A fe giggles, a few smiles, and a few tears - KABHI HAAN KABHI NAA touches your senses in every probable manner. Kundan shah struts his stuff adeptly.
A simple story of a boy-next-door suniel, his priorities, his short comings, his unrequited love life, and finally his growing up is so well told that you don’t wanna move a single inch from your seat. KHKN has a soul that tugs at your heartsrings to the extremes.
"all the love stories can not have happy endings". this is the bitter truth of life. gladly, kundan shah doesn’t choose a larger-than-life plot and retains the basic human traits while penning the characters. thats the reason why even the minor characters have made a strong impact, from albert who prefers her sister go out with Mr. ritchie rich chris than the bumbling stumbling suniel to chris’ status-conscious mother who doesn’t like the sight of her son fancying the daughter of a "double roti wala". true !
The cinematography could have been much brighter and better but is none-the-less apt for the sun shiny milieu of goa. still, its the only factor that can go against this breezy feel-good movie that is treated in an english-like manner.
Farah khan made her debut with this film and the songs really convey the characters’ state of emotions in the narrative rather than being picturised with some dozens of dancers employed for jumping regardlessly. jatin-lalit’s contribution is at par with some tilting melodies all through it.
performance-wise, Shah rukh khan steals the show non-chalantly. he does his typical "play-to-the-gallery" stuff and even underplays in between just at the needed occasions and comes up with a brillianrt performance. he was the most responsible factor for the activation of one’s tear glands to the fullest in the climax. [ along with the director and the background score ].
deepak tijori is fine while suchitra krishnamurthy understandably underplays. the entire supporting cast is worth a mention - be it Naseeruddin shah, goga kapoor, satish shah or kurush deboo.
the moral message that life has to move on is conveyed convincingly [ and entertainingly too, thanks to the needs of a typical commercial hindi film ] just don’t question how so many cars and dancers land up on the china town stage during the song "sachchi ye kahana hai"....
*"NOTE MAT KARO, FEEL KARO"
final rating - 1/2
P.S. - dont’ forget to leave a comment anyways.
cheers