If there’s one man who embodies everything that Bollywood is known for, it’s Yash Chopra. His career has lasted more than five decades, during which time he earned six National Awards, eleven Filmfare Awards, two awards by the Government of India, and the moniker of King of Romance, as all of India knows him. Throughout his career, Chopra directed and/or produced more than fifty films, most of them romances, often bringing the scenic view of the Swiss Alps to the Indian silver screen.
"The dialogues are as artificial as the narrative. But that’s what makes it a Yash Chopra film."
Fifty years after joining the Bollywood fraternity, 79-year-old Chopra decided to direct a film that would be true to the very essence of who he was. When he announced it in 2011, the industry had already started to evolve: grand romance, elaborate songs and dances, and utterly over-the-top storylines were not a thing of the past, but they were beginning to be replaced by more plot-driven films. Yet, Chopra being Chopra, he was still able to convince top actors like Shahrukh Khan, Anoushka Sharma, and Katrina Kaif to perform in a very Chopra-esque romantic comedy (with scenes in Switzerland, of course). Unfortunately, Chopra contracted dengue fever and fell to his demise a month before the Swiss shoot, before the film was released. His son, Aditya, finished the movie and kept the name his father had given it, Jab Tak Hai Jaan . Oddly enough, this means, “As long as I live.” While Mr. Chopra was alive, he remained true to his own cinematic style, making this the perfect name for his very last work.
The movie is about a man named Samar Anand (Khan), who is a major in the Indian Army. He gives his jacket to Akira (Sharma), forgetting it has his diary inside. In it, he recounts his days as an immigrant living in London struggling to make ends meet. He tells of how he fell in love with Meera (Kaif) while waiting tables at her engagement party, and how they later began a relationship together, which of course her parents disapproved of. He then suffered an accident, and Meera prayed to God for him to recover, vowing that, if he did, she would never see him again. She kept her promise, and Samar determined that he would have to make Meera lose her faith in God. And the only way to do that, somehow, was to die after becoming a bomb disposal expert. Yes, this is really the plot.
The dialogues are as artificial as the narrative. But that’s what makes it a Yash Chopra film. Most of the dramatic lines are delivered by none other than Khan, who plays Samar. In response to the dangers of bomb disposal, he says, “Zindagi toh har roz jaan leti hai... bomb toh sirf ek baar lega” (Life kills you every day... a bomb will do it just once). The phrase “ jaan leti hai ” literally means “to take life” rather than “to kill.” In English, there is only one word for “life,” unlike in Hindi, where “zindagi” and “jaan” both mean “life.” It would be redundant to translate the phrase as, “Life takes your life every day,” which is why the translation offered above is not literal. “Ek baar,” meanwhile, is a common expression one should learn, meaning “one should learn, meaning “one time.”
“ 'Life gives more injury than a bomb... at every turn there is betrayal and pain... when nobody wears a bomb suit to protect themselves from the dangers of life, then why should one wear it to protect from death?' ”
Samar further explains his feelings when he says, “Bomb se zyada zakhm toh zindagi deti hai... har mod par koi dhokha, koi dard... toh jab zindagi ke khatron se bachne ke liye koi bomb suit nahin pehanta, toh maut se bachne ke liye kya pehanna.” In its entirety, this statement means: “Life gives more injury than a bomb... at every turn there is betrayal and pain... when nobody wears a bomb suit to protect themselves from the dangers of life, then why should one wear it to protect from death?”
