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Saturday, April 20, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD JANLEVA 555
EDITOR'S PICK
`Janleva
555` mish-mash of genres, avoid it
Rating: *
"Janleva 555" is like a slow poison that slowly consumes you, leaving
you feeling wasted and annoyed. The theme and treatment of the film is outdated
and difficult to digest from the word go.
It has all the ingredients of movies of the bygone era. Reminiscent of films of
the 1970 and 1980s with `nagins`, `saperas` et al, "Janleva 555"
starts off as a snakebite awareness film and gradually morphs into an
adventure-cum-romantic-cum-mystery movie. Whatever, the imagination of the
filmmaker could encompass.
To make matters worse, the 15 songs, dollop of re-incarnation drama and elements
of horror, make "Janleva 555" a mish-mash of genres. Result - the
viewer is thoroughly confused.
Apparently, India, known as the land of snake charmers, is also a country with
the highest number of snakebite deaths. To highlight the fact, Neelam (Kalpana
Pandit) along with her friends, who share the same goal, decides to make a
documentary on the subject. How noble!
They zero in on a remote village and land in a dense forest to film the snakes
in their habitat. Romance brews between Neelam and Abrar Zahoor. Songs are sung
and suddenly Neelam recalls that she was a snake in one of her previous births,
about 555 years ago. Then starts the re-incarnation saga followed by mystery,
revenge and an incessant headache for those watching.
After cliches, the plot stagnates. The situation and the songs seem strained and
is probably the reason that audiences fail to get the crux of the story. If
there is any, that is!
Kalpana as a producer and actor has left no stone unturned to show her
histrionics. She is in every frame. Also, she seems to be in awe of Sridevi and
imitates her, especially in the snake dance sequence.
Co-incidently, Sridevi too was called Neelam in "Nigahen", where she
played a snakewoman.
Anant Nag with his light and expressive eyes does a decent job of what`s
expected of him. In fact, with 10 fresh faces "Janleva 555" seems to
be a launch pad of sorts.
The songs sung mostly by newcomers are a strain on the ears.
Longinus Fernandes` choreography is nothing to write home about.
Though Selvam and Kamal Lokhandwala have captured the locales brilliantly, and
Santosh Chawla`s editing is neat, "Janleva 555" has anachronistic
feel. Perhaps director Sandeep Malani lacked a clear vision.
Don`t waste your time. Highly avoidable.
