Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Directed by Shaad Ali Sahgal; written by Habib Faisal; director of photography, Ayananka Bose; edited by Ritesh Shivalkar; music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy; choreography by Vaibhavi Merchant; art directors, Sukant Panigrahy and Andrew Munro; produced by Aditya Chopra; released by Yash Raj Films.. Running time: 138 minutes.
WITH: Abhishek Bachchan (Rikki Thukral), Preity Zinta (Alvira Khan), Lara Dutta (Anaida), Bobby Deol (Steve) and in a special appearance, Amitabh Bachchan.



If Bollywood has a credo, it might be that everything is possible. The corollary is just as important: Nothing is too big or too obvious. A character is in Paris? Fine. He must dance with his love in front of the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Obelisk of Luxor. The song they sing? "Ticket to Hollywood" of course.
That’s just one sequence in "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom," a giddy romantic comedy with star power (the father-son team of Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan; Preity Zinta; Bobby Deol; Lara Dutta), wanderlust and a charming can-do, why-not-the-kitchen-sink spirit.
"Jhoom" begins in Waterloo Station in London with Bollywood’s restless éminence grise Amitabh Bachchan, the film’s Greek chorus (and chorine), doing what he does best: dancing and commanding the screen. His costume and person are wonders. With his double-necked guitar, feathered hat, necklaces, coat of many colors and jeans tucked into high boots, he’s part Sufi mystic, part gyrating Cossack, part George Clinton.
But "Jhoom" belongs to its romantic hero, the junior Bachchan, Abhishek, who has come into his own as an actor and star. "I’ve got class" his hustler character announces, wooing Ms. Zinta, and Mr. Bachchan proves it, showing off his comic flair (not unlike his father’s) and joyous dancing.
Directed by Shaad Ali Sahgal, with lush cinematography by Ayananka Bose, "Jhoom" seems at first like the silliest and slickest of trifles: boy meets girl, waiting for a delayed train. Complications. Song and dance. (Repeat.) Love.
But Mr. Sahgal is up to something here, deftly playing with the audience’s expectations of Bollywood storytelling. To reveal more would require a spoiler, so suffice it to say that "Jhoom" laden with in-jokes, brims with confidence and the courage of its own loopy style.