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Guilty Pleasure: How John Abraham's Jhootha Hi Sahi gives a similar comfort feel as Friends

Jhootha Hi Sahi is directed by Abbas Tyrewala of Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na fame.

Guilty Pleasure: How John Abraham's Jhootha Hi Sahi gives a similar comfort feel as Friends

Last Updated: 01.47 PM, Jan 10, 2022

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Buddy films are not rare in Bollywood and most even get loved by the masses. There are several millennials and Gen Z who still consider the English sitcom Friends the holy grail of buddy content, and many makers have consequently tried to capture that charm in their movies and series.

One of the finest examples is Jhootha Hi Sahi, released in 2010. The film is Abbas Tyrewala's second directorial after Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008), and this reason was enough for people to watch it.

In the lead roles are John Abraham, Pakhi Tyrewala, Raghu Ram, Manasi Scott, and Alishka Varde. R. Madhavan makes a cameo appearance, as does Nandana Sen.

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Jhootha Hi Sahi has a simple premise: the "last" call of a suicidal lady (Pakhi) links her to a man (John) who gives her reason to live.

That's not it! The film explores the friendships of a young group of people from different ethnicities living in London and too involved in each other's lives.

Siddharth Arya, aka Sid (Abraham), is an ordinary man who runs Kagaz Ke Phool, a bookstore in London with his pals Omar (Raghu Ram), a Pakistani, and naive yet joyful Amit (Omar Khan). Omar's pregnant sister Aliya (Alishka Varde), her boyfriend Nick (George Young), and gay pal Uday (Prashant Chawla) are among his other buddies. Krutika (Manasi Scott), his air hostess girlfriend, never misses an opportunity to control him, and he becomes irritated as a result. Despite this, he tries his hardest to keep her happy.

Jhootha Hi Sahi, however, failed to strike a chord after its release, and many called it disengaging. But for me, I can watch it numerous times and continue doing so, even to this day. The film makes for a comforting watch, witnessing the follies of each member. But it also explores the topic of suicidal tendencies among youngsters for various reasons and how they have to be protected with warmth and love.

At the start of the film, Siddharth gets three calls from men who want to die by suicide. They are voiced by Imran Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, and Abhishek Bachchan. This leads him to panic, but he eventually decides to be one of the volunteers to save people from taking their own lives.

Then comes Mishka (Pakhi), who is heartbroken and doesn't desire to live anymore due to her ugly breakup with her beau Kabir (Madhavan). From here on, begins the cute love story of Sid and Mishka.

Sid is the one who urges her to see the beauty of life via phone calls. While in reality, he is just around Mishka and helps her move on from Kabir to him.

Why did I mention friends above? Although the film centres around Sid and Mishka, his friends come as a package with him, who are selfless and just want him to be happy.

Some instances are similar to the Friends' sub-plots, like how Chandler Bing kisses Kathy, who was dating Joey Tribbiani. Similarly, Omar hooks up with Krutika soon after she breaks up with Sid. Moreover, Omar and Aliya are siblings, just like Ross Geller and Monica Geller. While Aliya also becomes pregnant with her boyfriend before they enter into marital bliss, which is somewhat like Rachel Green's pregnancy track.

According to reports, Warner Bros. filed a copyright violation lawsuit stating that the film was based on Friends. Madhu Mantena, the film's producer, claimed that the charges were false and that the picture had nothing to do with Friends; the film's director, Abbas, also refuted the allegations.

To be honest, it is a delight to watch John Abraham in this light-hearted avatar, which is being hugely missed on the big screen currently. Even Raghu sheds his Roadies image for the film and portrays a cool buddy, which has been loved by many.

If the film is an AR Rahman musical, it's tough not to mention the amazing and soulful tracks that are a part of Jhootha Hi Sahi. The feel-good songs, including Call Me Dil, Cry Cry, Do Nishaniyan and others, are still loved by many. Abbas also penned the lyrics for the songs, which are pretty heartwarming to hear.

Being a Friends fan, I am guilty of watching that series 1000 times, but Jhootha Hi Sahi, though it has similarities, has got a fan in me.