[3] The film was theatrically released on 4 July 2008, and proved to be a major commercial success at the box office.

Ya Jaane Na received positive reviews from critics, with praise towards its direction, story, screenplay, soundtrack, cinematography and cast's performances.

Ya Jaane Na received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Supporting Actress (for Pathak Shah) and Best Supporting Actor (for Babbar), and won 4 awards, including Best Male Debut (for Imran Khan) and Best Music Director (for Rahman).

[6] The story begins as four friends Jiggy, Rotlu, Sandhya and Shaleen travel with a guest to an airport, when they offer to tell Jiggy's date—air hostess Mala Mishra—the love story of two college best friends: a polite and peaceful Rajput named Jai "Ratz" Singh Rathore, and an impulsive girl named Aditi "Meow" Mahant.

Aditi dreams of an overly virile husband, while Jai wants a sweet, romantic girl.

Jai visits Meghna's parents and sees that her alcoholic father Mahesh has much friction with his ex-wife Sheela.

Later that night, while still in prison, he meets the two brothers who were found harassing Meghna at the club and is surprised to see them celebrating their imprisonment.

They begin talking, and Jai inadvertently reveals his credentials as a Ranjhor native, which causes the other two to decipher his identity.

He mentions that he is the son of late Amar Singh Rathore, and the brothers confirm that his mother's name is Savitri.

Ya Jaane Na was first announced by producer Jhamu Sugandh, who later offered the script to Aamir Khan, after facing financial difficulties.

[14] Nirav Mehta, Alishka Varde, Karan Makhija and Sugandha Garg were cast as Jai and Aditi's friends.

Some major portions were filmed at Castella de Aguada, Bandra–Worli Sea Link and South Bombay.

Ya Jaane Na, composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics by Abbas Tyrewala, was released in India on 21 May 2008 with producer Aamir Khan presenting the first audio CD to veteran actor Shammi Kapoor.

[24] According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 15,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's eighth highest-selling.

[25] Following all the post-production work, Aamir Khan took on digital promotion head-on with pop-up ads on various portals, for the film.

The premiere of the film was held at the PVR Cinemas in Goregaon, Mumbai with the director, cast and crew in attendance as well as a large number of Bollywood stars including Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Minissha Lamba, Raveena Tandon, Ashutosh Gowariker, Jackie Shroff, Subhash Ghai, Shekhar Kapur, Sridevi, Boney Kapoor, Yash Chopra, Pamela Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan.

"[30] Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM gave it 3.5 stars, and called it "a breezy entertainer which will be loved by its target audience – the youth".

[31] Khalid Mohamed of Hindustan Times gave the film 3.5 out of 5, writing "There’s enough comfort food on the platter.

Tyrewala’s dialogue as well as first-time direction are skillful, with his cinematographer Manoj Lobo using the close-up lens brilliantly.

A. R. Rahman’s music score is remarkably bouncy, especially the 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi' and 'Pappu Can’t Dance Saala' tracks".

[32] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote, "In his sparkling debut feature, Abbas Tyrewala has his lead pair slapping backs rather than kissing cheeks, but he knows and we know that that's where Jaane Tu..

[54] The song "Pappu Can't Dance Saala" has been used in a scene in the 2010 film Peepli Live, also produced by Aamir Khan.