Jab Harry Met Sejal

Jab Harry met Sejal is a romantic comedy directed by Imtiaz Ali starring Shahrukh Khan as Harinder Singh Nehra a.k.a. Harry and Anushka Sharma as Sejal Jhaveri. The duo reluctantly team up and set out on a journey retracing their steps across Europe to search for Sejal's missing engagement ring.

When hearing the name Jab Harry Met Sejal, one automatically thinks that this will be a rip off of the similarly titled rom-com classic "When Harry met Sally."

WHAT'S GOOD

The acting of Anushka Sharma. She portrays the chirpy young Gujarati girl and is the reason that the film is watchable in the first half. Shahrukh Khan to some extent is refreshing as he is in a new role as a tour guide and isn't that lover boy that audiences have grown accustomed to seeing over the last 2 decades. The music is lively and upbeat. The frames feature glimpses of what Europe is about with lush green countryside, opera performances, bar culture, prostitution happening on shady streets. As is common with all Bollywood films, there are songs, but background dancers remain absent. I've always wondered how the whole street knows the steps and how do they know to form shapes where the leads are always in centre. The songs have very well edited shots which establish how the characters get acquainted with each other. In the first half they (the songs) don't disconnect with the plot, as there are short grabs of them searching for that ring.

WHAT'S BAD

The film as a whole, is bad.

The locations work like glue does when applied on the cracks on a wall. The effect of the glue was nullified quite soon into the film and cracks appeared. Cracks in the film, the definition of the character, the stereotypical representation of the characters.

 What we ended up getting was two characters unwilling to travel at first, then they travel in concentric circles around Europe. Amsterdam to Prague to Budapest to Frankfurt to Prague to Lisbon to Frankfurt. They help each other out, discover themselves, fight, realise they are incomplete without each other. It’s not that it hasn’t been done before, but it’s the same director who has done it before in Jab We Met and in Tamasha. The glimpses of Europe didn’t mask the lack of charm in the rom com. It also didn’t mask…..

The stereotypical representation of the character Harry. Harry is a Punjabi and has a loud voice. The reason for it is that he had to sing over the sound of the tractors as all Punjabi's are farmers. Seriously? Can't he have a loud voice as a natural trait?

Sejal, though she keeps the film running in the first half, is absolutely annoying with that accent. (Harry is pronounced as Hairy) Her behaviour is not in keeping with the modern woman she calls herself, but that of a toddler trapped in an adult’s body.

 After calling herself a modern woman, she makes it very clear that she is not interested in Harry in any way. In one scene, she asks Harry, "Mere pe try maar rahe ho?" Harry says, "Bilkul nahin." She replies, "Kyun main sexy nahin hoon?"

Why does she seem insulted here? If she has said she isn't interested in Harry in any way?

Why does a modern woman constantly require validation of any sort? (in this case that she’s more layak than any of Harry’s conquests)

During a scene, Harry tells Sejal, “Tum iss se bhi laayak ho.” Upon hearing this, Sejal is overjoyed and asks him repeatedly, “Kya main sachi iss se bhi layak hoon?” Audiences now will go home with the image of a modern woman being one who needs to be repeatedly told that she is more “layak” over the other.

This is a train wreck of a movie. I ended up coming home and watching "When Harry met Sally". A rom-com movie which had the feel of a rom-com. The charm present in that classic was absent in this film. Shahrukh Khan needs to head back to playing age appropriate roles as he did in Raees and Dear Zindagi. If you are an Imtiaz Ali fan after watching his work in Jab We Met, Rockstar, Highway then please avoid this film which after watching you would label as a disaster. If you are a fan of Shahrukh Khan’s 1990s and 2000s persona, avoid this movie.

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT

Those who want an hour’s entertainment and then spend the second half just thinking about the next day at work or of unfinished chores.

PAHLAJ NIHALANI SECTION

How can we forget good old Pahlaj Nihalani? This film received attention as “Protector of the audiences” in an attempt to make the film sanskaari raised objection to the words sexual intercourse in the film. It was replaced by Physical interaction (now that can include a handhshake, a slap on the back, etc). Though sexual intercourse was banned, the words "sex" and “copulation” were allowed to be a part of the film!

Applause for the man!