The Wonder Years……..

That is exactly how I would sum up my college years and Jaane Tu Ya….Jaane Na refreshes those memories in the most simplest of ways.
The thing about stories is,, not how interesting stories in themselves are; but how interesting the story-teller tells them. Abbas Tyrewalla excels in this; this time adding up as a director too. MunnaBhai was no fluke and this man has loads of talent!

If you have had a close knit circle of friends you will identify with JTYJN. They say school friends bond for life but college friends probably see you in the worst and best of your times. And in all that chaos, some of them last you a lifetime. Atleast mine have;-)

College time is time of revelation about life, love, relationships & friendships. It is the most interesting and the most confusing phase in one’s life. You sail through it with laughter and sadness, with a smile and a tear, knowing very well the memories will be with you forever. Memories, bitter and sweet, kept locked in one corner of your mind, only to revisit them when you need to smile.
Those crazy bickerings, those inane arguments, the fun-loving picnics, the stupid surprises, those heart-breaking crushes!

JTYJN revives all the above memories. Abbas Tyrewala tells our story and that is the biggest USP of the film. Is everyone telling me the story is about a certain Jai and Aditi? Hell, I think it is a story of us. Some of us were lucky to find love in friendship, some lucky to find friendship in love. Well it might not be entirely our story; but parts of it we all will most definitely identify with.

For the sheer simplicity and freshness of all characters, JTYJN is a must watch. Aditi is a lovable brat; I identify cause of the rebellious streak in her! Jai is the kind of guy I’d hate to take home cause my parents would wonder what went wrong with our daughter; a thought summed up to the tee by Aditi’s brother Amit. Jignesh and Rotlu ought to have existed in your college group and so must’ve Bombs and Shaleen. You would’ve met a Meghna and Sushant as well. The characters are so well etched and that is what makes this film so lovable.

Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseeruddin Shah excel and their rapport is to watch out for! But, I’m neither going to write about the characters in detail nor about the script. There are tons of film critics who will do that.

Before I take off, the dialogues come as a fresh of breath air; stating the obvious, is what all this film is about and the following are just a small proof of that:

When Jai says, "Yaar 12 baj gaya"; Bagheera asks him,"Kyun kya hua, Tu Cindrella Hain kya?"

When college is over and Aditi comes to drop Jai; she realises that tomorrow there will be no college and goes crying to Jai’s house. She then says to Jai’s mom, “Aunty pata hi nahi chala college ke 5 saal kahan chale gaye”. Jai’s mom( aka Ratna Pathak Shah) sums up in one line ( a fact vouched by mothers of the world) “Phone pe Beta, phone pe”

So here are my 2 cents, don’t miss this movie if you wish to relive your college days!!


P.S: A special mention to Pratiek Patil (playing the character of Amit). His small cameo does ample of justice to his mother’s genes. Here is a guy to watch our for!