When Jab We Met released in 2007 no one could have thought that it would be a cult classic. The film didn’t even create any good buzz around its release considering the fate of Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor’s previous films. Unlike today where link-up stories of lead actors of the new film make rounds of every website/newspaper, their break-up during the release of the film didn’t help it get a big opening. It was the critics’ reviews (which were highly considered then) and the extremely strong word of mouth that helped Jab We Met become one of the most loved films of that year. It was even well-received on TV. While the film had so much in it to remember, nothing can beat the leading lady Geet brilliantly played by Kareena Kapoor who became the most talked about thing about the film.
We meet Geet struggling to get into the train where we come across her extrovert and full of life personality. While she doesn’t care about how bored Aditya (Shahid Kapoor) is because of her talking constantly she cares for him when he suddenly gets off the train. Who knows whether she was the reason for him getting off the train. Through a series of events, we also see her naive side where she doesn’t realise when she is mistaken as a call girl. The continuation of that very scene shows that she isn’t that unaware about everything. Imtiaz Ali takes us on an absolute fun journey with such an interesting character. We just want to see more and more of this amusing person till the time she reaches her home Bhatinda. From there on I began to think about what made Geet the person we saw till now and enjoyed every bit of her company.
When she meets her grandfather (Dara Singh) Imtiaz Ali gives us a little insight into her growing up years. Geet has lived in an extremely patriarchial family where her grandfather passes some distasteful comments on her dressing sense when she returns home from Mumbai. We can see Aditya giggling at the back listening to a line like ‘aise kapde pehenke ghar aayi hai toh Bambai mein to nangi ghoomti hogi‘. It couldn’t get any worse for women. She lands in another trouble when her family arranges for a meeting with her childhood/ family friend that they are hoping to convert it into a relation. We don’t see Geet being asked about her wish whether she wants to meet the guy or no. The entire episode looks like she is being forced into this marriage. This shows that even an outspoken person like Geet fears of talking her mind in front of her own family. Yet, before running away she can sense her wrongdoing and pretty much tells us that she has been taking her family for granted all this while else she would have never asked Aditya whether she is making the right move. Imtiaz Ali gives us a dose of reality about big families in small towns and again shows us the difficult world of women.
It just gets worse when Geet reaches Manali to meet her boyfriend Anshuman (Tarun Arora) and gets the shock of her life. Geet can’t even think of going back to her family again because it was her decision to pull this stunt of running away. She does believe in her own words that she wants to be responsible for her life. Her line ‘meri life jo bhi hai mujhe pata hain meri wajah se hai‘ literally defines her entire character in the film. She doesn’t shy away from struggling to make ends meet after getting almost rejected by Anshuman. We can’t mistake her to be egoistic in this case because had she gone back to Bhatinda things would have gotten even worse. Her grandfather might have assassinated her character and family would have forced her to marry the childhood cum family friend. Geet surely didn’t want that.
Did Geet ever want a man to come and get her out of her problems? Maybe yes or maybe no. She doesn’t seem to have any complaints about the kind of life she is living in Shimla. We can conveniently see it as Aditya’s payback because it was Geet who was selfless and got him out of depression and made him so successful later in his life. Also at the surface level Jab We Met does look like Geet and Aditya being there for each other when needed eventually realising that they could be happy together. There is definitely much more in the film. Despite having a family with somewhat an orthodox mindset Geet grew up to be a strong woman. Maybe she would have gotten out of it all by herself and time would heal all her wounds. Aditya coming back in her life just made things quick. Even without him returning Geet would have understood that Anshuman isn’t right for her and that a woman doesn’t always need a man to complete her life and vice versa. I am sure she would have found happiness even without Aditya.
Jab We Met is the perfect entertainer and the best film to watch to cheer up the mood. The film literally suits every mood. It had some great music, solid performances and some great lines. I have barely come across anyone who has disliked Jab We Met.
meri maaa, CINEMAAA 