Yeh Hai Jalwa Hindi Movie
From Trishul to Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham to King Lear, who but the zany David Dhawan has the audacity to take on such sagas in one satirical sweep?
The grandmaster of guffaws, Dhawan has lately been going through a lean patch. But in his latest comedy Yeh Hai Jalwa, he regains his funny form somewhat.
And though evidence of the hurried, flurried storytelling which ruined recent films like Jodi No.1 and Hum Kisise Kum Nahin surfaces in his new offering too, Dhawan is far more in control of the cast and the comedy.
The story turns Yash Chopra's Trishul on its head. Raj (Salman Khan) is the overgrown Richie Rich who pants on the treadmill in his ritzy office while shooting off orders to a battery of staffers.
Raj craves for his long-gone dad's loving arms. After saying goodbye to the garlanded photograph of his mom (Poonam Dhillon), Raj picks up his nifty leather bag and takes off for London to woo and win papa dear.
Watch Salman Khan's jaunty jig on the streets of London. He might remind you of Hrithik Roshan in the second half of Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham?
The scenes where Raj wins over each member of his estranged dad Rajesh Mittal's sprawling family is very familiar Dhawan territory. In a majority of his films the middleclass do-gooder barges into a monstrously overblown feudal household.
The difference here, as driven home in the post-climax happy-reunion sequence, is that the young protagonist is monstrously moneyed himself. All Raj needs is love. And like Amitabh Bachchan in Trishul, he will secure it from his father by hook or crook.
It's astonishing how well Rishi Kapoor and Salman Khan vibe together. In fact, Rishi and Salman are so much the complete pair that their respective romantic leads, Rati Agnihotri and Amisha Patel, seem redundant.
After a pivotal part in Humraaz earlier this month, Amisha is back playing the pert prop. She tries hard to substitute substance with effervescence. But the film is completely out of her orbit.
Anupam Kher as her father is even more lost in Dhawan's pace. The jokes regarding the failure of his game show Sawaal Dus Crore Ka, however, give one some reason to giggle.
Rishi and Salman cook up a cute collaborative comedy. Some scenes such as their drunken binge in a London restaurant, or a touching moment when after a business meeting with a disgruntled tycoon, Salman plants a spontaneous peck on his papa's cheek are vibrant and free of humbug.
Rishi is a treat. He displays terrific comic timing and talent. Dhawan even pays homage to his stardom by making his screen-son sing and play a tune from one of his earlier films, Karz.
If there's any other actor-factor worth mentioning it is Kader Khan. He has done the benevolent grandfather's role too often to miss a beat. But this versatile character can still swing a surprise or two.
In the climax where the entire family congregates for a hospital-corridor crisis, Dhawan parodies Shakespeare's King Lear and also Bimal Roy's Sujata where the disgraced progeny saves the ailing parent's life.
Yeh Hai Jalwa is a work of wispy attributes, hinging wholly on the Rishi-Salman chemistry. Everything else, including Himesh Reshammiya's music, takes a backseat.
Production values are below expectation. The garish sets are grossly ill matched with the London outdoors. There are some grave continuity lapses such as Salman's shaven head shining out of a cap in a fight sequence.
Sanjay Dutt's guest appearance as a Punjabi do-gooder in London raises a few laughs. Incidentally, neither Salman nor Sanjay Dutt bare their bodies for the camera.
But the film doesn't need to hardsell itself.
