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Tuesday, April 1, 2025
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BOLLYWOOD JIA AUR JIA
EDITOR'S PICK
'Jia Aur Jia': Lessons to learn (Review By Troy Ribeiro ;
Rating: **)
Debutant director Howard Rosemeyer's film, "Jia Aur Jia" has all the ingredients
for a commercial film, but the mix is disproportionate. Between a road-movie and
a chick-flick, the narrative traverses a bumpy path with a high dosage of
emotional quotient.
The film is promising, but then the promise is shallow and vain. It is a tale of
two "Jias" -- Jia Grewal (Kalki Koechlin) and Jia Venkatram (Richa Chadha) --
and it shows the contrasts in their perception of living their lives. Hence, the
title "Jia Aur Jia" could loosely be translated into - 'live and lived'.
Used as metaphors, the bubbly Jia Grewal and the docile Jia Venkatram are two
strangers who land up taking a budget trip inclusive of a road journey to
Sweden. To simplify the confusion over their names during the holidays, Jia
Grewal decides calling the other "Venkat", a short of her surname.
The duration of the trip is not revealed, so we are set for a happy-go-merry
journey, where predictably the protagonists bond. And while they are bonding, it
is revealed that like their characters, both have diametrically opposite
objectives for this trip.
Unravelling of their objective is what keeps you glued to your seat, but in a
rather tedious manner. That is because the film seems to have been inspired,
intentionally or unintentionally, by other films.
Also, the writing is shallow and unconvincing. The plot is wrinkle free,
switching moods violently.
The first half meanders aimlessly on an even keel, setting restlessness among
the audience whereas the second half hooks you emotionally, albeit scarcely.
The dialogues, infused with filmy references are superficially dramatic making
the entire procedure seem staged and unnatural. And the final message is far
from being evocative.
While the characters are well-etched, the situations they are in seem to be
one-dimensionally written, thereby marring their performances. Kalki's
over-the-top act and Richa's forcefully understated performance, befit the
characters they play. But they certainly seem out of tune with each other making
their on-screen chemistry appear abnormal.
In his maiden appearance, Arslan Goni as Vasu is impressive and earnest. He has
a fairly amiable screen presence, but his act fizzles out due to the poor
writing and handling of his scenes.
Zarina Wahab as Jia Grewal's mother and Sudhanshu Pandey as Venkat's husband are
flat characters and wasted.
On the technical front, with a shoe-string budget, the film has modest
production values. The landscapes in Sweden are exploited with flourish but
Shakil A. Khan's camerawork fails to elevate the viewing experience. While his
frames are picture perfect, a few of the visuals are heavily pixilated.
The songs and the background score seamlessly mesh with the narrative but they
do not add any sparkle.
Overall, this film befits for television viewing.
'Jia Aur Jia': Old-fashioned but effective (Review By Subhash K. Jha
; Rating: *** )
Why should boys have all the fun? Just the sheer pleasure of watching two of our
feistiest actresses in a road movie set in Sweden is enough of a kickback to
sail through what is at best a girl-bonding flick with plenty of perk and
pizzazz, thanks to the crackling and hissing chemistry between the two lead
actresses.
The basic premise is promising. Two very dissimilar girls share the same name
and nothing else. Kalki is outgoing, loud, gregarious and 'bindaas'. Richa is
quiet, withdrawn and repressed. One wants to live every moment. The other wants
her life to end -- the sooner, the better.
Though the aggression between them is overdone, their initial bickering is
well-scripted and gives away some of what the characters are holding back. The
striking visuals help anchor the two protagonists' road journey. Very often, the
film looks like a pretext for promoting Swedish tourism. But then debutant
director Howard Rosemeyer has some surprises for the second half when the
narrative sobers down to a treacly trickle of tears.
Despite its manipulative mould of getting our attention -- if one of the
protagonists is dying and the other one just wants to die, then the audience is
bound to get concerned -- the characters move us into believing in their grief
and spurts of joy.
It's hard to imagine the film working without the Jias. Richa Chadha and Kalki
Koechlin sneak a seductive synergy into the proceedings. They know they are
playing 'sober' and 'bindaas' and they bring their most cherished acting chops
into the picture. You will be thoroughly regaled by the two actresses, specially
in the way they reverse gender biases.
Kalki openly lusts after Swedish men on the streets, the way a single Indian
male would if he saw firangi women in a foreign town. The two girls sing raunchy
songs, swig beer and swing together through some madcap adventures which don't
always make sense.
A third interesting character, played by Kashmiri actor Arslan Goni, adds a bit
more glint to this curiously quaint yet feisty and sexy road film which adds
value to its zany touristic good-times-in-distant-lands theme with a sobering
message on why life needs to be valued beyond the calamities that are bestowed
on us.
Watch out for the sequence in a hospital bed where Kalki talks about her future
and why she can't have it.
See the film for the Kalki-Richa jugal-bonding and yes, for the way the film
uses the evergreen Shankar-Jaikishan/Lata Mangeshkar/Mohd Rafi song "Jiya oh
jiya kuch bol do" to reiterate life's most valuable lessons.
Actress Richa Chadha wonders why people assume she is angry by nature, and says she is only a straight-forward person who speaks her mindRead More
A story about two starkly different women (Richa Chadha and Kalki Koechlin)
that share the same name. Together, they embark on a life-changing journey
heading towards the same fate. The film is shot in Sweden.
A travelogue of two daughters of destiny who travelling the span of a foreign
country, thousands of miles away from home, discovered that life no matter how
short, can still be one big deal!
We have seen a million films in our cinema diaspora that describe the coming of
age for boys going to men .JIA AUR JIA is the first bullseye attempt at telling
the audiences what it is that brings girls to come of age to be women . While it
is an absolute fun film written in the commercial mould, JIA AUR JIA is a film
that asks pertinent questions, while fighting the high stakes of a magical
journey called life.
'Jia Aur Jia': Lessons to learn (Review By Troy Ribeiro ;
Rating: **)
Debutant director Howard Rosemeyer's film, "Jia Aur Jia" has all the ingredients
for a commercial film, but the mix is disproportionate. Between a road-movie and
a chick-flick, the narrative traverses a bumpy path with a high dosage of
emotional quotient.
The film is promising, but then the promise is shallow and vain. It is a tale of
two "Jias" -- Jia Grewal (Kalki Koechlin) and Jia Venkatram (Richa Chadha) --
and it shows the contrasts in their perception of living their lives. Hence, the
title "Jia Aur Jia" could loosely be translated into - 'live and lived'.
Used as metaphors, the bubbly Jia Grewal and the docile Jia Venkatram are two
strangers who land up taking a budget trip inclusive of a road journey to
Sweden. To simplify the confusion over their names during the holidays, Jia
Grewal decides calling the other "Venkat", a short of her surname.
The duration of the trip is not revealed, so we are set for a happy-go-merry
journey, where predictably the protagonists bond. And while they are bonding, it
is revealed that like their characters, both have diametrically opposite
objectives for this trip.
Unravelling of their objective is what keeps you glued to your seat, but in a
rather tedious manner. That is because the film seems to have been inspired,
intentionally or unintentionally, by other films.
Also, the writing is shallow and unconvincing. The plot is wrinkle free,
switching moods violently.
The first half meanders aimlessly on an even keel, setting restlessness among
the audience whereas the second half hooks you emotionally, albeit scarcely.
The dialogues, infused with filmy references are superficially dramatic making
the entire procedure seem staged and unnatural. And the final message is far
from being evocative.
While the characters are well-etched, the situations they are in seem to be
one-dimensionally written, thereby marring their performances. Kalki's
over-the-top act and Richa's forcefully understated performance, befit the
characters they play. But they certainly seem out of tune with each other making
their on-screen chemistry appear abnormal.
In his maiden appearance, Arslan Goni as Vasu is impressive and earnest. He has
a fairly amiable screen presence, but his act fizzles out due to the poor
writing and handling of his scenes.
Zarina Wahab as Jia Grewal's mother and Sudhanshu Pandey as Venkat's husband are
flat characters and wasted.
On the technical front, with a shoe-string budget, the film has modest
production values. The landscapes in Sweden are exploited with flourish but
Shakil A. Khan's camerawork fails to elevate the viewing experience. While his
frames are picture perfect, a few of the visuals are heavily pixilated.
The songs and the background score seamlessly mesh with the narrative but they
do not add any sparkle.
Overall, this film befits for television viewing.
