Jannat: What A Suffer-ring…
Yasser Usman reviews Kunal Deshmukh’s Emraan Hashmi starer Jannat
Jannat (2008)
These were my thoughts while coming out of the theatre after watching the first day first show of Jannat. Jannat was a film publicized as a film showing the real face of ‘match-fixing’ but let me tell you the film is actually about a ‘ring’…a diamond ring. It starts with the ring and ends with the same ring…O Jesus!!! what a suffer-ring…
Jannat tells the story of Arjun (Emraan Hashmi), a compulsive gambler. He loses money in gambling and finds himself in trouble as a local don wants his money back. As if this mess is not enough, one fine day Arjun sees Zoya (Sonal Chauhan eyeing a beautiful diamond ring outside a jewellery store. And then…Love at first sight happens…To impress his lady love and woo her, dear gambler needs even more money and suddenly he remembers Manoj Night Shyamalan?????? Twist in the tale? Nah, our Guru gambler realizes that he too has a ’sixth sense’…which means that he can predict the result of cricket matches and could also change them…yani pahle betting…phir setting.
Arjun becomes a notorious ‘match-mixer’ and his talent catches the eye of South Africa based underworld don Abu Ibrahim (oof how close they can get !!!). He goes to South Africa with her girlfriend but never tells her that he is into the fixing racket.
And then the film falls flat, same old honesty versus money confrontation, the lady wants the hero to become an honest man…but our man is addicted to match fixing and big money. So the proceedings become predictable and the story very slowly reaches a very predictable climax that ends with the encounter of our compulsive match fixer.
There are some very clear references to certain players and real-life incidents related to match-fixing. Those who follow the game would probably find many parallels like the Indian Cricket Team Captain in this film who loves Rolex watches ( reference to Azharuddin), a pakistani player’s love for money and ‘fine legs’ and of course the murder of Bob Woolmer, that is handled very shoddily by the director. The sequences where Emran talks to the players about match fixing are very audaciously treated There is no research whatsoever to handle such serious issues that once rocked the world cricket..
The film had a very promising premise but director Kunal Deshmukh faltered badly at the screenplay. Throughout the film, he looks confused whether he is making love story or a film on match-fixing. And that confusion remains till the end. The first half is pacy and borrows some scenes from Anurag basu’s ‘Gangster’.
Things go awry from the second half. The pace becomes slow and the actors completely fail to perform the difficult scenes.
The role of Emran hashmi is tailor made and actually has the capacity to showcase every emotion. But hats off to Emran…he manages to hold the same expression from the first reel to the fifteenth…he looks the same in every film, wear similar clothes and utter his dialogues in the same disinterested tone…Emran even we are not interested anymore .
Debutant Sonal Chauhan looks a pale version of Amrita Rao and gives an average performance. Javed Sheikh in the role of Abu Ibrahim looks more like the next door sweet uncle.
Samir kochchar is good as the CBI officer. Vishal Malhotra, who plays Arjun’s sidekick is very predictable to the point of being disinterested in his role.
The high point of Jannat is its Pritam’s brilliant music and their were clear whistle sounds in the theatre and audience humming the songs along…So if the film does well, the major credit should go to Pritam.
So watch jannat, if you have nothing to do. It could be a good time pass due to its connection to the game of cricket, a game we all love. It could refresh some really juicy stories related to the match fixing saga. But I must tell its not making any serious statement on the controversial subject. As I told you the centre point remains a ‘ring’ till the climax scene where it actually decides the fate of our hero.
My Rating: 
Your Rating
(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)
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Not seen the movie yet but would love to watch the movie jannat.1 of my friend told me to watch it for Emran Hasmi bcoz he did his best performance ever in this movie..
Hi Battini, don’t know if it is Imran’s best performance…I seriously feel he carries the same expression on his face regardless of what the scene demands…
Hi
Emraan hashmi maan gaye yaar best performance .
Hi
Emraan hashmi maan gaye yaar best performance in jannat
Hi
Emraan hashmi best performance in jannat
There was everything in the film.. good central idea, reasonable stars, sizable budget BUT the director messed everything up. Story became out of line, characters were not used to get good performance and budget was wasted on green fields (cricket grounds) and luxury South African apartments.
A bad director can mess up even if he/she is provided with all resources. A good director can bring excellent film with even unknown actors and limited budget.
A asked a friend of mine if he had seen the film. He said that his friends had banned Jannat for him (he has ‘unlimited cinema pass’ which entitles him free films for a set monthly fee). This is the type of word of mouth publicity Jannat is getting that people are not even willing to watch it for free. I have yet to meet anyone who has good words for this film.
[…] Yasser Usmaan, DearCinema Rating: Thumbs down …same old honesty versus money confrontation… See full review […]