Jaane Jaan (21 Sep 2023)

 

Genre: Crime Thriller Drama

Channel: Netflix

Language: Hindi

Duration: 139 minutes

Writer: Sujoy Ghosh, Raj Vasant, Keigo Higashino

Director: Sujoy Ghosh

Cast: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Varma, Saurabh Sachdeva, Naisha Khanna, Karma Takapa, Lin Laishram

Introduction: 

Jaane Jaan is an adroit adaptation of Keigo Higashino's crime novel The Devotion of Suspect X (2005).

Plot:

Settled in the scenic and silent hill town Kalimpong, Maya D' Souza (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is a single mother and a hands-on cafe owner.

Around 14 years back she ran off from the clutches of her sinful & abusive husband and cop Ajit Mhatre (Saurabh Sachdeva) who has somehow located her whereabouts and intimidates her by visiting both her cafe and home.

In the past, Ajit - the perennial money monger had manipulated his wife to be a pole dancer and now wishes to do the same to his new found daughter Tara (Naisha Khanna)!

This leads to fierce protest from Maya. One thing leads to another and Ajit gets killed by Maya with some help from their daughter!!

Naren or Teacher (Jaideep Ahlawat), Maya's next door neighbour is a maths genius and school teacher who silently admires her since her arrival in their building!

He offers to help her get rid of the dead body and instructs her on preventive actions so that Ajit's murder is never traced back to her.

However, arrival of charming and dedicated Inspector Karan Anand (Vijay Varma) from Mumbai, changes everything.

Though he visited Kalimpong searching Ajit for an in-house police matter, he eventually gets embroiled into solving his murder and his prime suspect is the deceased's estranged wife Maya!!

Karan and Naren happen to be FTII graduates and friends from the same batch and are well aware of each other's grey matter and modus operandi.

A cat and mouse game ensues, wherein Karan uses his charm and grit to connect murder clues to Maya, while Naren uses his sharp mind and logic to mislead him on a different path!

See the movie to see who ultimately wins and how.

Analysis:

The movie has enough twists to keep it interesting, but it's kind of disjointed as a complete product, so the required adrenalin rush is missing.

All the lead artists and side artists have performed quite well, but Jaideep Ahlawat has simply surpassed himself and introduced an altogether new style of silent acting with occasional mischievous glint. He comes across as a sharp brained gentle giant!

It's heart warming to see Kareena Kapoor Khan experimenting with method acting and non-glamorous role, which she manages with aplomb, though at times her ire seems over acting and the required chemistry between the mother-daughter duo is missing.

Relatively better sense of empathy can be sensed between Naren and one of his students who constantly challenges him for a coin trick game!

However, with enough close-up shots, Kareena brings ample star power and beauty to the movie. 

She is a dream to watch when she sings the classic title track in a karaoke bar.

Vijay Varma has cakewalked his role with easy charm and smile. His character lacks depth, but that is not his doing.

Conclusion:

Jaane Jaan is an intelligent thriller with good acting and tight screenplay. It's engaging but don't expect any edge-of-the-seat moment.

Do watch it and ponder how the entire storyline could have been depicted better!!