Aug 21, 2009 12:16 PM
2224 Views
“Main tumhare bachche ki maa banne wali hoon” she utters teary eyed and at that very instant there is thunder , lightning, hysteric ringing of temple bells till it becomes a cacophonous chorus, basically the earth starts to shatter and all she gets is an unnaturally wicked expression(*
The only one coming to my mind right now is of Prem Chopra**) which leads her into further delirium.Back to reality.I have lost count of how many Bollywood pot-boilers have played this same scene out. In the entire duration of watching “Juno” my couldn’t help but revisit this done to death(many times over) Bollywood scene.
Juno Macguff is 16 and she is pregnant courtesy a one time adventure shrouded in ignorance(what was she doing during the sex-ed class???) with her close friend Paulie Bleeker. At first she takes the natural decision to abort the child but the circumstances (read a friend’s passionate anti abortion drive) prevails over her and she changes her mind. She decides to give birth to the baby and then hand it over to a worthy set of parents who are eager for adoption.
That in itself is the synopsis of the story, which sounds like a run of the mill stuff, doesn’t it?. But the real beauty of Juno(the movie) is sharing the journey of pregnancy with the girl. Her maturity which is way beyond her age(despite the fact that she got pregnant), her easy going approach to dealing with the problem of teenage pregnancy, her hilariously witty comments on a variety of topics ranging from horror movies to hard rock music , just about everything about her is so naturally endearing. Ellen Page just fits into the role like a glove(as they say).Michael Cera as Paulie performs adequately well as a soft natured young man.J.K Simmons (remember the garrulous editor in Spiderman movies) and Allison Jamey have done a great job as the surprised yet supporting parents, especially when Allison takes on a cynical ultrasound technician on some unsolicited harsh comments about Juno. Jennifer Garner as Vannesa (the would be mother of Juno’s child) carries the same kind of expressions throughout. Jason Bateman as Mark(Vannesa’s husband) has a lot more scope as a hesitant would be father and his instant bonding with Juno makes for some of the best moments of the movie.
Along with Page, the real star of the movie is Diablo Cody , the writer.Jason Reitman’s direction is also worth a mention where he has maintained the subtlety of the presentation throughout the length of the movie delivering a thoroughly entertaining and meaningful film. All in all , Juno is a great watch on a lazy holiday afternoon.
Coming back to my first paragraph, I remember some years ago I had taken my mom and an aunt to watch the movie “Kya Kehna” in a theatre. I still remember how much they wept all through the movie. It was a similar story. After watching Juno I want to ask "why so serious"?
