Jawaani Jaaneman: How Saif Ali Khan’s Jazz Is One of the Riskiest Characters That the Actor Has Done in Recent Times (SPOILER ALERT)

Whenever a movie like Jawaani Jaaneman comes out, I regret the fact that Saif Ali Khan doesn't have a Twitter or a Facebook or an Instagram id (as far as our limited knowledge has). It makes us lose an opportunity to congratulate the man for a fabulous performance that he gives in the Nitin Kakkar movie. That said, I have been hearing about certain peers of mine complain about how Saif has done nothing new in Jawaani Jaaneman that he has done in the past.  Which isn't entirely true. I would say that Jawaani Jaaneman's Jaswinder aka Jazz is one of the riskiest characters that Saif has done. Let me explain why! Jawaani Jaaneman Movie Review: Saif Ali Khan Is Aces, Alaya F Is Fabulous and Tabu a Riot in Nitin Kakkar’s Charming Film.

Jawaani Jaaneman is an official remake of the 2010 Argentian film Igualita a mí, though the plotline is something we are already familiar with in other movies. Speaking about Saif's character, on the surface level, Jazz is like any of the Casanova roles that Saif has done in the past. Like in Yeh Dillagi (which is what makes the "Ole Ole" song recreation a very fun nod), or Dil Chahta Hai or Love Aaj Kal or even Cocktail. In Cocktail, Saif Ali Khan was criticised for not playing his age and looking miscast. Saif tried to avoid playing a playboy after that, taking on diverse roles in diverse films like Race 2, Chef, Rangoon, the web-series Sacred Games, Kaalakaandi, Laal Kaptaan etc. His role of the antagonist in the recent Tanhaji also won him a lot of appreciation.

So what made him return to playing a Casanova again? For that, we have to scratch that surface and see what's beneath the sparkly layers. Saif's Jazz is a 40 plus something man who spends his nights at a pub and hooks up with young girls. But that plastic covering gets peeled off when his daughter Tia (Alaya F), out of a fling he had long forgotten, lands up one day and ask him to do a paternity test. That was the first clink in his presumed youthful armour there. Saif Ali Khan Reveals A Travel Secret About Son Taimur Ali Khan Which Nobody Was Aware Of On The Kapil Sharma Show(Deets Inside).

Tia, after telling him the truth, gives him an old photograph of his, and he stumbles around in his house with the picture in his hand. Then he finds his spectacles to see the picture better, and then we realise that he can't see well. That's the second clink.

When Jazz and Tia visit the doctor to check the results of the paternity results, Jazz not only learns that he is the father of the girl, but since she is pregnant with her boyfriend's child, he is about to be a grandfather as well.

This double shock is too much for Jazz who resists the idea, turns his daughter out and parties hard and even competes with younger men in drinking competitions (and failing spectacularly at it). Here's what makes Saif's character in Jawaani Jaaneman so different from his other playboy roles.

Watch The Trailer of Jawaani Jaaneman:

The movie knows that this is a man who is not acting his age and puts him through the grinder for that. Don't know if the parallels are deliberate but Jazz comes across a symbolism for all the 50 plus male superstars of Bollywood, who take on characters half their age and romance girls onscreen who are even younger than that. Even though their age is pretty evident in their faces and actions, like Jazz, they are scared to let go of their Jawaani (hence the title). Jazz may be able to get his dates with ease, but the movie and even the characters poke fun at Jazz for not acting his age.

Before he knows about Tia's real identity, we see him trying to get this girl, who he knows could be his daughter's age, to bed. She knows the truth, we know the truth so it is a really embarrassingly awkward scene to see a middle-aged man act creepy and ready to get what is essentially an act of incest. Only he doesn't know that. That is kinda bold of Saif to even agree to do this scene, where his character is essentially making a fool of himself.

Jazz is a pretty flawed and insecure character, which is what makes his journey of taking up responsibilities both as a human being and a father, also a grandfather. We have had Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Aamir Khan play fathers to teenagers, but it takes guts to play a grandfather, when you still look dashing! That too in a movie where you are involved as a producer. Here's hoping that Jawaani Jaaneman brings Saif's box office appeal back as a leading man, and turn into a success.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2020 08:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).