Review: Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai

Star cast: Ritesh Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonal Sehgal, Vishal Malhotra, Ruslaan Mumtaz.

Plot: Ritesh considers himself unlucky with girls till Sonal comes into his life. He falls for her but she considers him merely as a good friend. Then, Jacqueline, an alien, arrives from Venus in search of true love. Ruslaan tries to woo her but her heart beats for Ritesh. Vishal acts as the perfest catalyst for the romance between Ritesh and Jacqueline.

What’s Good: The first half, the light moments, the acting, the songs.

What’s Bad: The second half, the serious drama, the missing romance, the convenient screenplay.

Verdict: Given the poor start, the film doesn’t stand any chance.

Loo Break: Several after interval.

Warner Bros. Pictures and People Tree Films’ Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (UA) is a fantasy film about the love story of a boy and a girl from planet Venus.

Rajesh Parekh (Ritesh Deshmukh) has never been lucky with girls. He nearly gives up till he meets Natasha (Sonal Sehgal) who is, like him, assisting film director Farah Khan (herself) in a movie starring her (Natasha’s) superstar-brother, Desh (Ruslaan Mumtaz). Desh is also on the lookout for that perfect girl although all the girls are mad after him.

Rajesh and Desh’s worlds turn upside down when Tara (Jacqueline Fernandez), an alien from Venus, lands on the Earth in search of true love.

Milap Zaveri’s story is the usual love tale but with a new twist – the girl is an alien. Considering that it is a novel angle, it has not been explained well enough to appeal to the masses who may wonder what an alien is and what is Venus which the characters keep talking about.

Zaveri’s screenplay has its share of light moments, especially in the first half, which are enjoyable. However, several of the jokes are of the kind which are so film industry-centric that the general masses may not comprehend them completely. Nevertheless, the scenes with various film stars and film directors (playing themselves) have a lot of star value and appeal and some of them are rather hilarious. The film takes a somewhat serious and emotional turn after interval as a result of which the fun element reduces dramatically. What’s more, the emotions fail to touch the heart. The drama about Tara searching for true love also doesn’t appeal as much as it should. Frankly, the story required two huge stars to carry off the drama and the fact is that neither Ritesh nor Jacqueline have that star status to draw in the crowds.

It dawns upon the audience that it is a screenplay of convenience once Desh falls in love with Tara. Desh telling Tara about how true lovers can hear each other’s names merely by hugging one another doesn’t ring true because it is simply not true! Likewise, the April Fool ‘joke’ which Rajesh plays on Natasha first and Tara plays on Rajesh later is not such a great point that it could form the base of the love story. Also, there aren’t many scenes to show Rajesh and Tara falling in love with each other. Since the oppo- sition to their love is also half-baked – that is, if Desh can be called an opposition – the viewer doesn’t even get a chance to root for them coming together. All in all, the love story has a track of romance which is just not heart-warming enough.

Climax lacks in appeal. While the comic dialogues (Milap Zaveri) are entertaining, the serious ones are not as good and, after a point of time, make the drama seem very verbose.

Ritesh Deshmukh does a very fine job. He lives his role and acts with aplomb. However, Ritesh needs to realise that he doesn’t need to make faces since he is a fine actor as it is. Jacqueline Fernandez is cute. She acts quite well and dances gracefully. Vishal Malhotra, in the role of Rajesh’s bosom pal, is excellent. He evokes laughter at a number of places. Sonal Sehgal gets limited scope. She looks charming and her acting is okay. Ruslaan Mumtaz does justice to his role. Satish Shah is very funny and should’ve had more scenes. Supriya Pilgaonkar is okay. Farah Khan is fantastic in a guest appearance. She has some of the best dialogues to mouth and she does that with elan. Akshay Kumar shines in the single scene he gets in a guest appearance. Amrita Rao comes as a surprise in a guest appearance in the climax. She is good. Priyanka Chopra, Karan Johar and Sajid Khan, all in guest appearances, add star value.

Milap Zaveri’s direction is fairly nice. Considering that this is his maiden attempt at direction, he shows the spark. But his scripting is quite childish and confused. Sajid-Wajid’s music is very good. ‘Nacha main’, ‘Keh do zara’, the title song and ‘Koi rok bhi lo’ are well-tuned numbers and their picturisations are quite eye-filling. Attar Singh Saini’s camerawork is of a good standard. Art direction (Sukant Pani- grahi) is nice. Action (Gurbachan Singh) is functional. Editing (Manan Sagar) should’ve been crisper.

On the whole, Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai has taken a very dull start and, given its weak second half, will not be able to make any mark at the box-office. It will entail losses in spite of its average budget.