Genre: Comedy
Release Date: 14th October, 2011
Cast: Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Anand Tiwary, Pitobash, Sadia Siddiqui, Sita Ragione Spada, Alexx O Nell, Dadhi Raj, Vivek Setia
Writer/Director: Praveen Kumar
Producer: Andaaz Production
Plot: Jo Dooba So Paar is the story of the lovable Bihari boy Keshu, son of a truck driver and a school drop-out, and his one-sided love affair with the US-bred Sapna, who makes a sudden entry into his village on a college project. Our lady is oblivious to Keshu’s feelings and is happy with her American boyfriend when the sudden twist in the tale happens. Sapna gets kidnapped, and both her actual and wannabe boyfriends go about finding the girl with Keshu’s motley bunch of friends and the Bihar Police. While Jo Dooba So Paar is a story set in contemporary Bihar, it can be a story taking place anywhere in the country, speaking the very pure and commonplace language of love, affection, warmth and togetherness.
A small-town school dropout in Bihar (Anand Tiwari) falls in love with a foreigner, Sapna (Sita Ragione Spada). But she soon gets kidnapped. And there’s her American boyfriend too, with whom the Bihari boy has to contend. Read the review of Jo Dooba So Paar for more.
Business rating: 0.5/5 star
Star cast: Anand Tiwari, Sita Ragione Spada, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Sadia Siddiqui, Brijendra Kala, Pitobash Tripathi.
What’s Good: Some performances.
What’s Bad: The lacklustre screenplay; the inconsequential drama.
Verdict: Jo Dooba So Paar will most certainly sink at the box-office.
Loo break: Several!
Watch or Not?: Watch it if you are keen to watch different cinema.
Anand Entertainment and Andaaz Productions’ Jo Dooba So Paar is an unusual love story of a small-town boy living in Bihar and an American girl who comes to the town to do research on Madhubani paintings. Kishu (Anand Tiwari) is a school dropout who helps his father with his truck business. He takes an instant liking for Sapna (Sita Ragione Spada), an American girl who comes to Kishu’s home town to research on Madhubani paintings. Sapna also enjoys spending time with Kishu which convinces him that she, too, is interested in him.
Kishu’s friends encourage him to express his love to Sapna. In spite of her strict uncle and his own temperamental father, Kishu defies all social norms and musters courage to express his love. But before he can speak to her, he is in for a rude shock when he sees Sapna cosying up to her American boyfriend, Mike (Alex O’Neil), who has come to meet her. As if this shock isn’t enough, Sapna is kidnapped one day. Should Kishu be bothered, now that he will never be able to get Sapna’s love? He pretends not to be bothered but soon finds himself searching for her, along with his friends and a police hawaldar, Tokan (Vinay Pathak).
Their search takes them to Bodhgaya where the identity of the kidnappers is revealed. Everybody is shocked. What happens next? Is Kishu able to secure Sapna’s release? Are the kidnappers brought to book?
Jo Dooba So Paar Review – Script Analysis
Praveen Kumar’s story about a small-town boy falling in love with a foreigner may not exactly be a novel tale but the atmosphere of the small town in Bihar is well recreated. Screenplay, penned by Praveen Kumar, is not very exciting as the drama progresses at a leisurely pace and with little novelty. The real twists and turns are three – first, when Kishu spots Sapna and her American boyfriend together; second, when Sapna is kidnapped; and third, when the identity of the kidnappers is revealed. But none of these is so exciting that it would involve the viewer or consume him completely. Other than these three twists, there are absolutely no highs in the film. Even the climax is as good as non-existent. Dialogues, penned by Ravikant, Sanjeev Kumar, Prabhat Kumar Jha and Joseph Mathai, are natural. At the end of the drama, the question that troubles the viewer is: why was the film made in the first place, because it doesn’t even entertain completely?
Jo Dooba So Paar Review – Star Performances
Anand Tiwari does well but to imagine that he’d be able to carry a film on his shoulders, as the hero, is foolhardiness. Sita Ragione Spada is fair. Vinay Pathak is quite good. Rajat Kapoor does a reasonably good job. Sadia Siddiqui gets limited scope as Gulabo. Brijendra Kala is alright as Sapna’s uncle. Pitobash Tripathi (as Salim), Dadhi Raj (in the role of Someshwar), Uttam Haldar (as Mantoo), master Purav Bhandare (as Twinkle), Vivek Setia (as Javed), Prem Prakash Asthana, Alex O’Neil, Phulmani Varma, Prashant Singh, Arvind Singh and Rahul Mishra (as the whistling gangster) lend the necessary support.
Jo Dooba So Paar Review – Direction & Music
Praveen Kumar’s direction is average. The debut-making director has not been able to involve the audience in the drama, partly because of the weak script and partly because of his average narration. Manish J. Tipu’s music is commonplace. Lyrics (Shellee, Sibtain Shahidi, Michael E. Ward and Gopal Tiwari) are no better. Song picturisations (Faezeh Jalali) are commonplace. Background music, by Manish J. Tipu, passes muster. Arvind K.’s camerawork is fair but nothing to shout about. Editing (Biplab Goswami and James Valiakulathil) is proper. Sets (Digambar Talekar) are appropriate.
Jo Dooba So Paar Review – Komal Nahta’s Verdict
On the whole, Jo Dooba So Paar will go down in box-office history as a non-starter because it has taken a very dull start and there’s nothing in it to warrant a pickup.
Jo Dooba So Paar Trailer
Komal Nahta, the Editor of Koimoi.com, is Bollywood’s most trusted trade analyst & film reviewer. You can follow him on Twitter and check out his Video Blog.
