‘Jawaani Jaaneman’ Critics’ Review: A Breezy Coming of Age Comedy

The film released on 31 January.

Saif Ali Khan and Tabu-starrer Jawaani Jaaneman is a comedy about a happy-go-lucky lothario in his forties, whose life is upturned when he discovers he has a grown-up daughter. The Nitin Kakkar directorial, which released on 31 January, also marks the Bollywood debut of Pooja Bedi’s daughter Alaya Furniturewalla.

Here’s what critics have to say about the film:

“With this perfect cast in place, director Nitin Kakkar, working with an adapted screenplay and dialogue by Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal, spins a delayed coming-of-age yarn that is often hilarious and insightful about men who insist on being men. ‘Jawaani Jaaneman’ deftly maintains its breezy tone throughout its 119-minute duration, and except for a late-reel weakening of resolve, straightens out its swaggering hero with minimum fuss and maximum fun.” 

Nandini Ramnath, Scroll

“Khan has played the party-loving, commitment-shy urban young man several times. This time, he takes on an age-appropriate role, where that same fellow from ‘Salaam Namaste’ and ‘Cocktail’ is now dying his hair, coming to terms with a mid-life crisis while holding on to a colourful past. Khan is charming and funny, and takes the jokes about middle age head on. It is a role tailor-made for him, and he plays it with glee. Alaya makes an assured debut. She gets a finely written character. 

Udita Jhunjhunwala, FirstPost

“However, the film’s weakness is the way it handles Tabu. Shown as a hipster Mom from Amsterdam, the character is an awful stereotype. It’s difficult to tell if she’s meant to be some sort of a self-parody but the actress, great as usual, is reduced to a stock character saying lines that make a mockery of an alternative lifestyle, with Saif’s character casually branding her as a ‘drug addict.’ Which actually confirms a lot of lowkey conservatism lurking just beneath the faux woke surface of ‘Jawaani Jaaneman’.”

Ankur Pathak, Huffington Post India