Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Jab Tak Hai Jaan - Jab Tak Hai Jaan (English: As Long as There is Life), also known as JTHJ, is a 2012 Indian romance film directed by Yash Chopra and written and produced by Aditya Chopra under their production banner Yash Raj Films. The film features Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in lead roles, making it the first film to pair Khan and Kaif and the second collaboration between Khan and Sharma after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. It was Yash Chopra's fourth film to feature Shahrukh Khan in the lead role, the former returning as a director after eight years post Veer-Zaara, which released in 2004. Jab Tak Hai Jaan was Yash Chopra's last directorial venture before his death on 21 October 2012. The background score and soundtrack were composed by A.R. Rahman, while the lyrics penned by Gulzar. The film released during the six-day Diwali weekend that began on 13 November 2012.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan received positive to mixed reviews from critics in India and positive reviews from critics overseas. It also opened well at the box office. Various websites have opined that the film might have drawn inspiration from the Graham Greene novel The End of the Affair. Box Office India declared the film a "hit" in India and a "blockbuster" overseas.However, the film's production company called it a "worldwide blockbuster". Jab Tak Hai Jaan is the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time overseas after My Name Is Khan and 3 Idiots.The film has since emerged as one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time worldwide.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan won many awards and received multiple nominations. The accolades were for the performances by the lead actors, particularly Shahrukh Khan. Conversely, the film's lead actresses were nominated at the Golden Kela and Ghanta awards because critics felt that the acting by Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif was not up to par.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan Plot

Samar Anand (Shahrukh Khan), a major in the Indian Army, defuses a bomb showing no fear or regard for personal safety. After a while, Akira Rai (Anushka Sharma), a Discovery Channel filmmaker, dives into a river in Ladakh and is rescued by the major. Samar gives her his jacket but leaves before retrieving it. Akira finds his diary in the jacket pocket and starts reading.

The diary recounts Samar's earlier years as a struggling immigrant in London. He worked as a musician and found other menial jobs to support him and his roommate. One day Samar is offered work as a part-time waiter where he meets Meera during her engagement party. In exchange for English lessons, Samar agrees to teach her how to sing. In the process, Samar and Meera fall in love. On the day Meera is supposed to tell her father about their relationship, Samar gets into a terrible accident. Meera prays to God to save his life and makes a vow to never meet him again. Soon Samar makes a speedy recovery and comes to know about the vow. In anger he tells her to go away and leaves London. Samar challenges God to keep him alive while he will risk his life everyday because he believes his death is the only way to make Meera lose her faith in the deity who stole his love. He goes to India and enlists in the Indian Army.

As Akira finishes reading the diary, she requests her supervisor to make a documentary about a bomb disposal squad and is granted permission. She approaches Samar for help and soon gets acquainted with him and his team. She starts showing romantic feelings towards Samar but he refuses to reciprocate due to his past. Akira makes the film successfully and departs for London, earning praise for her work. However, to launch the film, she needs Samar to visit the city. After she extensively tries to persuade a reluctant Samar, he finally agrees to come to London, but is hit by a car upon arrival.

Samar is diagnosed with retrograde amnesia, remembering only the events before his first accident a decade ago. Akira tracks down Meera and persuades her to aid in Samar's recovery. Meera agrees and pretends to be Samar's wife. During this time, Akira realizes that Major Samar is only a fragment of the young Samar. He used to be a jubilant social man but is now a bitter lonely individual. One day Samar comes across a bomb planted in the London Underground and helps defuse it. This event triggers his memory and he realizes Meera was lying to him. Samar confronts Meera and gives her a choice, either be with him or he will keep on risking his life until he is dead. Samar departs for Kashmir where he continues defusing bombs. During a conversation with Akira, Meera realizes that her beliefs and prayers subjected Samar to a fate worse than death. Meera, realizing her mistake, travels to Kashmir where they reunite. Samar defuses his last bomb and proposes to her on the spot.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan Cast

Shahrukh Khan as Samar Anand

Khan's role in the film spans two ages, one at the age of 28 as a musician based in London and the other at the age of 38 as an introverted, composed, dutiful army officer in Kashmir. Samar is angry, unforgiving, and has loads of emotional baggage. He is a combination of angst, tenderness and anger.

Katrina Kaif as Meera Thappar

Meera is the archetypal Yash Chopra seductress, an unattainable beauty. Kaif was reported to have put in a significant amount of work to make her character believable, and was helped by Khan, who had prior experience with the director.

Anushka Sharma as Akira Rai

Akira is a 21 year old who works for the Discovery Channel and makes documentaries. She is on the quest to discover the truth behind the story of The Man Who Cannot Die in the film. She is extremely ambitious and would do anything to make it big and realize her dreams. It was initially rumored that Sharma would be seen in an extended cameo appearance but this was refuted by the actress in the interview.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan Development

In June 2011, Yash Raj Films released a statement announcing a new directorial venture by Yash Chopra which would coincide with the 50th anniversary of his career in Bollywood. The producers also announced that the film would release on the Diwali 2012 weekend. Yash Chopra stated that the film was untitled at that time, similar to his previous project Veer-Zaara which was named on the day of its submission to the Central Board of Film Certification. The producers had considered a variety of options for the title but were reportedly not satisfied with any of them. In September 2012, it was officially announced that the title of the movie was Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The title seeming to have been inspired from a song of a similar name from the 1975 hit film Sholay.

Yash Chopra with Shahrukh Khan filming an interview

Initially the film's principal photography was expected to commence in November 2011 but had to be delayed since Khan wanted to take a break after his two releases in 2011, Ra.One and Don 2. Principal photography officially began on 9 January 2012 at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai, where a significant portion of the film was also shot.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan Soundtrack

The music and the background score for the film were composed by A.R. Rahman, who teamed up with Yash Chopra for the first time. The soundtrack features nine tracks with eight song lyrics penned by Gulzar and the title poem written by Aditya Chopra. The audio was released on YRF Music. It received positive critical reception upon release.