Koi Jaane Na
Ratings: 2/5
Duration: 02 Hrs 09 Mins
Language: Hindi
Genre: Thriller
Director: Amin Hajee
Writer: Amin Hajee
Producers: Krishan Kumar, Amin Hajee, Bhushan Kumar, Sudhir S. Dayma, Suntosh Berajdar, Mohaan Nadaar
Music: Tanishk Bagchi, Rochak Kohli, Amaal Mallik, Abhijit Vaghani
Cinematography: Arun Prasad
Editing: Ballu Saluja
Art Direction: Pratik Uppal
Release Date: 02 April 2021 (India)
Released In: Theatres
Star Cast: Aamir Khan, Amyra Dastur, Neha Mahajan, Elli Avrram, Kunal Kapoor, Achint Kaur, Vidya Malvade, Ashwini Kalsekar, Raj Zutshi, Karim Hajee, Aditya Lakhia, Kamlesh Sawant, Aditi Govitrikar, Javed Khan, Viraf Patel, Divyam Agarwal, Sameer Khandekar, Nitin Mirani
Plot: Kabir Kapoor (Kunaal Kapoor) is a famous author and a YouTuber. His life is in a mess as his ex-wife (Vidya Malvade), who was cheating on him, is now out to sue him, after squeezing him dry with huge alimony. Now she wants his jeep and the sprawling bungalow in Panchgani, which is also the labyrinth of Kabir’s deep dark secrets.
She even hires Ricky Rosario (Karim Hajee), a cunning detective cum reporter to blackmail Kabir. Amidst all of this, a beautiful young backpacker Suhana (Amyra Dastur) with a dark past, literally drops into Kabir’s life when he is on his way to Panchgani. As expected, this chance meeting promptly develops into love and live-in, but suddenly, a spate of murders rocks the sleepy hill station and their lives as Kabir becomes the main suspect. Together, can Kabir and Suhana overcome their demons and live happily ever after forms the rest of the story.
Review: Writer-director Amin Hajee’s film ‘Koi Jaane Na’ starts off well with intrigue and of course, the item number that features svelte Ellie Avrram seducing super-suave Aamir Khan. However, Amin Hajee lets his imagination and pen loose and bombarded with shady characters and plot twists, that keep getting caught in their own web of confusion.
Indicating some promise, the first half builds up slowly, but the narrative keeps getting progressively shaky. Though the director establishes some conflicts in the first half, all the characters go incognito post the interval. What happens to Kunal Kapoor’s ex-wife? What was her motive to hire a detective? Why would she want to frame Kunal Kapoor? Why does Kunal Kapoor keep all the prosthetic makeup hidden from the world? What is the outcome of the murder of an influential person in the first scene of the film? - are some questions that no one can answer even after watching the entire film. In short, the background is impactful and builds some tension, but the writing is convoluted, leading to a loss of interest, particularly in the second half, which means the execution is quite underwhelming.
Also, the dialogues, particularly, for the character of the detective, played by Karim Hajee, are more of an attempt to be smart in wordplay, using anecdotes from Bollywood music, but end up being cheesy to the core. Both, in terms of dialogues and character sketch, Karim Hajee’s character is half-baked.
Kunaal Kapoor and Amyra Dastur are well-cast in their roles, and they have some scope to perform, despite the obvious lacuna in the writing. Even Ashwini Kalsekar is quite impactful as the tough cop. She mouths some of the best lines of the film with utmost conviction. But Kabir’s seductive housekeeper Bindiya (Neha Mahajan) does nothing more than sliding her pallu and sneaking up on her boss. Her contribution to the narrative is nearly zero. More characters are introduced right until the climax, to make it a mind-bender, but the sluggish pace makes ‘Koi Jaane Na,’ a tedious watch.
According to the budget of the film, the production values are decent. However, the camera work and cinematography in some scenes are hazy and substandard.
The plus point in ‘Koi Jaane Na' is surprisingly the music with good songs like ‘Har Fun Maula’, the title track and, ‘Ishq Karo Dil Se’.
Watch ‘Koi Jaane Na’ only if you want to see Aamir Khan back on the big screen after four long years.
Overall, the plot had the potential to keep us hooked onto the screen, but it is lost while being translated into a screenplay. Therefore, the most convincing part about this film is its title ‘Koi Jaane Na’, as that perfectly sums up the feeling after watching!
