Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna Movie Reviews

The music of life stops playing a pleasant tune when stagnancy enters a relationship. A relationship you can€™t do without. For you are not supposed to. In fact the institution of marriage is so sacred that it deserves to be given loads of time-n-importance. As the tepid waters of time pass by, it is natural to be taken-for-granted. Intentionally. Or unintentionally. Maybe, it is also natural to find happiness in someone else€™s Solitude. At times. And it need not be merely sexual gratification. Companionship is far more important in a world that is breaking apart. That€™s precisely the subtext of Karan Johar€™s best work till date€¦Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. A film that earns him immense respect for the sheer belief in experimenting with a bold subject with enormous amounts of dignity!

Filmmakers have experimented with extra marital affairs before this and they shall continue doing after this too. Yet, the sexual consummation between they-who-commit-the-sin in KANK is more out of a need to establish their Bond rather than a rush-of-teenage-blood. KJ makes it clear in sequencing the entire plot that he believed in his story (Co€“written with Shibani Bathija) and is not going to compromise on executing exactly the way he wants to. There are moments when you feel the story is going to take the predictable way out. Yet, it ends on a most unpredictable note. So, you are already too curious! Let me give you a sneak peak into what the story is all about.

Dev Saran (Shahrukh Khan) is an ace club footballer in New York with a sarcastic sense of humour. His ambitious wife Riya (Preity Zinta) is a high profile fashion journalist with €˜Diva€™ magazine. Both are unable to find time to spend with each other. Or rather Riya doesn€™t have much time for her husband and son Arjun (Ahsaas Channa). Dev meets with a car accident as he is coming out of Maya€™s (Rani Mukherjee) marriage ceremony with Rishi Talwar (Abhishek Bachchan).

With a limp in his leg and an extra baggage of lost hopes, Dev has a chance meeting with Maya after a gap of four years. Somehow both are unhappy in their respective marriages. They befriend to help each other get closer to their respective spouses. After a few funny-n-failed attempts later, they drift closer. Instead. A bit too close for the comfort of others. Rishi€™s flambouyant father Samarjit Singh Talwar (Amitabh Bachchan) gets to know about the rift in his son€™s marriage. He tries his level best by collaborating with Dev€™s mother (Kirron Kher) so that the two marriages could be saved. But maybe there are a few problems which take their own course in solving themselves.

I think Karan Johar is in the best phase of his career as a master story teller where he has kept the conventional modes of entertainment value in mind (Song-n-dance, lavish costumes and A-list of actors) but at the same time he has daringly broken the conventions as well. Maybe the initial public reaction may be a bit confusing and a little less encouraging, yet Johar should not lose heart. For, with KANK, he shuts the mouth of all those who call his brand of filmmaking as bubblegum-n-candy-floss. Karan Johar is brilliant, and the intensity of KANK sweeps you off to the magical world of yet unexplored emotions. A must watch for all who understand the foreplay of emotions.
He has taken a step forward in redefining the paradigm of Relationships. And also about the way we look at relationships. But maybe Karan should have curtailed the length of the film as it tends to get too slow at times.

In a big film like KANK, people must be having loads of expectations from the star cast. And the stars don€™t let down either. Amitabh Bachchan as Sexy Sam is super-cool-at-sixty-five. He leaves no stone unturned in playing the role of an incorrigible skirt chaser. Be it his styling, garish-yet-cool clothes or his nok-jhok with Mrs Chandigarh Kirron Kher, Bachchan Senior is a true master and sparkles effortlessly. His camaraderie with Junior B is magnificent. This Son and Dad jodi Simply Rocks. You are gonna be seeing much more of them in the future. Together that is.

Shahrukh Khan successfully breaks the shackles of The Big Hero Image he has always been associated with. But like Karan, he is unconventional without forgetting what he is best known for. Although he bends on his broken knee (How can a Hero be a cripple, but this one looks great) that is paining, yet he propositions to his lady love Rani with the same arrogance that was associated with the Rahul and Raj of €˜Kuch Kuch Hota Hai€™ or €˜Dil To Pagal Hai€™. After €˜Swades€™ I would rate this as his best performance this century. SRK as Dev Saran the lovingly strict father, a husband who is unable to react when his wife says that €˜I am the man in this house€™ or the man who indulges in sexual jealousy when he watches Maya being pawed by her husband€¦SRK enters yours heart-n-soul with a graceful ease.

Abhishek Bachchan€™s Rishi is young, restless and suave. The camaraderie he shares with his flirtatious father and the ease with which he charms people is hard to miss. Junior B will go places after KANK. He is looking million dollars and his acting skills are getting better with each film. Rani Mukherjee shares an excellent chemistry with Shahrukh. It€™s as if they are made for each other. After Shahrukh-Kajol, Kajol-Aamir, SRK-Rani pairing emerges trumps and ought to be repeated by more directors. Although her role is less glamorous, yet she enthuses a lot of charisma in enunciating the detailing of her layered character. Preity Zinta€™s Riya will be remembered as one of her finest performance although it may be bracketed in the supporting actress category. She looks gorgeous, wears the prettiest of dresses, dances like a rockstar and looks cool as she slaps SRK stunning the audience in silence.

The supporting star cast of Kirron Kher and Arjun Rampal are efficient while Kajol in €˜Rock-n-Roll Soniye€™ and John Abraham in €˜Where€™s the Party Tonight€™ make their presence felt. In fact, I would say Kajol Rocked in that two minute bit scene. Costumes by Manish Malhotra and Choreography by Farah Khan were beyond expectations. Anil Mehta€™s camera work was phenomenally ethereal. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy€™s music was special for the title track, €˜Mitwa€™, €˜Rock-n-Roll Soniye€™, €˜Where€™s The Party Tonight€™ and €˜Tumhi Keh Do Na€™. Finally if you ask me, if KANK is worth your ticket money? I would say, it€™s an experience that stays on with you. Go check out KANK before the Ticket window gets congested with too-much-demand. It€™s worth the hype€¦