Janani Movie Reviews

How can a Neuro surgeon double up as a gynecologist? Beats me€¦And you too shall feel like beating a hasty retreat out of the stuffy cinema hall showing €˜Janani€™, a weird family drama gravitating between being an incest-fest to making a joke out of artificial insemination and brain tumours. Director Chandar Bahl must take a long holiday and pledge that he would never make a film again.

This supposed-to-be-a-family-film starts off with a rain-soaking-figure-hugging song-n-dance number between Neha (Sonica) and Rahul (Vineet) followed by an explicit love making scene in Neha€™s hostel which has a bathroom fit for a king. And no she is no princess. Instead her mom Akanksha (Bhagyashree) is a nurse in a nursing home where Rahul was born. This world is a small place€¦Isn€™t it! If that€™s not enough then eat this€¦. Neha is Rahul€™s sister. At least that€™s what Rahul€™s parents Urmila (Ayesha Jhulka) and Raj (Mohnish Behl) tell them when they meet them for their marriage. The poor boy Rahul curses himself for doing all those sinful activities€¦.Phew!

After umpteen flashbacks the story becomes even more murky and confusing. Akanksha worked in Urmila and Raj€™s factory. They helped when her son Rahul was diagnosed with Brain Tumor. She tried giving back in kind by conceiving Raj€™s kid (That€™s where artificial insemination comes into picture). Rahul dies and Akanksha can€™t handle that. Her husband Tarun (Aman Verma) can€™t accept the kid dwelling in her body as his own. Feel like taking a breath of fresh air. So will you as you watch this seamless crass movie having no direction whatsoever.

The only reason why it is made bearable is because of a superb effort by Bhagyashree (Remember she didn€™t do any movie after making a great start with €˜Maine Pyaar Kiya€™ opposite Salman Khan). Her emotional content, vulnerability and strength emerging out of that vulnerability gives a respite to this regressive fare. Even Ayesha Jhulka impresses and so do Mohnish Behl and Anjana Mumtaz. As for Aman Verma, he expectedly overacts.

Music by Nirmal Pawar doesn€™t have anything to offer except for a Vinod Rathod number that grips emotionally. Direction by Chander Behl is listless and jaded. It€™s ironical that on one end family entertainer has made a comeback with Sooraj Barjatya€™s €˜Vivah€™ while on the other hand, people are mutilating the genre by adding spice to no effect. At the Box Office, it stands no chance. The multiplex where I watched the film had a special offer for this film€¦Get one ticket free with every ticket. Well€¦I would say, don€™t watch it even if it€™s for free.

Janani: Regressive-Fare