Jab We Met - Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor

A Delightful Romantic Comedy Directed by Imtiaz Ali

Jul 30, 2009

Jab We Met (When We Met) released in 2007 is still a topic of conversation today, thanks to some skillful script writing and top notch performances by the lead pair.

Aditya (Shahid Kapoor) is a dejected industrialist, going through a bad phase. His business enterprise is unsucessful, and his girlfriend ties the knot with another man. He jumps on a train without really knowing where he is headed.

On the train, he meets a talkative girl (Geet) who is headed home to her village Bhatinda. But her plans do not end there. She intends to elope with her lover and get married, as she is sure her family will not approve of the match.

Jab We Met is a Film About Young People; Their Attitudes and Relationships

Aditya is initially irritated by her nonstop banter, but he and Geet become friends during their journey together. Once he takes her home he even helps her run away to join her lover. He returns to his home and workplace, and somehow finds himself in a far more positive mode after his brief encounter with the ever-optimistic Geet. Business picks up, and all is well until a two of Geet's family members turn up one day, demanding to see the missing Geet who has not spoken to her family for months.

Aditya then realises that something has gone terribly wrong. He traces Geet's lover, who denies any thoughts of marriage. Geet meanwhile has found herself a job in an obscure town. It is up to Aditya to find her, and then deal with the lover who in the meantime undergoes a change of heart.

A thought provoking film that masquerades as a deceptively simple tale of boy meets girl

The strength lies in the script, and the director and actors do full justice to it. The dialogue is often outrageously funny, and at times deeply introspective. Memorable scenes include Geet dragging a reluctant Aditya into the lake, or Aditya masterminding Geet's escape from home. The film tends to drag toward the end though. Kareena Kapoor's performance is near flawless as she swings from an ebullient girl in love to a devastated, rejected woman. She won almost all the national awards that year for her role as the boisterous young Punjabi woman. Shahid Kapoor lends her able support, and acting wise is almost there. But she needs to work on dialogue delivery that sounds a little immature compared with Kareena's articulate act. The music by Pritam is mostly average, with a couple of lilting melodies interspersed with more forgettable numbers.

The copyright of the article Jab We Met - Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor in Asian Films is owned by Biswita Mozumdar. Permission to republish Jab We Met - Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.