| Jhoom Barabar Jhoom | |
|---|---|
Movie poster for Jhoom Barabar Jhoom |
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| Directed by | Shaad Ali |
| Produced by | Aditya Chopra Yash Chopra |
| Written by | Habib Faisal |
| Starring | Abhishek Bachchan Preity Zinta Bobby Deol Lara Dutta |
| Music by | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Gulzar (lyrics) |
| Cinematography | Ayananka Bose |
| Editing by | Ritesh Soni |
| Distributed by | Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd |
| Release date(s) | 15 June 2007 |
| Running time | 132 min. |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | Rs. 25 crores |
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (Hindi: झूम बराबर झूम, English: Dance Baby Dance) is a 2007 Bollywood film starring Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta. It is directed by Shaad Ali. The film is produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra under Yash Raj Films.[1] The film released on 15 June 2007.
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The film begins with a mysterious gypsy-like musician (Amitabh Bachchan) leading the crowds at Waterloo station in London in a dance to the title song.
At the station, two strangers, Rikki Thukral (Abhishek Bachchan) and Alvira Khan (Preity Zinta), wait for their respective friends arriving on the same train. Rikki is a fun-loving Punjabi from Bhatinda who lives in Southall, while Alvira is a sexy, elite class Pakistani from Lahore who is more assimilated into British culture. The two share a table in a café together and to kill the time they talk about how they met their partners-to-be.
Rikki says that he met his fiancé, Anaida Raza (Lara Dutta), at Hôtel Ritz Paris, the same night that Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed left the hotel to take their last journey together. Rikki explains "When two lovers die, another two are born", as he fell in love with Anaida that night. Alvira says she met her fiancé, the dashing lawyer Steve Singh (Bobby Deol) at Madame Tussauds in London when he saved her from death by a falling Superman wax model. The encounter changed her life and she was smitten by the lawyer who also helped her sue Madame Tussauds for substantial damages.
As Rikki and Alvira talk they begin to enjoy each other's company and their different backgrounds cease to matter. They exchange numbers and go to meet their partners. However, it is then revealed that they had not gone to meet their respective partners. Rikki is in fact at the train station to meet his business partner, while Alvira is meeting her relatives. As they leave the station separately, they realize they are in love, but believe their love is unrequited, each of the other.
The two get in touch when Alvira calls Rikki, pretending it was a wrong number. They decide to meet up at a disco where there is a dance competition but both try to maintain that they are engaged. Out of desperation, Rikki hires Laila, a prostitute, to pose as Anaida, and Alvira asks Satvinder to pretend to be Steve. The four meet at a club and take part in the dance competition, while throwing insults at each other. Rikki and Laila emerge as the winners but Alvira is jealous and storms out in tears.
Satvinder goes to Rikki's flat and tells him that he has fallen in love with Laila. He also tells him that Alvira is not engaged to him. Rikki, realising what has happened, goes to see Alvira, who is at first moping in bed and later tries to convince her cousin not to marry her. Rikki calls her from a neighbor's window.
The film ends with the mysterious gypsy musician showing how Rikki and Alvira invented the stories about the non-existent lovers by taking inspiration from Alvira's newspaper and Rikki's comic book.
Pre-production of the film began in 2005, during the making of Bunty Aur Babli. Abhishek Bachchan was the first actor to be cast in the film.[2] The working title was Sangam Mein.[2] Vidya Balan[3] and John Abraham were first approached for the roles of Anaida Raza and Steve Singh.[4] When they refused Dutta and Deol were roped in. Amitabh Bachchan has been credited with a special appearance in the film.
Shooting began in the second half of 2006 in London and included a shooting schedule in Paris, France.[5] Many images from the set show shooting being conducted at Waterloo Station, London. Some shooting took place in Agra, near the Taj Mahal. The choreography has been done by Vaibhavi Merchant.[6] Filming has taken place in numerous locations along Green Lanes, Harringay in North London.
Abhishek Bachchan and Bobby Deol worked together for the first time in this film; their fathers (Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra) had worked together in the hit Sholay (1975). The film features a scene in which they travel in a scooter like their fathers had done in Sholay, only this time Bobby Deol is driving and Abhishek Bachchan is on the passenger seat.[7] The film re-unites Bobby Deol and Preity Zinta who starred in Soldier in 1998[8] as well as Abhishek Bachchan and Lara Dutta who co-starred in Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost.
Some filming took place in Stamford Bridge stadium, home to Chelsea football club.[9] It was announced in September 2006 that the Chelsea football team would be part of the film,[10] but this scene did not appear in the completed film.
The first trailer for the film was shown on 27 April 2007 with the release of the film Ta Ra Rum Pum.[11]
The film opened to a 65-70% response, which was below expectations for a Yash Raj film.[12] As per IBOS, the film has opened to a good response and has taken the biggest opening of the year at the box office.[13]
The film did achieve the 90%+ response at some places, such as Punjab and Haryana.[14] The film has opened well in big cities such as Mumbai with a 75% turnout and Delhi which had a 70% response. In the south it opened to a poor response due to the release of the Tamil film Sivaji. However, all the big theatres reached to a 90%+ response with many being 100%.[14]
Overseas, the film has performed averagely. In its first week, the film made £264,347 and debuted at number 6 in the UK charts. In the U.S., the film debuted at number 16 on the film chart making $455,257 in its first week. In Australia, the film made $91,485 debuting at number 10.[15] The film has made Rs 19-20 crore in its first week and debuted at number 1[16] but the collections have begun to fall.[17] The film has done better in the UK than in the U.S. As of 27 June, the film was positioned at number 9 on the UK charts[18] and at 21 on the U.S chart.[19] The film saw a drop in collections, and has been declared a flop in India[20] but the collections have begun to fall.[17] The film has done better in the UK than in the U.S. As of 27 June 2007, the film was positioned at number 9 on the UK charts[18] and at 21 on the U.S. chart.[19] In the UK the film has performed moderately well. Overall, the film has been declared an above average.
Indicine.com rated the film at 4 out 5, saying the movie is a fun ride and is well worth the ticket money. It is the kind of movie that can wash away your blues.[21] Taran Adarsh of indiafm.com gave the film a 1.5 out of 5 rating, saying the film is all gloss, no substance.[22] The lead actors have received mixed reviews with Taran Adarsh saying that the film belongs to Abhishek first and Preity next.[22] Hindustantimes.com gave the film 2 stars,[23] as did glamsham.com,[24] with the latter saying the performances were good. Sanjay Ram of businessofcinema.com said though Jhoom Barabar Jhoom offers the color it is all but a short story stretched. The film received 2 out of 5 stars from the website[25] The film has been criticised for its screenplay but the lead actors have received mixed reviews.[26] Moviewalah.com gave the film 2 out of 5 stars but praised the performances to a certain extent[27] BollywoodArchive.com gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars says its a good light hearted entertainer with good music from Shankar Ehsaan Loy[28]
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