Movie Review: Jia Aur Jia, Ayya Ladies Yeh Aap Logon Ne Kya Kiya!
Powerhouse actresses, Richa Chadda and Kalki Koechlin, fetch up in a road movie unworthy of their talent
So, there they are tripping and weeping in Sweden, a getaway Garden of Eden.
For two young women, the twin-sharing journey is meant to be funny, sad, mad, wanderlusty. Sorry to be a killjoy, it’s anything but. This combo of a road-‘n’-self discovery movie keeps going pffft.
Directed by choreographer-stand-up comedian-turned-Howard Rosemeyer, Jia aur Jia, hinges on a potentially larkish premise – the unalike J and J bonding in picture perfect locations.
Richa Chadha And Kalki Koechlin In Jia Aur Jia
Snag is that the screenplay and direction lack the panache or even elementary cinematic skills, to emphatise with either Jia Venkatram (Richa Chadda) or Jia Garewal (Kalki Koechlin). One’s from the coporate sector, the other more bohemian one runs a bakery in Panchagani. Evidently life hasn’t been a cakewalk for either. Frown.
As for the male quotient who pops up on the scene, carrying the wild stawberryish name of Vasu Bergam (newcomer Arslan Goni), guzzles booze and is supposed to be so drop-dead-gorgeous that one of the Js goes gaga over this himbo.
A Still From Jia Aur Jia
Whatever there is of the plot could be scrawled on a postcard. Suffice it to disclose, the two young women squabble over petty matters, then become buddy-buddy, and fret their way towards the ending. At 92 minutes, the compact running time comes as a sweet relief.
Truly, you can’t
bung in stuff about upgrading your airflight seats by using a hare-brained
tactic, knock out vodkas, hang out at cafes, partake of a wedding banquet and
bung in a twist concerning a terminal illness. Ae road flick hai mushkil
really.
I’ll spare you
more details of this dirgeful exercise, primarily because I have the higest
regard for Kalki Koechlin and Richa Chadda as extraordinary artistes. They are
incapable of delivering lousy perfomances, shining a light over the darkest of movies. Here they struggle
hard to keep their tempers and faculties intact. Hopefully, they’ll consider
this specimen as just one of those oddball aberrations in their estimable
filmographies.
Arslan Goni And Kalki Koechlin
There, I’ve
already deleted J and J from my memory files.
Unsolicited
suggestions: guys just R and R at home instead.
Image Source: youtube/zeemusiccompany
