Jab Harry Met Sejal- Breakdown

Honestly, when I saw the movie, I walked in with a heavy heart and no expectations for the film. Of course, I did watch a few reviews here and there and according to those, there wasn't much to expect from Jab Harry Met Sejal.

This is a breakdown of the characters, story-line and what did and didn't go wrong.

First things first, Jab Harry Met Sejal stars well-known actors, which are technically just two people throughout the movie, Shah Rukh Khan, and Anushka Sharma. Now-now, I am not dissing, I haven't started yet.

The film is directed by an amazingly talented director, Imtiaz Ali. Which maybe be one of the reasons why the film didn't do quite well. People had a perception and the film lacked in delivering something to the audience. And I will get back to that point in a few lines.

Imtiaz has directed amazing films with so much detailing, that it feels like these are the only two people that exist in those two hours of the film. Which is almost equivalent to a reading an international authors book. Which brings me to the first thing,

Point No 1

Maybe there is a slight possibility, which happens with most authors, that you get so engrossed with the story line that you miss subtle points in the story and assume that your audience will understand it. That makes this movie for the self-aware audience, which this country lacks in. gravely.

Which brings me to Point No 2

Plot points missed by the common audience and Imtiaz Ali. (Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie you probably shouldn't continue. But if you don't care then be my guest)

Let's dig into Sejal Behen's Character, and if you understand her the movie gets a little bit easy.

Sejal- Gujrati- independent- But confused, innocent who wants to get attention from a hot guy. She is getting married, who could blame her if she wanted a last fling with a hot guy.

But that's the point she didn't want a fling. She just wanted the approval that she is a fling type girl, it's just something every girl wants to know deep down. This explains her trying to behave sexy and ... let's just say clingy with Harry Bhai.

Now, why would she follow him in the first place, Let's break this down, scene by scene-

Point No 3

Imtiaz could have made an effort here no doubt. Maybe before the movie started and she was on the tour she noticed something in Harry or- OR she noticed that Harry needs help in the scene where she is standing on the balcony and looking at Harry being yelled at by a girl. That scene is the true reason she follows him next night, also there is this compulsive need she has -to be appreciated as a sexy woman.

Next, Now I don't know if this is a flaw, or it could just be the character, but I don't get it either. Why the hell on earth would she sleep next to him? If she would have noticed the nightmares at first (which are unreasonable or just poorly picturised) and then slept next to him as a way of comforting him then I could have let it pass. But that didn’t happen.

Why is she so clingy? Hey, some people are just like that- but the part where she suddenly tells him to assume, her has his girlfriend would have made more sense if there would have been a few more friendly dialogues between the two.

So far it sounds like

I hate you-I hate you too- I am gonna follow you- I saved you- ok, you can assume I am your girlfriend because you have nightmares. You get the point right!

On to the next one- About the way Radha started, it is a bit disturbing but (-meet me half way here-) it means something, they are distracting him from the nightmare or by singing the way he used back in Punjab, he is just reminiscing (Sejal is just there by default, they couldn't make it a monologue, which is probably why she slept next to him.)

No 4

The moment Sejal behen and Harry bhai fall in love- are different. Sejal falls in love, when Harry treats her like she wants to be treated by her love. Which no one could do better than Harry.

Well, Harry is a little bit twisted, in a long long time that he has been away, he hasn't had the courage or reason to care for anyone or anything. And all of a sudden he has this Beautiful China Vase that he wants to look at for the rest of his life. He has to protect her from the big bad wolves and from himself (because he is cheap) in just a few hours. It gets overwhelming.

So yes it was Pity love, for himself. To be clear he fell in love with her because he wanted to care for something, Sejal was just there who needed help.

No 5

You notice how I keep writing Harry and Sejal and not SRK and Anushka, well they did their job. There are a few awkward scenes, where one of them is saying one thing and the other just jump-starts another conversation. It could have been better. No Doubt but they did their jobs.

Songs are great on their own, superb. But you just don't understand when one is ending and the other is starting. There are so few dialogues that there isn't enough screen time for their chemistry to reach the audience.

The audience wants the whole package. Everything was just too fast and too quick. It was like watching a T-Twenty movie just longer. Except for a few scenes where the movie just stops, the one where Sejal has to be saved, and the one where Sejal… again has to be saved. And then in the end.

If given a little more time, the film could have been way better. It kept aside the idea of money and saving lives. There were no problems as such except for the inside ones which weren't portrayed very well. Sejal’s character had no problems at all, just that she didn't want to get married to the guy.

Should probably have used a little more screen time to explain Harry's emotional trauma. But I get it they only had two hours, how much more could he fit in.

Great movie thought! (If you ignore everything in the movie)

Looking forward to Imtiaz's next!

#Bollywood