A master storyteller is the one who can present even complicated storylines with utmost simplicity. That’s what Yash Chopra did with Kabhi Kabhie, a film still remembered today for its evergreen songs and a wonderful plot. My review on this wonderful film is dedicated to Pooja Paliwal who was born in the same year as the film’s release-1976!
The story of the movie: Amit Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan) is a budding poet and Pooja (Rakhee Gulzar), a student in his college, is her diehard fan. They meet and fall in love. Unfortunately, Pooja’s parents arrange her marriage with an architect, Vijay Khanna (Shashi Kapoor). Pooja accept this decision without even telling her parents about Amit. Pooja gets married and the heartbroken Amit quits writing poems permanently and joins his father’s construction business in a hillside area. Pooja, on the other hand, nicely adjusts with Vijay. The film then leaps 20 years forward. Vijay’s dashing son Vikram aka Vicky (Rishi Kapoor) falls in love with Pinky (Neetu Singh), daughter of Kapoors (Parikshit Sahni and Simi Garewal). As both Vicky and Pooja plan to get married, their respective parents meet each other and accept the proposal. However, Pooja’s parents at this point reveal to Pinky that they had adopted her when she was a child. A shocked Pinky decides to hunt for her real mother, Anjali (Waheeda Rahman). She finally finds her happily married to Amit and with a daughter Sweety (Naseem). With such chain of events, the old lovers later come face to face once again.
Kabhi Kabhie moves with a smooth flow. Although there are too many songs in the first 40 minutes, major developments take place in the plot at the same time. Characters are well established, their interactions, though minimal seem satisfactory and the story jumps 20 years ahead too. Another speciality of the film is that although there are so many characters in the film, each one has equal amount of screen time, be it Big B or Rakhee or Shashi or the young couple-Rishi and Neetu. Something like this is quite rare and the fact that Yash Chopra managed to do it is a significant feat!
The film is pure and made with honest intentions. It celebrates love and gives some lessons on relationships. It affirms that sometimes, all it needs is non-egoistic attitude and a little understanding and maturity! It tackles various issues and comes out with flying colours almost. Two things didn’t quite work in the film. First, Anjali’s motive behind abandoning Pooja didn’t seem convincing. And second, Vicky landing up at Amit’s house was excellent but there was no need for him to hit on Sweety. It complicated things for him later but then it also paved the way for a ‘thrilling’ and ‘nail-biting’ finale when Sweety runs away on a horse and almost everyone follows her (watch out for Shashi Kapoor in this scene…he looks damn funny!)! However, the end seemed justified and the film overall seems satisfying. And that’s where the film wins!
Each and every actor pitches in a bravura performance. This isn’t considered as one of the best works of Amitabh Bachchan, also because he didn’t have a full-fledged role. But notice the subtle performance of Big B here and you realize that he was and is indeed one of the best actors around. His chemistry with Raakhee was excellent but it was his scenes with Naseem that put a smile on viewer’s face! Rakhee Gulzar wonderfully leaves a mark, more so with her expressions in many scenes. Shashi Kapoor as the loud happy-go-lucky guy is immensely likeable. He impresses the most during the climax in the confrontation with Rakhee. His interaction with Amitabh didn’t have the same impact as in Deewar but was still interesting. But it was his scenes with his son (Rishi) that completely rocks!
Rishi Kapoor, the charismatic actor, was in his top form in the film and steals heart from his intro scene itself. Same goes for Neetu Singh who looked stunning throughout the film. Waheeda Rahman enters the narrative quite late but does a great job. Naseem was perfect for her role. Wonder why she was never seen again in any film. Parikshit Sahni and Simi Garewal were alright for their parts.
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