If there is one movie in the history of modern Indian cinema to have everything done amazingly well right from the acting to the songs, the cast, the location, story, director, script, then this is it! This movie is a complete family entertainer and remains a very memorable one.
The story is set among the UK-settled panjus, so there are quite a few touching scenes on our good old India, motherland, desh ki dharti and so on. Also, not to mention the sarson-da-sag and makki-di-roti, it sure brings a feeling of nostalgia and a sense of belonging when one sees this movie.
Simran (Kajol) meets this guy, Raj (Shahrukh) while on a holiday trip to Europe with her friends on the Eurorail. She starts liking Raj, whose mischievous and adorable manner wins her heart. But at the end of the trip, when they go back, Simran is in for a shock when she is told by her father, played beautifully as the concerned, average, NRI father, Amrish Puri, that she is to get married to a Punjabi munda , played very well by Parmeet Sethi, back in India. Simran’s confessions about Raj hasten the situation and hence overnight the family leaves for India.
The quest for Simran leads Raj to his motherland where he lands up as a friend at her very house, and due to his fun loving nature and a get-along attitude he soon wins the hearts of the entire household, even Amrish Puri. The scene where he is trying his hand at pigeon-feeding with Amrish Puri confidently is done amazingly. Soon the beans are spilled and all hell breaks loose, with a good maine-kaha-tha-na dialogue delivery by Kajol. But, soon Amrish Puri realizes his mistake and reunites the two lovers.
Acting is again superb by Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, they made an award-winning pair, also Fareeda Jalal who plays Kajol’s mother acted too good to be true. The songs are lovely, especially ‘Tujhe dekha to’ is shot beautifully among the sarson-da-fields. Also not to forget ‘Ho gaya hai tujhoko to pyaar’, ‘Mere khwabon mein jo aaye’, ‘Ruk jaa’.
In all the movie deserves all the adulation, applause, awards, bouquets and the like.
Good job, Aditya Chopra!