Review of Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Yash Chopra's last cinematic outing left me feeling somewhat conflicted, but I would still recommend it as a watch for any fan of Yashji. First I would like to elucidate the moving and effective parts of the film before I go on to the major critique. Firstly, the performances from all of the actors were at least at par with their previous work, and I thought Shah Rukh, in his role as a Major in the Indian army was one of the best of his career. In addition, the cinematography and the songs in the movie were both enchanting and involving. The story is very compelling and (though a touch filmy) gets the viewer involved in the struggle between the characters very well, a feature that is common to most of Yashji's work in any case. On to the negative aspects. While the story is engaging, the character development is somewhat confusing. We get to see the change in Shahrukh over time from a carefree worker in London to a cold and calculating soldier carefully orchestrated over time, and yet Katrina's character is portrayed in a very nebulous light. She takes her relationship with God very seriously in some areas, but in others it seems to be at the back of her mind if it is there at all. Normally I would attribute this to Kaif's lack of depth in acting ability, but in this case she cannot be entirely to blame as she was at least adequate in the role she was given. The second major problem is that the antagonist, God, is never portrayed (if He could be at all) in a very distinctive light. It would be giving away plot points to say exactly why, but suffice it to say that Chopra did not seem to have the heart to actually portray a fight against God, and so the effort of making him the only true antagonist seems to be halfhearted. Finally, in the final third of the movie, a somewhat shady tactic is used in order to propel the story forward. While I have seen worse devices used in Bollywood films, it did seem like a somewhat cheap ploy to utilize in order to move forward. This does seem to somewhat distance the audience from the actual plight of the characters and further seems to muddy Katrina Kaif's role in the film. Overall, I would not call this a terrible movie by any stretch and certainly a beautiful film to watch, but if there is any lesson to take away from this film (other than for Shahrukh Khan not to go on the streets in London) is to keep it simple and that emotion can only go as far as reality allows it.