Jab We Met [2007]

Imtiaz Ali had already proved his potential as a director in his debut film 'Socha Na Tha'. His style is different… he is fresh, young and unique. His debut film was one of the best in the year it released (2005) so my expectations from 'Jab We Met' were somewhat high.

Since her very early years in the industry Kareena Kapoor had been a "forever favourite" of mine together with Juhi Chawla, Kajol and Rani Mukerji but things changed in the past year as I was no longer impressed by her film or role choices and saw absolutely no hope for her future. Shahid has also been a favourite of mine since his debut and I've continued being a big fan of his, as he continues to deliver very fine performances back to back, but again his career was seemingly going nowhere in terms of success. As a pair I never saw any sparks fly between Shahid and Kareena… I loved 'Fida' and '36 China Town'/'Chup Chup Ke' were not too bad either but I never found the onscreen pairing of Shahid & Kareena attractive at all.

Act 1: 'Jab We Met' vs. 'Socha Na Tha'

In terms of the basic story I do think 'Socha Na Tha' delivered us something more unique and 'Jab We Met' was not as original perhaps. However that's not to say that the former is a better film then the latter – that, I do not believe. If 'SNT' scores one more point in the story department then 'JWM' goes many steps forward in terms of screenplay. This time the screenplay is a lot tighter and in fact the technical values all round are a lot finer (SNT of course was a delayed production so understandably was a bit weaker in the look department).

Just as his first venture Imtiaz Ali once more takes us on a roller coaster ride full of the most exciting twists and turns. 'Jab We Met' is simple and yet so beautiful. It's not complicated but it's far from being ordinary. An intelligent film that would work beautifully with both the multiplex audience and at the same time would not be too hard for the more average cinegoer to understand.

Act 2: Dancing to Pritam's tunes

Even before I saw the film I considered this to be one of the best soundtracks to come out of our industry this year. Watching the film has only made me believe that more strongly.

'Mauja Mauja' is truly rocking. Mika's vocals are fantastic and the song is so foot tapping. However, the song is not placed well in the film and comes only as a music video for the end credits. Nonetheless I can totally understand why they did not choose to eliminate it and kept it as they did – it would be difficult to not use a song which is a definite chartbuster! 'Nagada' is another foot-tapper and the choreography is fantastic too.

'Yeh Ishq Hai', 'Aao Milo Chalo' and 'Tumse Hi' are heavenly beautiful. These songs are easy on the ears and just so fresh to listen to. Shreya Ghosal's rendition of 'Yeh Ishq Hai' should without any doubt sweep each and every one of the female playback singer awards at the upcoming ceremonies. Each of them have been pictured beautifully too and a very special mention goes out to the fantastic locations throughout the film.

'Aaoge Jab Tum' is beautifully sung and though it does not feel as fresh as the others, it's very gentle and peaceful to hear.

Act 4: Characterisation

Each of the characters have been sketched and developed brilliantly. Critic Taran Adarsh (IndiaFM.com) mentioned that the film revolves around the basic saying "opposites attract" but I would argue that somewhere along the line both Geet and Aditya were very similar. If Aditya had a hidden extrovert waiting to be discovered in him then Geet also went through a tough time that matured her. Aditya and Geet are soul mates.

Both characters are demanding and both have enough meat for the actors to dig their teeth right into. Arguably Aditya is the central protagonist of the film, his is the author-backed role. I found myself believing that the writer/director was relating to his character very easily. That is not to say that the character of Geet is any less. The character is as important, as well written and as demanding as Aditya's. Neither role is half-baked and it is because both the characters work that the film works!

Act 5: Performances

Shahid Kapoor delivers yet another flawless, mature and believable performance. He is a complete natural and it kills me to think that he has not been given his due even now. His is definitely the show-stealing performance of the film. Shahid does complete justice to the role and emerges a winner all the way. Though the competition for the Best actor department has been tough this year (Shah Rukh pretty much has stamped his names on the trophies with Chak De India) Shahid at least deserves a nomination if not a couple of awards.

Kareena Kapoor is back and how! This is the Kareena I have loved since day one and was strangely missing in the past year or so but now she is back I have no complaints. She looks absolutely stunning and sets the screen on fire with her unmatchable screen presence. Her performance is definitely worthy of winning the Best actress trophies in the coming award ceremonies, and with no real competition around her this year I have little doubt she wont sweep them – about time! Like Geet said "jo aap real mein chahte hai woh actual mein hota hai" ('what you really want, actually happens' – the dialogue of the film!)

Act 6: The real star… Imtiaz Ali

There is no denying that a director is the captain of the ship. With a captain like Imtiaz Ali you know the film will do anything but sink! He already proved he's a director to reckon with in his first film and now he has yet again consolidated that. With 'SNT' he was one of my favourite 'new' directors but with 'JWM' he has now made it to the list of my favourite directors! 'Jab We Met' is simply FANTASTIC and the entire credit goes to Imtiaz Ali – I cannot express how much I am already looking forward to his next film.

Wrap-up: Overall, Jab We Met…

Full of beautiful moments, this is one film that should be treasured from the 2007 releases. Consisting of fantastic performances, an incredible soundtrack, beautifully written tight screenplay and gorgeous locations – Jab We Met is easily one of the best films released this year and definitely deserved all the success that (rightfully) came its way.