Imitiaaz Ali is Indias Richard Linklater ...

Why do grown up single men in their 40s cry ?

Why do they want to avoid cute looking harmless girls ?

Why do good looking girls feel insecure and undesirable ?

Why do road trips make one take a trip through one's inner self ?

And why can music say what a million words cannot ...

These are some of the things that Jab Harry met Sejal explores ingeniously like never before done in Indian cinema

Imtiaaz Ali delivers the first layered, intense and troubled romantic movie in years ... He borrows heavily from the Richard Linklater Before Sunrise, Sunset and Midnight trilogy but amalgamates it with Indian sensibilities.

SRK acting prowess is pushed to the limits because he does not have to charm his lady love in this movie, instead he wants to shove her away so that he does not get hurt himself. SRK plays a lonely middle aged guy with false self beliefs (that he is a Casanova when he is actually a romantic at heart). He brings his convoluted personality alive on screen with his unique panache.

He is a Desi at heart mumble swears in Punjabi but pretends to be cool European who indulges in causal flings.

He even pushes the envelope further when he breaks into fluent German in Frankfurt (targeted especially at his German fans).

While doing all this he of course effortlessly still manages to give you goosebumps with his intense eyes and trademark expressions just ogling at Anushka (with Hawayein playing in background).

Anushka tries to match him and stands her own in terms of acting but has miles to go before she can convey intensity like SRK.

Nevertheless she fits the bill without being super fake bubbly like Kareena from JWM.

She comes across as a protected middle class Indian girl who craves for attention ... wants guys to think she is hot and not cute. In one funny encounter she keeps clicking selfies with an Eastern European pole dancer because SRK tells Anushka that she is better than her.

Imtiaaz captures Europes scenery beautifully and ensures that the flawed characters of Harry and Sejal get full screen time. He deliberately avoids any stories or side stories and also does not indulge in any support cast.

His masterstroke is he does not offer any explaination or backstory on why SRK is lonely and Anushka is low self esteem. Audience is forced to accept that people are flawed for no reason which makes the movie real and raw.

However I have to reserve the last words in this blog for the real star of the movie. Pritam hits the ball out of the park with this one. 

Starting with Safar and then ethereal Hawayein and then with 3 different flavored Punjabi numbers he creates magic not seen since Love Aaj Kal from him.

All in all I can say that the last Hindi movie I wrote a blog for was Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and before that Hum Tum. I have to say JHMS falls in this league and still stands out on its own for being brave enough to tell a love story without a story ... like only Mr Linklater could do in his timeless trilogy ...

PS: To appreciate JHMS one must watch Before Sunrise, Sunset and Midnight all three movies.