Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na (live action movie), via Netflix

Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na is another movie I watched in order to broaden my horizons beyond American, British, Japanese, and Korean stuff. This romantic comedy is framed as a story being told to a woman who at first refuses to believe she'll like the story and who gradually becomes really invested in it. The story stars two friends, Jai and Aditi. Jai, a mild-mannered, quick-talking pacifist, is devoted to Aditi, a fiery, somewhat melodramatic woman. The thing is, although the two are so focused on and devoted to each other that everyone around them assumes they're a couple, they're actually not. Jai and Aditi agree to find suitable mates for each other, and Aditi is the first to succeed. Unfortunately, Jai becomes devoted to the woman Aditi found for him, which leaves him less time for Aditi. Jealousy ensues, and Aditi angrily finds someone for herself...except Jai and Aditi are gradually starting to realize their feelings for each other go beyond friendship. Meanwhile, there is a subplot involving the things Jai must do, but doesn't realize he must do, in order to be considered a man by his father's people.

This is, I believe, the second Indian movie I've seen with song and dance numbers. They came hard and fast early on, making me wonder if most of the movie was going to be singing and dancing. They were catchy songs, so I don't think I would have minded that, except 2 hours and 33 minutes is a long time for nothing but catchy songs. Anyway, the song and dance numbers slowed down after Jai and Aditi confused everyone by claiming they weren't a couple.

All in all, I thought this movie was way too long but still mostly fun. The beginning was all about figuring out what was going on - things were not as they seemed, and I was just as surprised as Aditi and Jai's friends to learn that Aditi and Jai didn't think they were in love. It was easy to predict that either Jai's new girlfriend, Meghna, would get jealous of Jai's friendship with Aditi, or that Aditi would get jealous of his girlfriend. I could see Jai's relationship with Meghna fall apart as soon as he met her family, and the speed with which Aditi and Sushant got engaged spelled trouble right from the beginning. However, I still enjoyed seeing how things would turn out, and the whole subplot about Jai becoming a man definitely held a lot of surprises.

This isn't something I'll ever re-watch, but it made for decent (if bloated) first-time viewing.