OK Jaanu, featuring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor is a nice easy-breezy romance. The first of the major Bollywood films releasing this year, this Shaad Ali directorial is a remake of hit Tamil film — OK Kanmani, written and directed by Mani Ratnam.
It is easy to judge a film which is a remake of a hit film and say that the original was better. But with OK Jaanu, the simplicity of the content doesn’t let you move away from the essence of the story — love and don’t think much. Apart from the fact that it’s a frame to frame copy of its Tamil version, there’s nothing which is problematic about the film. In fact, it’s studded with good performances and can be considered a quite ahead of its time film.
SPOILERS AHEAD…
Talking about live-in relationship was never so easy
OK Jaanu deals with the divide between live-in relationship and the institution of marriage. Tara and Adi decide to live together without any commitment of marriage and happily convince the audience that it’s fine. There’s a scene where Adi tries to logically explain to Gopi (Naseeruddin Shah) why his decision of living with Tara is justified. He says that they are in love and want to live together till they get busy in their respective careers and fly away from India. He asks Gopi that isn’t it better if they happily live together with his permission in his house than going out at some shady hotel or lodge to spend quality time together. It’s good to see how lightly have the makers tried to explore such a crucial social issue. OK Jaanu is entertaining, has humour, lot of read-between-the-lines moments and a debate constantly been discussed — can love exist without a relationship.
Do marry but not at the cost of your career
Adi and Tara are working professionals. They are managing their personal and work life well. They are aware of the things that make them happy. They know what is right and wrong. They believe in building their own moral standards and refuse to accept anything just by the virtue of their social acceptance. When Adi proposes Tara for marriage, he doesn’t ask her to give up on her career and move to America with him. Rather, he requests her to get married to him before leaving for Paris. They get married in a happy ceremony and carry on with their respective professions. So, no drama around who’s going to sacrifice on his/ her dream job to get married or live with the partner.
Have sex when you want to, not when the situations are apt
Adi and Tara know that they are gelling well together. They know that they are comfortable in each other’s presence. Yet when they are stuck together in a hotel’s room, no cozy moments are shown between the two, unlike most of the Hindi films where a couple stuck in uncertain circumstances at an unknown place have to do away with sex. So, despite all the pleasant things that the Humma Humma Song suggest between Adi and Tara, nothing happens between the two at that particular night. Though, they get along in bed later, when they are sure that this is what they desire from each other at that stage in their relationship.
It’s all easy in love
Against all the epithesis that Hindi films have been offering about love, that it’s complex, demanding and comes with a lot of expectations, OK Jaanu tells you that it’s all in your mind. Adi and Tara show love in its simplest form. They meet each other, talk over the phone and decide to spend some time together. They tell each other when they start liking each other and accept when they are in love. Even when they know that the society and family would object to their decision of being in a live-in relationship, they go ahead to justify their logics of doing so and win. Adi realises that his ‘no commitment’ business is not going to work further as now what he wants is a lifetime relationship with Tara. He accepts this change of mind and simply tells Tara, leaves the decision to her. Tara too, after observing that even she can’t live without Adi in her life, accepts his marriage proposal. The key to happiness is being easy and OK Jaanu does fine in showing that.
OK Jaanu is not like a super awesome narrative. Neither it is like one of those films that you can’t afford missing. But, it’s not a bad film either. It gives a viewer that tiny smile on the face. You don’t always need to watch a cinema which is so much in your face with its message and OK Jaanu fills that space of cinema.
