Okay I will not give a summary of the film. Enough of that already. Straight to the point: Kal Ho Naa Ho is a fantastic film....definitely worth seeing, and worth seeing over again.
Shah Rukh Khan does a great job...as usual. I guess nobody else does emotional scenes AND comedy as well as he does. Saif Ali Khan is great. Again as usual, since he plays that role in many of his films, but he holds the story together....!! And Preity...well, it's her year. She rules Bollywood this year. After Koi mil gaya, she comes back in KHNH, with a much stronger role, probably her strongest role since Kya Kehna....and she excels in it. Yes, why was Kareena Kapoor even considered for this role??? Jaya Bacchan is also worth a mention. Nobody else could have played this role. She is fantastic!!! The special appearances make the film...well...special!!!Some of us would go see any film for 5 seconds of Kajol....especially next to Shah Rukh!!! And all credits to Karan Johar and Nikhil Advani. To Karan for coming up with the film, trusting Nikhil and making it happen, and to Nikhil for a first-class job in his first direction... And the music is wonderful...Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy definitely establishing themselves further in Bollywoodland. And Farah Khan plays her usual magic with the choreography, especially for the song Kuch to Hua Hai, which will keep you giggling in your seat...
Now the loopholes: Why do all Caucasian looking people in America speak Hindi (with an awful accent as well), especially when some of the Indians sometimes afford to speak English!!??!! Why could they not spend some more time and effort to make Shah Rukh mime his rap words well in the Pretty Woman song?? Why, when Saif and Preity find out about Shah Rukh, they both seem more worried about their love lives than their friend's....well...LIFE!!! Why did I leave the cinema feeling that if Shah Rukh was given a dialogue full of hope before then end of the film, I'd have felt better...coz surely that was the point of the film: hope. I felt that the last 20 minutes were not well-explored enough...and too sketchy. One second SRK and Preity love each other, and the next she's still getting married...Why are we not shown the process that goes in between. It would have been good, emotional, and more realistic...
But maybe I'm just moaning about details. Maybe I am being a bit of a Naina Catherine Kapoor....So, I'll end on this note rather...
Seen in the broader context of Indian Cinema, this film is a proper landmark....It's a perfect blend of the East and the West. After rather unsuccessful attempts at copying American Pie-style comedy in Indian films, SOMEBODY finally showed us what it takes to make a success of this kind: A modern comedy (hilarious jokes) with modern direction (cool style of story-telling, I thought) in a true Indian setting. Modern music, but perfectly blended with Indian melody and lyrics. This film will take Indian comedy to new heights. And takes the East-West blend to new heights. And it takes a great film to do that...
And it will leave u, not just proud of being Indian, but of being a Western Indian. Perfect blend....
Shah Rukh Khan does a great job...as usual. I guess nobody else does emotional scenes AND comedy as well as he does. Saif Ali Khan is great. Again as usual, since he plays that role in many of his films, but he holds the story together....!! And Preity...well, it's her year. She rules Bollywood this year. After Koi mil gaya, she comes back in KHNH, with a much stronger role, probably her strongest role since Kya Kehna....and she excels in it. Yes, why was Kareena Kapoor even considered for this role??? Jaya Bacchan is also worth a mention. Nobody else could have played this role. She is fantastic!!! The special appearances make the film...well...special!!!Some of us would go see any film for 5 seconds of Kajol....especially next to Shah Rukh!!! And all credits to Karan Johar and Nikhil Advani. To Karan for coming up with the film, trusting Nikhil and making it happen, and to Nikhil for a first-class job in his first direction... And the music is wonderful...Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy definitely establishing themselves further in Bollywoodland. And Farah Khan plays her usual magic with the choreography, especially for the song Kuch to Hua Hai, which will keep you giggling in your seat...
Now the loopholes: Why do all Caucasian looking people in America speak Hindi (with an awful accent as well), especially when some of the Indians sometimes afford to speak English!!??!! Why could they not spend some more time and effort to make Shah Rukh mime his rap words well in the Pretty Woman song?? Why, when Saif and Preity find out about Shah Rukh, they both seem more worried about their love lives than their friend's....well...LIFE!!! Why did I leave the cinema feeling that if Shah Rukh was given a dialogue full of hope before then end of the film, I'd have felt better...coz surely that was the point of the film: hope. I felt that the last 20 minutes were not well-explored enough...and too sketchy. One second SRK and Preity love each other, and the next she's still getting married...Why are we not shown the process that goes in between. It would have been good, emotional, and more realistic...
But maybe I'm just moaning about details. Maybe I am being a bit of a Naina Catherine Kapoor....So, I'll end on this note rather...
Seen in the broader context of Indian Cinema, this film is a proper landmark....It's a perfect blend of the East and the West. After rather unsuccessful attempts at copying American Pie-style comedy in Indian films, SOMEBODY finally showed us what it takes to make a success of this kind: A modern comedy (hilarious jokes) with modern direction (cool style of story-telling, I thought) in a true Indian setting. Modern music, but perfectly blended with Indian melody and lyrics. This film will take Indian comedy to new heights. And takes the East-West blend to new heights. And it takes a great film to do that...
And it will leave u, not just proud of being Indian, but of being a Western Indian. Perfect blend....