Jhoom Barabar Jhoom - after the intermission!

A delightful first half ruined by a overtly emotional and long second half is the general complaint we hear about movies. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (JBJ) turns out to be otherwise. Generally, the first half of a movie raises expectations and when we are let down in the second half, we come back feeling cheated. Here, I thought the first half was so dull and drab that I was yawning in anticipation of the second half. And when the second half turned out to be as delightful as it was, I was raring to kick Shaad Ali for having given so little thought to the first half.

The first half turned out to be excruciatingly slow, sync sound (was it?) ruining half the conversations. Most of the dialogues were totally inaudible adding to my woes. The songs were almost completely unnecessary, though the locales and the choreography made them eminently watchable. So much so, that I ended up not minding them. But after the interval, after the Bol na Halke Halke number, the movie took off in a way that I never imagined. The moment the leads realize that they like each other, the story moves along entirely different lines. And the 20 minute dance competetion is a riot. I can just see the fun that the cast and crew must have had during the making of the song. Each and everyone of them let go completely and the end with Big B revealing how it all started was a complete cracker.

Coming to the actors, they were funtastic. Abhishek and Preity were pretty good as usual, I was pleasantly surprised by Bobby's act in the second half and Lara was the life of the entire second half. Glad to see that the blink and miss act in Fanaa led her to this. Hanif bhai or Hafi bhai was super. Ive never been to Southall but the depiction was funtastic, making me want to go there as soon as possible. Shankar - Ehsaan - Loy's foot tapping numbers were ably supported by Vaibhavi Merchant's outstanding choreography and Ayananka Bose's superior camera work. Big B continues to defy his age and surprise us effortlessly.

Shaad Ali should have taken care in the first half, it is a pity that a lot of people will miss the well made second half of the movie as it seems poised to go down as one of the biggest flops this year. As someone said, patience pays and if you can bear the first half, the second half will more than make up for it!