<i>Jaane Hoga Kya</i> - Review

By: Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM

Friday, September 01, 2006

Interesting ideas don't necessarily translate into interesting films.

Jaane Hoga Kya talks of human cloning. Sure, the story is a novel experience for Indian moviegoers because a concept like this hasn't been witnessed on Hindi screens before. But Jaane Hoga Kya suffers on two major counts...

• One, the choice of the lead actor -- to carry the baggage of a powerful script -- is not right. It's a clear case of miscasting.


• Two, even though the plotline is its USP, it has been presented in the most amateurish manner. More on that later!

Director duo Glen-Ankush's first outing Jaane Hoga Kya bears a striking similarity to a little-known Chinese film called Dna Clone [2002; director: Douglas Kong; cast: Siu-Wong Fan, Katherine Hung Yan, Kit Yee Yuen]. But Jaane Hoga Kya appeals in bits and spurts, not in entirety.

Most importantly, Jaane Hoga Kya has taken a long time to reach the theatres. Naturally then, the physical appearances of the actors have undergone a natural change. Besides, the film has been released without any hype or media blitzkrieg, making it an unsung release.

To sum up, the minusses outweigh the plusses!

Siddharth [Aftab Shivdasani], a young scientist from Indian Medical Research Center, wants to create another human being, not in a mother's womb but in a science lab. If he is successful, it could be a boon for humanity, else it could spell doomsday for mankind.

Siddharth has been experimenting with cloning for the past two years and has been unsuccessful. He even lost his colleague cum friend in the process. But he is confident of succeeding some day. He needs permission from the Indian Medical Research Centre and his guru Dr. Krishnan [Paresh Rawal].

There are few people who don't approve of his experiment. Amongst them is Inspector Rathod [Rahul Dev]. Siddharth is shattered when Dr. Krishnan informs him that the permission to go ahead is not granted. Siddharth is shattered and his love, Aditi [Bipasha Basu], comforts him. She also suggests that she would speak to her father Mr. Chopra [Tinnu Anand], an industrialist, to finance him for his project of creating a human clone.

After much thought and hesitation, Siddharth agrees to take Aditi's help. He builds his own lab in an old mill and starts his experiment. He first clones a mouse. In the meanwhile, Inspector Rathod gets suspicious about the sudden disappearance of Siddharth and begins to trace him.

Meanwhile, Siddharth begins to clone himself. He succeeds but his clone goes missing and all hell breaks loose when suddenly Siddharth is put behind bars for assaulting a girl at a night club [Maria Goretti]. Siddharth realizes that his clone is responsible for putting him in a mess. But he is helpless, as no one believes him that he has cloned himself, not even Dr. Krishnan.

The clone has other ideas. He wants to take over Siddharth's life and starts playing games. He flirts with Dr. Krishnan's daughter Suchitra [Preeti Jhangiani] and even impregnates her. To obtain Siddharth's project report, the clone even kills Dr. Krishnan and the blame falls on Siddharth. Inspector Rathod is furious. Siddharth is in a major dilemma.

Jaane Hoga Kya springs a few surprises. Besides the premise, a number of sequences are no doubt deftly executed. But the problem -- it's a major drawback -- lies in the fact that the clone doesn't behave like a clone, it conducts itself like a superman. His mannerisms makes him look like a robot who can brave an iron rod in his body and yet remain unaffected.

From the writing point of view, Bipasha's sudden volte face comes as a shock. But it's difficult to believe that the clone has been 'programmed' by her to act and behave in a peculiar fashion. Even if you go by the logic that she holds the 'remote control', why does the clone eliminate her in the climax? Isn't that a contradiction?

Directors Glen-Ankush are technically proficient and it shows in several well-filmed sequences. But the directors ought to know that it's the content that does the talking eventually, not striking frames and visuals. Musically, nothing to hum about. Frankly, it's the filming of the songs that stays with you more than the tunes. Cinematography is first-rate.

Aftab tries hard, but doesn't work in the complex role[s]. He looks like a college student, not a scientist or a terminator. Bipasha is passable and so is Preeti. Paresh Rawal is mechanical. Rahul Dev is competent. Maria Goretti, Tinnu Anand and Zarina Wahab are wasted. Sanjay Narvekar is strictly okay.

On the whole, Jaane Hoga Kya has a novel concept, but lacks the power to keep you glued to the screen. At the box-office, the lack of promotion as also a mighty opposition [Lage Raho Munnabhai] will make the film go unnoticed.