‘Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai’ movie review: This self-proclaimed empowering film is a pure chaos

Director: Keshhav Panneriy
Producer: Purnima Mead, Stanton Mead
Cast: Manjari Fadnis, Arbaaz Khan, Himansh Kohli, Rati Agnihotri, Supriya Pathak, Ashutosh Rana, Prem Chopra
Duration: 2 hours 50 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 1.5/5

It’s a pretty, chirpy evening outside. And I am a few black coffee shots down already, as I write ‘Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai’ movie review. Bad films do hurt. But it hurts more when a potentially strong film is dealt with so much inefficiency and silliness.

Alia (Manjari Fadnis), hailing from a small town in Rajasthan, is a burden to her parents who’d rather have no children than having a daughter. Banking upon nothing but her own hard work and will power, Alia reaches college and falls in love with Alex (Himansh Kohli), only to split and get married to Vikram Pratap Singh (Ashutosh Rana). Vikram is a rich hotelier brat and a feudal man proud of his own ‘khandaan’ who lures Alia’s parents with expensive gifts and properties. Soon after her marriage which almost feels like a cage, Alia is pregnant with a girl child and is pressurised to abort. She flees from the hospital with the help of Lakshmi (Supriya Pathak), one of the oldest maids of Vikram’s family who also runs a local ‘nari sabha’ for the welfare of local women. She reaches Mumbai, becomes mother to the child, and eventually meets Aditya Kapoor (Arbaaz Khan). Okay, I can write no more!

The film claims to be based on women’s empowerment. Instead, it turned out to be a dragged, cliched, over dramatic stuff that makes a farce of itself. Why would a fearless woman like Alia surrender to her parents’ sentimental blackmails and agree to marry a man like Vikram? You don’t set an example when you leave a man who truly loved you and settle for something you did not deserve. Supriya Pathak’s character is strangely contradictory. The same woman who advises Alia to ‘adjust’ with her abusive husband is the one who encourages the village women to hit back whenever they’re physically abused. Till the end, you have no clue why Vikram and Alia got married. And she doesn’t realise she is pregnant, until she has had a bad face off with her husband, and faints. Why are you so zoned out, dude? Also, I have no clue why Himansh Kohli’s character exists. Just to add a little romance to Alia’s college life, may be? He is one powerful aashiq who brings snowfall in a Rajasthani town.

There are unlimited number of horrible continuity breaks. Time lapses do not make sense. Screenplay is scattered and leaves no impact. It is crafted so inefficiently that the most heart-wrenching scenes rather look funny. Sequences are so dragged that you start yawning. But there is one extremely motivational thing about the film. After you’ve watched it, becoming an internationally acclaimed author will look like a cakewalk to you. And who knows, the president of US might just want to honour you too! Songs appear abruptly and create zero romance. Supriya’s chemistry with Arbaaz is just bad.

We almost cringed in pain. Who wastes such powerful actors? Manjari Fadnis is certainly not a bad actress, but her character, instead of carrying gravity, is cliched. Raju Kher is limited to playing a college principal with very boring dialogues. Rati Agnihotri (who plays Vikram’s stepmother) could be a brilliant catalyst to the story. Instead, she just has a cameo. Supriya Pathak is very spontaneous, totally underutilised. And something bizarre has happened to Arbaaz Khan. He probably took his character from ‘Dabangg’ too seriously and became like one. The only one we liked way too much is Prem Chopra. He has nailed it as an Urdu writer who gives new wings to Alia.

Since you’ve seen so much of the US in trailer and songs (often for no reason), let us tell you,  ‘Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai’ is apparently the first Hindi film to be shot at the White House. One might wonder how it at all benefited the film, though.

Let us not even get into technicalities. ‘Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai’ is an averagely shot and poorly edited film ; made with lot of purpose but terribly execution.

P.S. A source exclusively revealed to us that the makers spent Rs 75 crore on making the film. So, if you choose not to spend your money on it, at least spend two minutes to pray for the producer!

WATCH TRAILER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNmHslivA6M&feature=youtu.be