Rating: 1 on 5

Jashnn was earlier spelled as Jashn. The makers made a numerological correction in the title. If only they had made some changes in the story and the script and the direction of the movie, we would have been spared the ordeal.

Jashnn is the story of Akash Verma (Adhyayan Suman) who wants to be a rockstar. His sister Nisha (Shahana Goswami) is financially and emotionally dependent on Aman Bajaj (Humayun Sayeed). Akash doesn’t like the way he treats his sister. He in turn falls in love with Sara (Anjana Sukhani) who happens to be Aman’s sister. A tiff between Akash and Nisha causes him to leave home to pursue his dreams. Nisha starts taking control of her life. Sara is by his side all this time. In spite of numerous obstacles, most of them planted by Aman Bajaj, Akash succeeds in fulfilling his dreams.

The film seems to have borrowed elements from Mahesh Bhatt's eighties tour-de-force flick Thikana in which Smita Patil is sister to Anil Kapoor and the two of them have to go through hell to find their bearings. Much in the same manner as Jashnn tries to explore the same formula.

Out of all the performances, Shahana Goswami stands out, as usual. She is such a natural, effortless and powerful actress who owns the screen with her presence. The brother-sister bonding is well portrayed. The best scenes in the movie are between them, especially the climax one. The love story between Anjana and Adhyayan is pretty thanda, including the intimate scenes. What’s good is that she sticks by him. She is passable. Aaya Re and Nazrein Karam are the best songs. Humayun Sayeed is perfectly cast. You loathe him.

Jashnn has shades of Rock On!!, especially in the song Aaya Re but in spite of his curls, Adhyayan isn’t the charismatic Farhan Akhtar and the song isn’t Pichle Saat Dino Mein.

What works for Adhyayan in his scenes with Shahana is that he just has to react to her unmatched hysteria. He either smiles, or frowns or gets angry throughout the film. Maybe he should have waited before he took on such an emotionally demanding role.

The problem with Jashnn is that most of the characters are struggling throughout. They are shouting, fighting and crying all the time. The first half is tedious as characters are being established. You think the second half will pick up but it doesn’t. It takes on an entirely different route where Adhyayan becomes a bathroom cleaner. The direction (Mahesh Bhatt or Hasnain-Raksha? It sure lacks Mahesh Bhatt’s touch) is quite tacky which is why nothing moves you and the heavy-duty intense scenes fall flat. The dialogues are laughable. The bitch-prostitute bit gets too much. The movie is painfully slow. The climax isn’t joyful. The paint ball sequence is straight out of 10 Things I Hate About You.

There are a lot of clichés like the heroine’s wicked brother who is determined to bring the hero down, the heroine getting pregnant and ranting about her pet mein palta hua bacha.

Also, Akash and Nisha are poor but they live in a gorgeous bungalow, replete with a swimming pool. It has been provided by her boyfriend. Didn’t they think they could be financially independent if they sold the house and moved into an apartment? Nisha sells all the furniture but still doesn’t have money to pay the taxi fare.

Jashnn completes the hat-trick of bad movies; Kambakkht Ishq and Shortkut are the first two. Before the release of Jashnn, my friend had joked that it would be another Tashan. Atleast Tashan had eye candy in the form of Saif and Kareena. Jashnn isn't fun. Go party instead!