Cinemaah

No Brain, No Heart

This is how it must have gone, the director or writer of Jack And Dil, while channel surfing one day, must have come across Carol Reed’s lovely film, Follow Me (based on a Peter Shaffer play), starring Topol as a detective hired by a rich man to spy on his wife, played by the enigmatic Mia Farrow. She is not having an affair, as the husband suspects, so the pursuit takes an unexpected turn.

Jack And Dil (somebody thought it was a clever title) takes the idea and mangles it beyond recognition. So, “unemployed by choice” Jack (Amit Sadh) lives in trendily messy Goa pad, is obsessed with detective stories, and is struggling to write one.  He “falls in love at first sight” with a pug on TV and wants one for himself. Rich guy, no-first-name Walia (Arbaaz Khan) has one to sell for a lakh, which Jack does not have. So Walia strikes a deal, if Jack follows his wife Shilpa (Sonal Chauhan) and producers proof of her infidelity, he will give the amateur detective the money.

Shilpa spots Jack in no time, and he starts hanging out with her, to save time and effort, realizing that she is lonely, because Walia is too busy making strange deals with a Japanese team. He no longer does the “idiotic” things he used to when they were dating, so she spends her time painting or wandering around scenic Goa. Jack, who has broken up with his girlfriend, model Lara (Evelyn Sharma), is attracted to Shilpa, but prods Walia into wooing his wife again.

On paper, it sounds like a doable romcom, but with an indifferent script, uninspired performances, forgettable music, Jack And Dil is just a lot of hot air—no heart, no brain.