

At a gracious run-time of close to 3hours, JTHJ is a couple reels too long, but the filmmaker’s zeal for cinema livens up the otherwise dull moments of the film. So the white chiffon sari is replaced with white night gown, Switzerland is traded for Kashmir, but the soul of a Yash Raj cinema is intact. Especially in the first half where most of the tracks are stacked up, while ‘Saans’ re-runs in the background score of the second-half make them a tedious watch after a point of which you wish you could reach out for the fast-forward button. What doesn’t work in its favor is the songs are too close within minutes of each other.

I am not a particular fan of the album in its entirety, but you can’t help enjoying the beats when ‘Challa’ plays (yes, plural!) or tap your feet at ‘Ishq Shava’, packaged very well with trick choreography, which surprisingly Shah Rukh pulls off quite convincingly. The somgs, composed by A R Rahman penned by Gulzar already well received, is magnified on screen.

There is a lovely casting of Rishi and Neetu Kapoor in a cameo and while the scene was meant to be between Neetu and Katrina, Rishi Kapoor steals it with an endearing grin and a wave of a wine glass. There are moments in the film you feel sorry for him having to work against a tide of flimsy material and weak chemistry, but against all odds, he manages to wax coat with SRK charm. Effortless in a character only he could’ve pulled off with so much élan, he adopts Samar’s arrogance and confidence with equal balance, proving exactly why his name is synonymous with romance. Coming to the man of the moment, Shah Rukh, looking decidedly dapper in bow-tie as ruggedly composed in army attire, makes JTHJ all about him. While her character has a graph which requires her to be restrained at most times, that is no argument, especially in her scenes with SRK, where she falls immensely flat and looks confused. not too subtle, not too over-played, she is a complete pleasure to watch.

The chemistry she shares with Shah Rukh continues in the same vein from RNBDJ. Her character as a fiery bindaas daredevil is perfectly written and she makes it to her advantage. Of the two leading ladies Anushka scores over her co-star. What circumstances led the effervescent Samar to retreat into a life of solidarity, what’s the emotional baggage he carries and what happens when the lives of the three characters intertwine forms the narrative of Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Meera ( Katrina Kaif) and Akira ( Anushka Sharma) play the two loves, who enter at different stages of his life. While musician Samar is a carefree, extrovert, charming person who makes friends easily as he goes, Major Samar is a recluse, who mostly keeps to himself, playing the dutiful army officer one bomb at a time. JTHJ is the story of Samar Anand ( Shah Rukh Khan) tracing his life across a span of around 10 years–one as a young musician in London picking up odd jobs to make a honest yet cheerful livelihood while second as Major Samar Anand of the Indian army, where he’s tagged as ‘the man who cannot die’ owing to his record of diffusing 98 bombs without any bomb suits or safety. If something is meant to happen or not is a trick of destiny, all you’ve got to give it is your honest best. Every relationship has its time, it’s believed. With Jab Tak Hai Jaan, he elucidates the concept of timeless love. A Love without life, or a life without love? Time is the strongest tests of relationships? Or something like that! Through Dil Toh Paagal Hai, Yash Chopra made famous the ‘someone somewhere is made for you’ belief.
