OK JAANU - If only two good-looking faces are all you are looking for in a supposedly new-age love story. (Review by Bobby Sing)

OK JAANU is the second official remake of a Maniratnam film by director Shaad Ali (post SAATHIYA/2002) that unfortunately fails to generate any kind of excitement, passion or love amongst its viewers, especially the youngsters, lacking the much-awaited novelty factor.

Going back to the experience of watching the original O KADHAL KANMANI, I liked the Tamil film for its spirited execution (direction), outstanding soundtrack and the four lovable leading actors reaching out to the viewers with their natural acts. The film majorly worked because of a genius like Maniratnam calling the shots and the music by A. R. Rahman, but it still didn’t have something entirely new or fresh exploring a unique idea that hasn’t been there on the screen before in a young love story.

Honestly that was the reason I got pretty confused hearing the news of its remake being made in Hindi for the viewers who had already seen several similar stories in the last couple of years and had rejected them too.

Thinking on these lines, I strongly believed Shaad must have made some major changes into the script differentiating it from the most recent ones (like Tamasha, Befikre or more) and the young at heart Gulzar surely would have contributed a lot through his magical lyrics for the melodies composed by Rahman (like many earlier Maniratnam film’s soundtrack dubbed in Hindi).

However every such positive expectation got brutally crushed by this completely lifeless film made by Shaad Ali once again going for a frame to frame remake of the original. Yes we cannot expect him to deliver the outstanding Maniratnam touches and the emotional masterstrokes, but I never expected they would also dare to mess with the film’s original hit soundtrack too in such a way including the lyrics of the veteran Gulzar. Ironically the music itself was the backbone behind the success of its Tamil original, which strangely seems to be so ordinary and technically inferior too (sound wise) if compared to the immensely likeable Tamil tracks (despite the language issue).

Keeping apart the status of an official remake, even if one watches OK JAANU as a new individual release (without making comparisons with the original), it still fails to make any kind of impact on the Hindi belt audience, since it neither delivers in terms of entertainment nor any novel or fresh storyline presenting the same seen before sequences and dialogues till we thankfully get to see something bearable in the last 20 minutes. The repetitive interactions keep on going even after the intermission without any plot revealed and that’s where one begins to think that,
“Why the hell this was remade when it had nothing new to deliver different from the already seen?”
Also the song "EnnaSohna" comes at a point when one wishes to say... ‘Oh please no more song now... and just come to the damn point cutting this silly crap’.

Moving ahead from the music and direction, even the performances don’t give you much to write about despite having Naseeruddin Shah and Leela Sampson lovingly playing the elderly couple living alone in a big house. Interestingly Leela played the same role a bit differently in the original too, but there she had Maniratnam directing the scenes adding his incomparable depth and insight to her touching portrayal. Also Prakash Raj was too good in the original in comparison to Naseer in this lackluster remake made with a pretty casual, overconfident and uncaring vision. May be a few more scenes focusing on Naseer and Leela alone would have helped the film to establish a much better connect with the viewers.

In the lead, Shraddha progresses as an actor and Aditya Roy Kapoor looks fresh and nice too playing his carefree character. But with nothing new in the storyline or their individual roles, even their pretty faces lose their charm post the initial 30 minutes. Basically because their director and his DOP remain more interested in the look, colour and the frames following an ineffective writing.

In all, if you are not willing to ruin the experience of enjoying a good emotional film with all fine performances and an upbeat, melodious soundtrack too, then watch the original O KADHAL KANAMANI (with English subtitles) instead and forget about this poor, un-required remake doing yourself a favour.

Rating : 1.5 / 5

For friends interested in reading the review of O KADHAL KANMANI, its available at the following link:
O KADHAL KANMANI (Tamil) - Review by Bobby Sing