Women’s Web is saying Goodbye! Please make sure you read this important notification.
Jab Harry Met Sejal will not jolt you and its not a terribly new story; yet, this author, a diehard romantic, was deeply moved | Jab Harry Met Sejal Review
Jab Harry Met Sejal will not jolt you and it is not a terribly new story; yet, this author, a diehard romantic, was deeply moved by it | Jab Harry Met Sejal Review
As I am writing this, I am sitting in a very high end mall in Delhi, in a coffee shop. All around me, I see couples. A few are rushing. Others are just holding hands. It’s Friday. This city finds some time for itself only when Friday comes along. I am just out of the theatre after watching Jab Harry Met Sejal. Honestly, as I write this, I am still with the characters of the movie; a zone I am not ready to leave yet.
Jab Harry Met Sejal revolves around Sejal (Anushka Sharma) and Harry (Shahrukh Khan) meeting on a trip in Europe, where Harry is this charming travel guide. Like in most of Shahrukh Khan’s movies, the woman is already engaged to someone else. She stays back only to find her engagement ring which she has lost on the trip.
Her search for the ring with Harry will take you through Europe. And it’s so beautiful. I felt this movie because there are so many times we meet potential lovers we have to leave once the journey is over. As Harry says in the movie, once the tour is over, everyone has to go home, no matter how beautiful the time they spent together was. As the movie flows, you remember that not everyone is meant for home. This is essentially what Sejal tells us, that she is too selfish and won’t leave her fiancée to run away with a travel guide.
How does love happen? That’s a question humanity has been seeking the answer to since Adam and Eve. But even the toughest heart sings when love beckons. No one has any idea when love will happen. But it does on ordinary days, in ordinary places (well, here in Europe) with ordinary people and we are no more the same. In the movie Harry asks Sejal not to play-act his girlfriend, for it might have a cost at the end. Love does come with its sharp edges for us, and for them too. In the process, Harry has to fight a few bad boys. (But remember this is an Imtiaz Ali film; the bad boys don’t hurt him all that much.) His hurts are all within and not from the bad boys, and that is true for most of us.
In times like ours, when relationships are reduced to left and right swipe, here is a movie that takes you through falling in love, which our generation has somewhere forgotten. And that journey of love enthralls. In a scene where Harry cries thinking of his past, and Sejal comes in and talks to him, I wondered – in our world of ‘perfect’ moments and the right filters for every moment, how many times are we able to cry as nakedly as Harry did? I loved Harry because he is vulnerable and that’s why he truly falls for Sejal; a trait our generation has somewhere forgotten. Life demands our naked vulnerability; this movie reminded me of that.
I am no movie critic; just another girl who loves movies. And I wonder how Shahrukh makes you believe that he is longing for the woman who is sitting next to him. In between those stares filled with longing, I wondered whether in our times of quick fixes, we have forgotten to stand and stare at our lovers’ faces and fall in love one more time. Personally, I would want a Harry to just loiter around with in Europe or for that matter, anywhere. The best journeys are always those where the destination doesn’t matter. They take us to beautiful places.
There is a scene when Sejal asks Harry to play act as her fiancé. He comes down the stairs. Kisses her on her forehead. Wraps his arms around her and sits with her at a coffee shop. That moment defined what love is for me.
Jab Harry Met Sejal is not a movie that will jolt you but it might heal something within. It did for me. Many critics would say that there is not much of a story, or that it’s just a travel account. But I counter it by saying that not all journeys are supposed to be path-breaking or earth shattering. Some journeys just reveal to us the simplest things without changing the equation of the Universe.
This is a simple movie where a man and a woman fall in love. And sometimes, all we need is this simple story telling that calms our hearts and tells us to find love, one more time. And always one more time.
It’s dusk now. The next show begins. I need to go home. The review has to go live. I look at the glass door as this city buzzes. I wonder if someone seeks me out as Harry says someone does. I smile. Sip my coffee. And suddenly realize that I have been crying for quite sometime. Not for the movie. But for the love this simple movie evokes in my heart.
Today, my night will be long. But I hope you watch this movie. It’s all hearts.
p.s: I am a self-confessed romantic. This review comes from a diehard romantic woman.
Proud Indian. Senior Writer at Women's Web. Columnist. Book Reviewer. Street Theatre - Aatish. Dreamer. Workaholic. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Please enter your email address