129. Jawaani Jaaneman; movie review

JAWAANI JAANEMAN
Cert 12A
115 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate sex references


It took me precisely two minutes to be crept out by Saif Ali Khan chatting up girls who are younger than my daughter.
But thankfully, this was not an occasion that an Indian superstar was acting his shoe size rather than his age.
True, Khan's character, Jazz is playing a 40-year-old as opposed to his real-life 50, but I have to be fair and admit that he has the looks to get away with that.
And at least he is playing the oldest swinger in town as opposed to a cringe-worthy virgin looking for a bride when he is old enough to be their dad.
Yes, it is fair to say that ageing superstars playing much younger roles is one of my pet cinema hates.
I digress.
Jazz is something of a playboy - putting fun before the London firm in which he has a partnership with his much more stable brother (Kumud Mishra).
He parties so often that he is on first-name terms with club owners and many of the customers.
But just as he faces a few reminders of his age, he is chatted up in a bar by a very young and beautiful woman (Alaya Furniturewala).
However, as was about to reach for sick bucket, it became clear that she has an ulterior motive - she believes he may be her father!
So, the movie then moves into a more respectable and much more amusing direction of Khan playing a very uncomfortable dad rather than romancer.
Alaya F, as she likes to be known, is a youthful breath of fresh air on her movie debut with an impish smile and a character who has the measure of the oldie.
And there is an appearance by Tabu who plays her hippy mum who makes a re-acquaintance with her brief former flame.
While Nitin Kakkar's is not laugh-out-loud hilarious, there is fun to be had in Jazz's awkwardness at his new-found family situation.
It is bright, breezy and. a decent antidote to being locked inside by Coronavirus. Bravo, again, Amazon Prime.


Reasons to watch: A Bollywood actor nearly playing his age
Reasons to avoid: Isn't as funny as it should be

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? Saif Ali Khan's father was an Indian cricket captain who sent his son to Winchester College - a top English boarding school where Rishi Sunak, the current British chancellor was taught ten years later.

The final word. Saif Ali Khan: " I think the father is one of the most important people in our lives. A lot of people mess up being a father and create children that need therapy, that need friendship and that need all kinds of things to fix their problems because they are not ready to be responsible fathers." Telly Chakkar

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