Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna – Do not attempt this in your family
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I remember the best bollywood flicks ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ and ‘Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham’ which were wonderfully written and created on screen. But KANK looses all its plots with more crying and lengthy story line. This is said to be one of the biggest releases this year because of its star cast and Karan Johar, just like Faana. The movie is 3 minutes story but it was pulled to 3 hrs, if given to Ektha Kapoor it would have been 300 episodes. The tickets for the movie are been booked for 5days in advance. Every time Karan made only artists to cry, but this time he also made jantha to cry. Some people left theatre before the climax.
The story is set in New York City, revolves around two families with their value for human relations. Like Johar’s previous movies this also has family sentiments, values and happiness, only thing here is no girl or boy falling in love, it’s a story of two married couples with troubled marriages. Marriages are supposed to unite men and women, make them companions for life. But can a marriage work if there is lack of love, understanding, commitment and caring for one’s spouse. Marriages may be made in heaven, but they meet their fate on earth.
Family 1: Dev Sharan (Sharukh) is a sentimental, sensitive and a football lover is a husband to Rhea (Preity) and father of a kid. He believes and loves his wife, but deep within he also disgust due to her lack of commitment to the family and concentration on her career. Rhea is a modern, professional and confident woman, and also not the typical traditional women. She values her freedom very much. She lives her life in her way; she sometimes neglects her responsibilities towards her husband and son. Sharukh’s mother Kamaljeet (Kiron Kher) stays with them; she is a woman who has embraced the modern lifestyle of the West without losing touch with her traditional roots. Sharukh’s kid, who is a mother’s son, he is interested in Violin as per his mother’s choice and not be a football player like his father.
Family 2: Rishi Talwar (Abhishek) a stylish, modern and fun loving man. He loves his wife Maya (Rani), but he can’t understand one particular side of her personality that comes up now and then in their most intimate moments. Maya is a woman coming to terms with her own inner conflicts. She cannot have children. This always pesters her mind and affects her relationship with her husband. She somehow tries to make up for this by teaching at a school. But deep within her are feelings which she doubts Rishi will ever understand. Sam (Amitabh Bachchan) is Rishi’s father, who is a playboy after his wife is dead. Sam is a wise man who notices everything silently and doles out advice in the most appropriate manner.
Story: One New York afternoon Dev meets Maya on the bench in a park, that will be Dev and Rhea’s marriage anniversary and Rishi and Maya’s wedding day. Later Dev meets with an accident injuring his leg. His football dreams are shattered before fruition. Three years later Dev meets Maya. As the two spend time together, the holes in their respective marriages become more apparent to each other. Soon they realize that they understand each other much better than they had imagined. But there is more than mutual understanding to the relationship between Dev and Maya. Beneath the surface lurks stronger emotions – emotions that both of them know they must fight. But the more they try to suppress, the stronger their feelings become.
One day Maya tells Rishi and Dev explains Rhea about their love- and are compelled to leave their homes. They both go out on their own and stay far for 3 years, without knowing about each other’s separation from their spouses. Later, Rishi meets Maya and takes her home and Dev get an appointment from Toronto and leaves telling Rhea. In a party Rishi and Rhea meets, discusses the situation that both Dev and Maya were far from them for three years and they never met. Rishi tells Maya to go with Dev and be happy, Maya meets Dev at the railway station and Dev accepts Maya and that ends the story.
Preity and Abhishek had performed better than the lead roles played by Rani and Sharukh. Amitabh Bachchan and Kiron Kher do some justice to their role.
Behind the screen: The background music and re-recording of KANK is too crowded, some time we need to close ears due to heavy sound. The trio Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy has composed average music where the title song stands the best throughout the movie, ‘Mitwa’ song seems to be like Junoon’s ‘Sayonee’ or one of the tracks from Shankar Mahadevan’s ‘Nine.’ The track ‘Where’s The Party Tonight’ is rocking just like ‘It’s the time to disco’ from ‘Kal Ho Na Ho.’ Farah Khan managed Choreography well, it might be Abhishek and Amithab dancing together and Kajol joining to their steps, also the song ‘Where’s The Party Tonight’ is been done well with clear steps.
There is no big scope for better cinematography by Anil Mehta, though the movie is shot in New York city all the locations he shot was looking good. The editing was jumbled very much, in ‘Mitwa’ song Sharukh mouth tells something and background sound is something else, there are lost like this throughout the movie. Dialogues by Niranjan Iyenger were convincing.
Costume Designer Manish Malhotra plays an important role in the whole movie, Sharukh, Abhishek & Amithab has excellent costumes but believe it or not the costumes for Rani and Preethi were very less and exposed. If you remember Johar’s previous movies KKHH and K3G, he exhibits Indian women in a simple and stylish manner, we cannot find out the actress exposed too much.
The story by Shibani Bathija is unrealistic; she is the writer who wrote Faana, year’s biggest blockbuster at the box-office. The movie screenplay has cheap gimmicks and tragedy. There is a reason why Sharukh has to fall in love with Rani, but there is no strong reason why Rani falls in love with Sharukh. Also when Sharukh and Rani go to a hotel room and get physical, the depiction is too vulgar. There is no emotional linkage to the scene. Mere bad temptation that too only Sharukh’s part, while Rani continues to cry.
The movie would make good money at the box-office but Karan Johar fails to win people’s heart, this time around.