Jalebi Movie Review: Rhea Chakraborty and Varun Mitra's everlasting taste of love is half-baked
As much as one would be tempted to cherish the sweet flavors of Jalebi, this Pushpdeep Bhardwaj directorial is not something you would like to hog on for a post-dinner delight. Starring Rhea Chakraborty and Varun Mitra, Jalebi- The Everlasting Taste of love is the remake of 2016 Bengali film Praktan which means ‘former’. It is a story of an estranged couple who meet each other on a train after seven years and flashbacks start happening. The problem stands as Dev is with his current wife Anu (Digangna) and their daughter Disha. Ayesha (Rhea Chakraborty) meets Dev (Varun Mitra) on a tour in Delhi and decides to get married. However, things turn sour when they realize that they want different things from life and can’t be together. Just like a typical Bollywood romance drama, they decide to walk onto different paths but will they be able to forget each other? Or will the undying love for each other force them to be together?
Jalebi Movie Screenplay
The irony of the movie is that it is named Jalebi, the sweetest mithai but is devoid of any flavor. In fact, it can even leave you with a bad after-taste. The story is told in ‘then and now’ format, where the flashback scenes have Rhea and Varun all chirpy and smiling and the now moments filled with tears and questions. The actors have tried very hard to make us believe in their love or in their tragedy but it clearly does not translate onscreen. Rather there are moments when you will be left thinking why so much drama. Trust me when I say that Jalebi is like an episode from a daily soap that has everything from flashbacks, endless tears and dream sequence as well.
Characters- Rhea Chakraborty and Varun Mitra
Ayesha, played by Rhea Chakraborty, is an ambitious, modern-day girl who wants to be an author and do big things in life for herself. On the other hand, Dev, played by Varun Mitra, is a simple boy-next-door who just wants to respect his roots by staying close to his family and home. While Ayesha wants to open new doors of success, Dev is happy being a tour guide.
It won’t be wrong to say that Rhea’s gorgeous face is the only thing that adds sunshine to this gloomy movie since the performances don’t work to its advantage. But that doesn’t mean that she has done a good job at acting as well. The actress has tried her best to bring out the emotions and it shows onscreen that she is really trying to make us cry with her, on the other hand, Varun Mitra has done a decently good job and I won’t be surprised if he is seen in more movies after this. But this character itself doesn’t have that A factor that can charm the audience.
Jalebi Movie: Music
Forget the story or characters, if it is a Mahesh Bhatt film, the songs have to weave the magic. Well, can’t see any magic happening in this one. From Tum Se to Pal to Mera Pyar Tera Pyar, all songs in the movie feel alike and repetitive. They don’t add anything to the story or highlight any scene but are just there somewhere in the background. The songs are expected to accentuate Rhea Chakraborty aka Ayesha’s pain as she goes down the memory lane and remember her happy days with Varun Mitra but sadly, you won’t be able to relate, either with the song or with the situation.
Verdict: Rhea Chakraborty and Varun Mitra’s film tries hard to give you a sweet everlasting taste of a love that is broken yet complete but instead leaves you with a memory of a tasteless journey