No, this is not yet another diatribe against karan johar for his larger than life portrayal of emotions and nor is this any foolish article abound with praise for him for his peerless midas touch. this is a mere justification for all the criticism KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA decidely faced.
Karan johar’s latest offering may have made 120 crores but it has brought a heavy downfall in karan johar fan club and has raised quite afew eyebrows because of its convoluted central plot. so, the goings-on were enough reasons for me to clear the fog about the imisunderstood integrity and determination karan johar showed in making a coming-of-age film like KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA.
The charisma of karan johar films was inimitable until KANK happened. one brave attempt by johar and everything was shattered to pieces. the film touched a fewer hearts than it broke some because of the anti-karan johar territory subject i.e. imperfection.
SRK and KJ had already made it clear pre-KANK release that the film was about flawed human beings. so what was wrong if karan johar decided to present SHAH RUKH and RANI as fallible people instead of the epitomes of goodness ?
when the film is about to end, a few lines echo in SRK’s voiceover articulating the theme of the movie perfectly. the line goes like this....
*"AKSAR YEH KHAYAL AATA HAI, KI IS MOHABBAT KI MANZIL TOOTE HUE DILON K RAASTE SE NAA GUZRE HOTE"
*SRK and RANI in the film were true soulmates. it was just very unfortunate that they found their love after commitment and had to sacrifice an already established marital life for it. the film had clearly explained the aforementioned fact. but one is simply shocked when people went out of their ways to pan KARAN JOHAR for his lead characters’ immorality.
in BAAZIGAR, SRK threw SHILPA SHETTY off a 20 storeyed building, SAIF ALI KHAN betrayed AJAY DEVGAN so ruthlessly in OMKARA, ABHISHEK BACHCHAN killed his own brother for power in YUVA, SANJAY DUTT has played the role of a violent gangster in umpteen no. of movies. so does that make all those films bad becuase their central characters had dark gery shades ?
why cant people digest SRK palying anything else than a perfect heroic lover boy with all the virtues under the sun ?
SRK is unhappy with PREITY, more so because of his own failure and his more successful wife. this angle, if one noticed had the elements of the central theme of the hrishi da classic **ABHIMAAN. **but I see no one complaining about amitabh’s character being flawed. just because its made by the so called "feminine" lesser respected , more attacked about his private affairs director known as KARAN JOHAR.
and however nice ABHISHEK’s character was, it was just not a good match for RANI. remember the scene when ABHISHEK kicks off a topic but avoids any discussion on it. that does irritate a lot. and how would you feel when you are not in the right mood to party and your hubby, inconsiderate of your state of mind, just openly forcs you to dance ? some people do take such small things to heart and get hurt, and RANI was one of them.
SRK is also quoted saying in the second half "**our love affair was a world of dreams". **QUITE TRUE. and besides, they even had the guts to admit it later to their spouses. all and all, the characters essayed by SRK an RANI were just a tad selfish and even tried to make amends for it later though failingly.
no doubts, SRK and RANI as DEV and MAYA were marred and incomplete human beings. but that doesnt hamper the movie’s quality. karan johar did not claim to give a message and neither did he set out to teach a lesson to others. he just etched out yet another love story witha few more tangles and complications than his previous ventures for a nice change.
I agree that people do differ when it comes to choice of films but there is no alternate option in intrepreting the theme of the movie and shouting from the top of the roofs that the film was ridiculous and mediocre.
thus, all of those who disliked KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA, go and better test your sensibilities for the better.
*COMMENTS HUGELY AWIATED [ EVEN MORE THAN THE RATINGS ]
*TILL NEXT TIME
HARSH
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