Jab Tak Hai Jaan ( As Long as I Live), abbreviated as JTHJ, is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written by Aditya Chopra and directed by Yash Chopra. Produced by Yash Raj Films, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan as Samar Anand, a bomb disposal expert for the Indian Army, formerly as a struggling immigrant in London and whirlwind romance with Meera Thappar (Katrina Kaif), based on a diary falls into the hands of Akira Rai, a Discovery Channel documentary filmmaker (Anushka Sharma).
Jab Tak Hai Jaan marked Chopra's fourth film to feature Khan in the lead role, and the second collaboration between Khan and Sharma, following Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), which was the debut film of Sharma. The film also marked the first collaboration between Khan and Kaif. Chopra made his return to direction after Veer-Zaara (2004). It was also the posthumous film of Chopra, who died in October 2012, prior to the film's release.
Released during the six-day Diwali weekend beginning on 13 November 2012, Jab Tak Hai Jaan received positive reviews from critics who praised Chopra's direction and the performances of Khan, Kaif, Sharma, but criticised the predictable plot. The film earned worldwide and emerged as one of the year's top-earning films. It became the 3rd highest-grossing Bollywood film overseas at that time after 3 Idiots (2009) and My Name Is Khan (2010).
At the 58th Filmfare Awards, the film received 7 nominations, including Best Actor (Khan), and won 4 awards, including Best Supporting Actress (Sharma) and Best Lyricist (Gulzar for "Challa").
Plot Samar Anand, a major in the Indian Army, defuses bombs without fear or regard for his own safety. Akira Rai, a filmmaker for Discovery Channel, later dives into Pangong Lake in Ladakh and is rescued by him. Samar gives her his jacket and leaves before retrieving it. Akira finds his diary in the jacket pocket and begins reading it.
The diary recounts Samar's earlier years as a struggling immigrant in London, where he works as a street musician and takes on other menial jobs to support himself and his roommate, Zain. Samar is working part-time as a waiter when he meets Meera at the engagement party of her and her fiancé, Roger. Meera grew up without a mother in an affluent Punjabi Indian family; her mother left for another man when she was twelve. The dominant figure in her life is her father, for whom she works. Samar notices that Meera often prays whenever he sees her at church. Samar and Meera become friends, but Meera promises God that she will not fall in love with Samar and tells him about the vow. Meera asks Samar to help her speak and sing in Punjabi for her father’s retirement party, and in return, Samar asks her to help him improve his spoken English. As time passes, Samar and Meera begin to fall in love after a night of exuberant street dancing. To help her confront her past, Samar takes Meera to visit her estranged mother, and the two reconcile. A few days later, Meera decides to confess her relationship with Samar to her father and break off her engagement. Samar is then involved in a serious motorcycle accident. Meera makes another vow that, because she broke her previous promise, she will never see Samar again, and prays for his life to be spared. Samar recovers, and Meera admits her vow to him. Angered, he leaves both her and London. Samar challenges God to keep him alive while he risks his life every day, believing that his death is the only way to make Meera lose her faith in God. He returns to India and enlists in the army, becoming a bomb disposal expert.
When Akira finishes reading the diary, she obtains permission to make a documentary about a bomb disposal squad. She asks Samar for help with the film and becomes acquainted with him and his team. Akira develops feelings for Samar; however, he does not reciprocate them because of his unresolved love for Meera. Akira successfully completes the film and leaves for London. She wants Samar to visit the city to help publicise the film; after he reluctantly agrees to travel to London, he is struck by a van.
Samar is diagnosed with retrograde amnesia and remembers only the events before his first accident in London ten years earlier. Concerned, Akira tracks Meera down and persuades her to help with Samar's recovery. Meera agrees, pretending to be Samar's wife. In the meantime, Akira realises that Major Samar is only a fragment of the young Samar; he was once happy and sociable, but has become bitter and lonely. One day, Samar discovers a bomb planted in the London Underground and helps to defuse it. The incident jogs his memory, and he realises that Meera has been lying to him. Samar confronts Meera and gives her a choice: be with him or watch him continue risking his life until he dies. He then leaves for Jammu and Kashmir, where he continues defusing bombs. During a conversation with Akira, Meera reveals that she never married Roger and that she only helps his daughter with events as he is divorced from his wife, realising that her beliefs and prayers condemned Samar to a fate worse than death. She comes to believe that God only wants people to be happy and spread love, and would not take away their loved ones because of a broken promise or bargain. Meera bids farewell to Akira and travels to Kashmir to reunite with Samar. Samar defuses his final bomb and then proposes to her.
Cast
Shah Rukh Khan as Major Samar Anand, a bomb disposal expert for the Indian Army Katrina Kaif as Meera Thappar, a businesswoman who falls in love with Samar Anushka Sharma as Akira Rai, a documentary filmmaker for the Discovery Channel Sarika as Dr. Zoya Ali Khan, a neurologist and Samar's doctor Anupam Kher as Kamal Thappar, Meera's father (special appearance) Neetu Kapoor as Pooja Thappar Sharqazi, Meera's mother (special appearance) Rishi Kapoor as Imraan Sharqazi, Meera's step-father (special appearance) Sharib Hashmi as Zain Mirza, Samar's best friend Andrew Bicknell as Frank Zolawalle, Samar's boss Jasmine Jardot as Maria, Zain's wife Jay Conroy as Roger, Meera's fiancee Gireesh Sahdev as Captain Jagdeep Deewan Varun Thakur as Lieutenant Hari Krishnan Amarinder Sodhi as Captain Kamal Singh Manoj Bakshi as Mr. Kapoor
Production
Development In June 2011, Yash Raj Films released a statement announcing a new directorial venture by Yash Chopra coinciding with the 50th anniversary of his career. The producers also announced that the film would be released during the Diwali 2012 weekend. Chopra said the film was untitled at that time, similar to previous project Veer-Zaara (2004) (which was named on the day of its submission to the Central Board of Film Certification). The producers considered a number of titles but were not satisfied with any of them. In September 2012, it was announced that the title of the film was Jab Tak Hai Jaan. It was inspired by a similarly titled song from the 1975 film, Sholay.
Aditya Chopra wanted his father to make another film and approached him with the concept for Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Shah Rukh Khan was their first choice for the role of Samar Anand, due to his long-standing relationship with the production house and the Chopra family, thus making it Chopra's fourth consecutive movie to feature Khan as a lead. Khan, who was working on other projects at that time, was unavailable for the shooting schedule so it was changed. As in his previous productions, Yash wanted to introduce a fresh pairing in JTHJ and chose Katrina Kaif to star with Khan. Anushka Sharma was cast in a supporting role by YRF, with whom she had previously worked on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), Badmaash Company, Band Baaja Baaraat (both 2010) and Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (2011). Though casting was quickly completed, shooting was delayed because the lead actors were busy with other projects.
Khan's role spans two ages: one (age 28) as a London-based street musician and the other (ten years later) as an introverted, composed and dutiful army officer in Jammu and Kashmir. In an interview, Khan revealed details about his character: "[Samar] is angry, unforgiving, with loads of emotional baggage. I play him sweet when he needs to be. Actually, he is a lot like I am. Samar is a combination of angst, tenderness, anger, and yeah, he's pretty unforgiving."
Kaif's role was described as "the archetypal Yash Chopra seductress, an unattainable beauty".
Sharma's character, Akira, was described as a "21-year-old who works for the Discovery Channel and makes documentaries. She is on a quest to discover the truth behind the story of The Man Who Cannot Die (Samar Anand) in the film. She is extremely ambitious and will do anything to make it big and realize her dreams."
Filming The film's principal photography was expected to begin in November 2011, but was delayed because Khan wanted to take a break after his two previous films, Ra.One and Don 2 (both 2011). Principal photography began on 9 January 2012 at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai, where a significant part of movie was shot.
After filming in India, the crew began a 35-day shooting schedule in London on 22 February 2012. It was shot under the working title Production 45. Khan arrived in London on 21 February 2012, and finished filming on 26 March 2012. During the filming, photos of the actors on-set were leaked on the Internet, triggering a camera ban by the producers and increased security. A number of locations throughout the city featured in JTHJ, including the Borough Market, Jubilee Walkway, the Great Conservatory, the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Bridge, Trafalgar Square, the Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges, the O2 Arena, the Tower Bridge, and Canary Wharf. A dance sequence was filmed next to King's College London law school in Somerset House. A car-crash scene was filmed at Shepherd's Bush by closing four streets in the area. Filming was completed on 27 March 2012 at an indoor location in East London.
The romantic scenes were directed by Chopra's son, Aditya, to give them a more contemporary feel. The "Ishq Shava" dance scene was shot with the leading duo and freestyle dancers in an underground club and aboard a boat on the River Thames. The film's climax, initially planned by Chopra to be shot in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir, was moved to Ladakh. This was reportedly suggested by Khan, whose Dil Se.. (1998) was shot in the area many years earlier. Portions of Jab Tak Hai Jaan were filmed in three Kashmiri cities: Srinagar, Pahalgam, and Gulmarg.
Yash wanted to add scenes from the Swiss Alps to the title song; however, the scheduled shoot was cancelled after his death. Aditya wanted to keep the film as it was because he felt that doing otherwise would "tamper" with his father's vision.
Music
The music for the film was composed by A. R. Rahman, marking his first collaboration with Yash Chopra. He signed to compose the soundtrack in May 2011. The first song of the soundtrack was completed in December 2011. By February 2012, Rahman said in an interview with The Times of India that he had completed three songs for the film. He summarized the soundtrack album: "It's a combination. They wanted to do my kind of songs at the same time they wanted the old charm and soul of music that Indian audience would love and which I wanted to do for a long time." The soundtrack features nine songs, with eight lyrics by Gulzar and the title track written by Aditya. It was released by YRF Music on 10 October 2012. JTHJ's music proved to be popular with the songs "Ishq Shava", "Saans", "Heer" and "Jiya Re" becoming the most popular songs of the soundtrack.
Release
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