh), Arjun does climb steadily to the top, till he is faced with the dilemma of having to choose between his new-found money and power and the promise of an honest life made to his pregnant girlfriend (debutante Sonal Chauhan).

Predictable, you say? Not really. For if Jannat has a no-frills script which remains largely unspectacular for the first hour, it is the refreshing manner in which the common theme is treated for the remainder of the film that makes it worth a watch.

Also, with Indian Premier League ensuring that interest in cricket is at an all-time high at the moment, references to the game helps Jannat score, judging from the claps from the audience every time there was even a split-second shot of cricket at the Friday morning show. So whether it was the now iconic image of Sourav Ganguly waving his jersey after the win against England at Lord’s or the climactic point of the film where a coach is killed when he chances upon a betting syndicate (with no mention of Bob Woolmer), Jannat does a good job of marrying the real with the reel. There are even veiled references to a retired cricketer in a suicide attempt (Maninder Singh) and another who judges a stand-up comedy show (do we really need to tell you who this is?).

Jannat also gets as close as its can to the IPL — anchors Samir Kochhar and Vishal Malhotra play significant roles in the film!

Jannat marks the return of Emraan Hashmi to the screen after a long time. He has clearly done something right during the break because this is the best we have seen of him. The serial kisser in Emraan is also more or less subdued, with only a couple of intimate scenes.

The supporting cast, comprising Samir Kochhar, Vishal Malhotra and Javed Sheikh, essay their roles with ease, but Sonal Chauhan is further evidence of models flopping when it comes to film.
Pritam’s music complements the film, although it is a little disappointing to see the short screen time and zero publicity given to Jannat jahaan, Fossils front man Rupam’s Bollywood playback debut.

Forget the Mandira Bedi-Mahesh Bhatt verbal pow wow, forget the million controversies that surrounds any Bhatt film. Get yourself a Jannat ticket.

People who read this post also read :