Yahoo Movies Review: OK Jaanu
Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Leela Samson
Direction: Shaad Ali
Rating: ***
Mani Ratnam’s ‘OK Kanmani’ had tugged at my heartstrings, alas, Shaad Ali’s remake just doesn’t strike the same chords. ‘OK Jaanu’ lacks the spontaneity and the effervescence of the original.
Aditya (Aditya Roy Kapur) and Tara (Shraddha Kapoor) are instinctively attracted to each other but settling down to live happily ever after is not in their immediate scheme of things. They aren’t ready to sacrifice their plans of a career on foreign shores at the altar of the intense passion they feel for each other. Instead of parting and pining, they decide to be together without weighing each other down with the pressure of commitments – a live-in relationship for six months sounds like the perfect solution.
This young couple is tenants at an older couple’s (Naseeruddin Shah and Leela Samson) place. They cannot help but be awed by the resilience of this couple – the wife’s struggle with Alzheimer’s and the husband’s unflinching patience and enduring love.
It is the juxtaposition of these two love stories that is interesting – a young couple with age and time at their disposal isn’t ready to take the plunge afraid of the responsibilities of a long-term relationship. And here is a man, devoted to his wife of the last 50 years, afraid of losing her and she lives in the fear that her Alzheimer’s may someday make her forget him.
The plot is romantic and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. However, the filmmakers can’t translate the same on screen.
For a film like this to work, there needs to be palpable chemistry between the lead actors. The tangible passion between the two should expose the constant conflict between the heart and the mind. The perceptible tension should bare how trivializing the relationship as mere attraction is just their way of masking their inner strife.
Shraddha Kapoor with adarsh bharatiya nari written all over her just lacks the required oomph needed for this role. Playing a spunky, passionate lover doesn’t come to her naturally; as a result, she puts in too much effort for the intimate scenes.
While Aditya Roy Kapur’s portrayal is a lot more convincing, he is let down by a script that just doesn’t get the emotions right.
Ravi K Chandran sure does make all the frames in the film look very good but that’s still a superfluous aspect of the entire journey. Even the songs aren’t seamlessly blended into the narrative as in the original.
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