Story -
Jai Ho is the story of Jai Agnihotri, an ex army man who tries to help people & serve the nation even without the uniform & tries to spread his simple yet effective thought of the help chain - no thank you instead help 3 people in need & spread the chain. For every positive action comes an evil reaction & how Jai tackles the problems created by the evil men in the society forms the story of Jai Ho. Will that simple thought prove effective? Will the ONE COMMAN MAN make the difference? Should watch that on the big screen.
Script Analysis -
Jai Ho is the adapted version of Telugu superhit film Stalin. The script for most of the part is very loyal to the original version & the biggest difference is that Jai Ho is the simplest version of the hard hitting Stalin. It's applaudable that the very thought which is the soul of the film is conceived in a very simple way unlike the Telugu original where it happens through an heart touching real life incident instead Jai Ho writers follow the path which Pay It Forward followed where the helping 3 people thought is conceived by a boy for his class assignment. This very concept was beautifully captured since a "thought" becomes important & not how is that thought born. The first half moves in a decent pace concentrating on the social issues until the interval impact. Well it's the best part of the movie so no wonder people are applauding it with claps all over. Second half takes the commercial path yet holding on to the simplicity of the narration of the first half & the hero-villain's first face/off happens here. The pace here gets slow down a bit while the performances & Salman's shirtless act makes up for it.
Performances -
Salman Khan is in his best form & he outperforms his last 5 performances. He's roaring like never before, he's at his best in the emotional sequences & he's at ease in the comic scenes which are not in his trademark style. It's a toned down performance from him except in the action scenes & his shirtless act without any graphics & stuff earned the kind of response which was similar to all his previous 5 blockbusters combined.
Daisy Shah has limited scope, she's a good dancer so all her talent has been limited to the songs. Tabu gives a matured performance. Danny Denzongpa is very good as the villain. Sana Khan leaves the mark in her short negative role. The new villain guy who played her brother showed much promise without many dialogues. Santosh Shukla enters with a menacing look, wins with his comic expressions & leaves a mark during the climax. Mukul Dev is getting typecasted. Nadira Babbar plays a typical Bollywood mother & is passable. Naman Jain is very good as Salman's nephew. Pulkit Samrat gives an honest performance. Yash Tonk & Ashmit Patel share screen space along with Salman as his friends & haven't tried anything above their limits/ability. Genelia Deshmukh is superb in her cameo. Aditya Pancholi & Sharad Kapoor play the forgettable baddies. The man who played the drunkard & Mahesh Manjrekar were first rate.
Then there's a load of actors who are just in for cameos, Suniel Shetty, Tulip Joshi, Nauheed Cyrushi, Vatsal Seth just add into the cast members. Suniel Shetty gets to mouth a dialogue which gets the whistles but that's about it.
Other Departments -
Music lacked the punch which is uncommon for a Salman film. But they don't play the spoilsport although the editing of Baaki Sab First Class Hai was not good. Action was very well choreographed by Anl Arasu & Ravi Varma. They chose to add more of a realistic feel by including all the biting that normally happens when a normal person is fighting on the streets & they didn't let it spoil the usual Salman's action fun. Editing was good in parts especially could've made it better in the first half although it's the second half that loses the pace & the clever editing shows how it's been managed. Cinematography was good.
Direction, Sohail Khan finds his form & tries hard to make a loyal remake yet leave his touch which is noticeable in the way of handling of the emotional scenes. But he does go unstable in the second half but again the emotional outburst scenes covers it very well. Production values could've been better.
Positives -
1. A honest script & the message the film carries.
2. A honest & effective performance by Salman Khan. He's dedicated throughout & that's just feast to the eyes.
3. Strong interval point, worthy of claps.
4. Genelia's track.
5. The post interval scene where the first face/off happens between Salman & Danny.
Negatives-
1. The simplistic approach tends to lose it's steam & doesn't gel with the film in the second half.
2. The Tanker scene, well people whistled & cheered but the right after that particular scene ended, majority of the audience realized that it was pointless.
3. Lack of hero worshipping, people like me who have watched Stalin would agree to this.
4. The death of Mukul Dev lacked the impact the bike chase scene had created. That particular scene in Telugu was extremely appreciated where Chiranjeevi cleverly blasts the petrol tanker.
5. The chain formation gets sidelined & more emphasis is made on preaching which could've tackled otherwise.
6. Salman Khan's entry lacked the punch no matter how much whistles it garnered. Stalin's entry though inspired by Tamil film Dheena which itself was inspired by Jurassic Park where the dinosaur's eyes are shown through the hole in the car's window & that's how they showed Chiranjeevi in Telugu implying him to be a dinosaur. That implications was not followed which bats for my previous point that Jai Ho needed more hero worshipping.
Business Prospective -
The film is a winner for it's producer Sohail Khan even before it's release, For Eros to make money the film has to cross 120cr which it will & anything more than 120cr will allow both the producers i.e. Sohail Khan & Sunil Lulla to share the profit. The movie is sold to the distributors on minimum guarantee basis. Once the movie crosses that 140-145cr mark the movie will fall into the profit making zone for it's distributors since from here onwards their profit earnings will begin (I am talking about the producers who paid the token amount on minimum guarantee basis).
Cinema Prospective -
Film pleases the Salman fans, film appeals to the general audience too, few will over exaggerate the film, few will try to bring it down, this will keep happening. With these facts & all the Salman taking his shirt off moment, don't forget the good message it passes for the humanity. Jai Ho's true victory lies in that & not in those box office numbers which anyway would prove Jai Ho a success.
My Rating -
As a fan - 4/5 because it's always feel superb to see Salman on screen but it goes beyond that when Salman actually gives a dedicated performance.
As an audience - 3.5/5 the movie with all the good intentions, honest performances, entertainment factor follows the simplistic path which just doesn't gel well after some point.
As the one who is biased towards Stalin - 3/5 because I wanted more hero worshipping.
Few days back one of the Salman fan had asked whether Salman will just wave his hand in the climax & how he wouldn't be able to like it, my response, it was the best thing when Salman raised his hand & goes onto show the 3 fingers implying help 3 people. Special applause just for that.
And I would thank the audience who danced for the Jai Ho title track & till I reached the parking lot they were screaming Jai Ho, Salman Khan ki Jai Ho !!! As a fan, I got the thing which I waited for 13 months for that response & sorry I kept my eyes on the screen throughout the film so didn't notice you people dancing for the other songs.
