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'Jawaani Jaaneman' (2020) is a slight caper about a 40-something man-child being suddenly faced with the prospect of having a 21-year old daughter who is pregnant herself. The central premise has scope for much mining of laughter, yet the film limits itself to a few stray lines, a couple of set pieces and some offhand nods in the way of social commentary.
Saif Ali Khan is immensely likeable in the role of a self-deprecating, urbane womanizer and the film does take the opportunity to take digs at both the character's age as well as the actor's to elicit laughs. Kumud Mishra puts in a competent turn as the reliable elder brother who seems perpetually perplexed by his younger sibling. Tabu is wonderful in a couple of scenes as the hippie-earth-mother, but sadly the writing reduces her to a type and doesn't give her much to work with. Alaya F, who plays Saif's daughter in the film, is a revelation, with a refreshing, unassuming presence that conveys the self-assurance of a young girl who is wise beyond her age.
Unfortunately, though, the film suffers from a hangover of previous Saif films set in London like Cocktail (2012). Too much screentime is dedicated to too many pointless partying scenes, all shot in the same hackneyed way. The script too is weak, failing to give us complex characters or tackle the nuances of the many themes running through the film (young versus old, freedom versus responsibility, love versus lust) in any tangible way.
It is refreshing to see a Hindi film that portrays the youngest generation as wiser and more mature, bucking the idea that all parents are good, all-knowing or inherently respectable people, and that all young people are clueless robots glued to their phones. It is interesting to see an unconventional family too, on screen, but none of these are ideas that are explored in-depth. The first half is breezy, but the second half does drag.
In the end, 'Jawaani Jaaneman' employs the predictable manic-pixie dreamgirl trope, only here the women transforming the man is her daughter, not a lover. The trailer sets us up for a potentially insightful laugh-riot, but what we get is an occasionally amusing tale that only skims the surface, buoyed only by the strength of its performances and a sparkling debut by Alaya. As we say in India, this one is strictly "average".
Genre: Comedy
Language: Hindi/English Runtime: 1h 59 min Year of release: 2020 Streaming platform: Amazon Prime Video
Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.
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