Dinesh Kamath's column on film 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' that was published in Newsband

Jab Tak Hai Jaan is an upcoming 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 is Yash Chopra's last directorial venture before his death on October 21, 2012, just three weeks before the release of the film.

The background score and soundtrack is composed by A.R. Rahman while the lyrics are penned by Gulzar. The film is scheduled to release during the the six-day Diwali weekend which begins on November 13, 2012.

The film has Shahrukh Khan as Samar. Khan's role in the film will span two ages, one in his late twenties as a musician based in London and the other at an older age as an introverted, composed, dutiful army officer in Kashmir. Samar is angry, unforgiving, with loads of emotional baggage. Sometimes he is sweet. Samar is a combination of angst, tenderness, anger and yeah he’s pretty unforgiving. He’s a lover who feels there is arrogance in love. He feels he owns the person he loves but then when it's needed he can show his frailty also. He accepts his flaws and weaknesses.

Katrina Kaif as Meera: Kaif's role is of the archetypal Yash Chopra seductress, an unattainable beauty. She has put in a significant amount of work to make her character believable, and was helped by Khan, who had prior experience with the director. Kaif faced difficulty at times while filming in London due to the cold weather.

Anushka Sharma as Akira: Anushka Sharma is the second female lead in the film. She plays a girl by the name Akira. She is a 21 year old who works for Discovery Channel and makes documentaries. She is on a quest to discover the truth behind the compelling story of The Man Who Cannot Die. She is extremely ambitious and would do anything to make it big and realize her dreams.

The film also has Rishi Kapoor as Samar's Father, Neetu Singh as Samar's Mother and Anupam Kher as Meera's Father.

It is an emotional film. It is not comedy, action, escapism. There are only three characters [and] their emotions, happiness, sadness.

The music and the background score for the film is 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 along with overwhelmingly positive user reviews upon release.

Thus Jab Tak Hai Jaan is a good film. Do watch it.