Wednesday, February 10, 2021

[Hindi] Jab We Met (2007)


Jab We Met

Aditya Kashyap, heir to a wealthy family of industrialists, is depressed and suicidal, and walks out of a major company meeting. He wanders aimlessly until he boards a train where he meets another passenger, Geet Dhillon, an excessively jovial and talkative young girl. Aditya is initially irritated by Geet and later, exits the train at the next station. 

As the train leaves the station, Geet under the impression that Aditya is unaware of the train's departure, goes after him, but this results in both of them getting left behind as the train departs. They chase the train down to the next stop via taxi, only for Geet to once again miss her train due to the argument she picks up with the owner of a station stall. Geet informs the station master of her situation and after necessary arrangements are made, she wanders within the station. She's later harassed by the same person she argued with and later accosted by a few men who believe her to be a prostitute. She then spots Aditya and runs after him. Seeing her with another man, the men leave her alone. 

After blaming Aditya for her putting her into this situation, she insists on him personally escorting her back to her home in Bhatinda. Aditya, having had no destination in mind anyways and feeling partially responsible, agrees. The two then book a room at a nearby hotel for the night, where Aditya becomes more comfortable talking to her, dropping his quiet reserved nature. While there, Geet tells him she plans to elope with her boyfriend Anshuman, who her family is unaware of. When Aditya questions her on whether if eloping is the only way, she tells him that her family wouldn't accept Anshuman due to their religious differences. 

The next morning, Geet and Aditya begin making their way to Geet's family home in Bathinda. The two of them grow closer over the journey, and Aditya tells her that he's the son of a late wealthy industrialist and heir to his father's company. It is then that Geet realizes he's a public figure. Aditya confides in her of his company's financial troubles post his father's death, and how his girlfriend ended up marrying someone else. It is during this conversation that we come to know of Aditya's mother's extramarital affair and subsequent elopement, thus explaining why he questioned Geet's choice of eloping with Anshuman. 

 At Geet's family home, her relatives are exceedingly grateful to Aditya for keeping Geet safe and ask him to stay with them for a week to show their gratitude. They meet Geet's grandfather who suspects that there is something between the two, which both deny. He goes on to say that at his age, one tends to know what is between a boy and a girl. He accepts Aditya and expresses his gratitude for bringing her back home safely. Geet's family decides to arrange her wedding with her childhood family friend Manjeet. 

An uninterested Geet pretends to be in love with Aditya in order to derail their plans. Geet decides to go ahead with her plans of elopement and run away from home that night. She later visits Aditya in his room to say goodbye. Aditya tries to discourage her, telling her that by running away, she'd be leaving him behind, and the family would suspect him and her to have been together and how he'll end up in trouble. When Geet tells him to instead assist her and escape together into the night, Aditya initially disagrees saying the family will then affirm their suspicions. Geet assures him by saying it doesn't make a difference to him either way. Realizing this, he decides to pack his things and join her. However, Geet's cousin sister Roop sees them leaving and alerts the rest of the household. 

Aditya and Geet decide to hide on the terrace until everything settles down. The two of them then arrive in Manali, where Anshuman resides; Geet tries to get Aditya to accompany her in meeting Anshuman, but Aditya, who has fallen in love with her, bids her farewell. Aditya then returns to his company, a changed man. Nine months later, he is shown to have successfully revived the company's poor state and status and enjoying a renewed optimism towards life owing to the time he spent with Geet. 

This is shown in how he feels her presence around him in everything he does. He also reconciles with his mother and invites her to rejoin him at the company. He launches a new product named after her and the launch event is shown on TV, which Geet's family sees, thereby alerting her family to her possible whereabouts, as she has not contacted them in the preceding nine months. Geet's uncle comes to Aditya's office to confront him; Aditya, although unaware of her whereabouts, promises to bring her back home in the next ten days. 

He returns to Manali to meet Anshuman, but learns that Anshuman rebuffed Geet the moment she arrived. Anshuman had never planned a life with her nor had he ever mentioned marrying her in the time he spent together. He tries to explain that it was Geet who had childishly fantasized about the whole marriage aspect and not him, to which Aditya replies with disgust asking how he could've possibly rejected her when she had left her whole world behind for him. Anshuman, angrily asks him to mind his own business and why he cares so much about her. It is then that Aditya informs him of Geet not having returned home in the last nine months, how no one has seen her, and the possibility of her being missing or in a lost, helpless state because of Anshuman's instant rejection of her. 


 Aditya then finds Geet in Shimla, where she leads a dull, quiet, sullen life as a schoolteacher at her former school. Her former teacher, while on a trip to Manali, noticed her sad state and brought her there. Aditya notices a change in her demeanor, which has become similar to how he was before meeting her on the train. He takes her to a hotel and offers her the catharsis of berating Anshuman over the phone, and they share an intimate hug afterward. The next day, Anshuman having become ridden with guilt, attempts to reconcile with Geet. When Geet expresses her uncertainty in whether she should go back to Anshuman or not to Aditya, Aditya encourages her to forgive him and start afresh. 

The three of them then go to Bhatinda. To their surprise, Geet's family has prepared a grand welcome for her. However, it becomes apparent that they are under the impression that she had eloped with Aditya, thus showing Aditya was right in what he surmised would happen when they left those nine months back. For the rest of the day, Geet repeatedly fails to get an opportunity to tell her family the truth throughout the day. When she finally does, she finds herself unable to tell her mother the truth. 

She goes to Aditya that night to tell him the same and of her concerns over the whole situation. He consoles her saying everything would be alright and that he'll meet her in the morning with Anshuman so that she and Anshuman can discuss what to do next. The next day, Aditya informs her that he will be leaving soon and then gives her the privacy to talk with Anshuman. Anshuman assures her that he's fine that she couldn't tell the truth the previous night to her mom, and then tells her of his plan for Geet and him to announce their marriage to her family. It is then that Geet realizes that she is in love with Aditya and not Anshuman. She abandons Anshuman and runs to Aditya as he spends his last few hours at her family home. She tells him how he had inadvertently helped her realize who she truly wanted and the two of them share a passionate kiss. 

Seeing this, Anshuman, slightly confused and hurt, leaves. Their planned wedding, now genuine, takes place, with Aditya's mother present as the two had reconciled earlier. Geet and Aditya go on to have two daughters. The film ends with Geet's grandfather telling his two great-granddaughters in Geet and Aditya's presence of how 'mischievous' their parents were and how he knew from the moment he saw them together what was between Geet and Aditya. After all, at his age, one tends to know what is between a boy and a girl. The film ends with Geet and Aditya nodding in agreement with Geet's grandfather. They share a smile, their girls looking on.

 





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