Jawaani Jaaneman

Nitin Kakkar's 2020 Indian film begins when Jazz, a forty-year-old bachelor living in London, learns he has a daughter in her twenties. The man has never let go of his youth; his daughter Tia arrives carrying no expectation of what he ought to be, and that is the film's most relieving choice. The story stays inside the learning-to-be-a-father template, but Saif Ali Khan's performance, able to mock itself, makes the template livable. Alaya F is surprisingly assured in her first film. Tabu's short role carries several of the film's best moments. Its weakness is reaching for emotional shortcuts in the second half and leaving the supporting characters thin. Who it's for: viewers who like Indian comedy and family stories built on a generation gap. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a story outside the template, or who dislikes comedy themed around drinking and nightlife.