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Produced by Aamir Khan and Mansoor Khan, Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na marks the spectacular debut of Imran Khan (Aamir Khan's nephew) as an actor, and Abbas Tyrewala as a director in a movie we've seen manufactured dozens of times. The plot is simply this: boy and girl meet, spend all their time together, deny being in love, only to realize they actually are in love nearly too late, but all prevails in the end. Several movies, too many to mention, have tackled this story, and we see bits and pieces directly taken from other films (Chalte Chalte, Love Actually). At least we see glimpses of a refreshing and new treatment to this over-used formula, even though it's not without its fair share of masala (I mean, what was really the point of the 3 point prophecy anyway?).

This is the launch pad of Imran Khan, and, for me, he was the star and the biggest bright spot of the movie. He gives a very natural and casual performance playing Jai - the "boy next door" with ease. He's not Mr. Popular nor does he want to be, yet he still is because he's just that charismatic. Genelia D'Souza, whose popularity stems from mostly Telugu films, plays Aditi, an unconventional heroin. She's loud, rude, obnoxious, not the type of girl you'd want to go for but yet grows on you and eventually makes you fall in love with her, because underneath it all is a sweet expressive and charming girl who you want to root for maybe.



What really works for Jaane Tu is its ensemble cast which is new, believable and likable. It has some sparkling performances by the seasoned and seemingly very hip Ratna Pathak Shah as Jai's mother and Prateek Babbar, who plays the loving but possessive brother to Genelia. Naaseruddin Shah gets to have a bit of fun as a ghost-on-the-wall and his interactions with Rathna (his wife in real life) are bound to produce giggles. Arbaaz and Sohail Khan deserve special mention for their comedic act as the hero's long-lost uncles.

There were two things I didn't especially care for in this film: the afore mentioned 'prophecy', which I can say was either only written to support Naaseruddin and Rethna's exchanges or so someone could fulfill a horse riding fantasy; and the dialogues between Rethna and so-called villian, Paresh Rawal. Maybe I missed something, but I didn't get the whole point of the legal friction between these two characters.



Though some would say it's his least memorable album, including myself, A.R. Rehman steps outside of the box with an unconventional score, including an interesting jazz flavor. I enjoyed the songs 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi' and 'Nazrein Milaana Nazrein Churaana' immensely.

Overall, even amongst the thousands of cliches, I found Jaane Tu an enjoyable film with a fun, reflective look on love and friendship. It is the little moments that show the relationships between the mother and son, the brother and sister among other such fine moments that make 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' a refreshing experience.