India's official entry for the 79th Annual Academy Awards II

Anyways, now that Rang De Basanti has been nominated as India’s official entry to the 79th Annual Academy Awards, I feel that it has a good chance of making it to the final five. The main reason for it in my view is that the movie would be able to stand on its own keeping in mind the theme of the film and its relevance in today’s time.

Further, the presence of Aamir Khan in the film should ring a bell for the jury members as Aamir Khan was in the United States of America in the year 2002 when his film Lagaan was nominated as India’s entry to the Annual Academy Awards and was in fact nominated in as one of the five films in the Best Foreign Film category. The previous occasions when Indian films were nominated at the Annual Academy Awards were Mehboob Khan’s Mother India and Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay. Interestingly, Deepa Mehta’s “Water” is Canada’s official entry for the 79th Annual Academy Awards.

Here is wishing Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, Aamir Khan, Ronnie Screwala and the rest of the team of Rang De Basanti all the very best and hope that they manage to bring Indian cinema on the world map.

India's official entry for 79th Annual Academy Awards I

The announcement for India’s official entry to the 79th Annual Academy Awards (Oscar Awards) was made yesterday. The competition was very tough as this year, Bollywood has had a very good run at the box office. There were movies like Lage Raho Munnabhai, Omkara, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Krrish and Rang De Basanti that were in the fray for being selected as India's official entry for the 79th Annual Academy Awards. Finally, the results were out yesterday and Rang De Basanti has been nominated as India’s entry to the 79th Annual Academy Awards this year.

In my view, out of the above movies that were in contention, the only movies that had a real chance of nomination were Lage Raho Munnabhai, Omkara and Rang De Basanti. I was very sure that Krrish and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna would never make the cut for the simple reason that although both being commercial blockbusters, they had nothing to offer that would be worthy to represent Indian Cinema at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. On the other hand, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Omkara and Rang De Basanti were all movies that would have made Indian cinema stand out amongst world cinema at the 79th Annual Academy Awards.

Don - VII

I am totally excited to see Farhan Akhtar’s Don. Not because of Shahrukh Khan but because of Farhan Akhtar and because of the fact that I totally loved the original Chandra Barot’s Don.

I have lot of respect for Farhan Akhtar as a director and a story teller. I thought Dil Chahta Hai was a fantastic debut for Farhan Akhtar and he followed it up with an even better Lakshya. Although Lakshya did not do very well commercially, I thought that it was a very good film in terms of storytelling and performance. According to me, Lakshya will definitely go down as one of better performances of Hrithik Roshan.

One interesting trivia about Farhan Akhtar’s Don was that Hrithik Roshan was supposed to play the main lead of Don / Vijay. However, it didn’t work out as a result of which Farhan Akhtar approached Shahrukh Khan for the role which was gladly accepted by Shahrukh Khan.

Don - VI

They don’t make dancers like Helen any more. The song Yeh Mera Dil, picturesed on Kareena Kapoor is strictly okay. I did not find Kareena Kapooor to be as spunky and vivacious as Helen. It’s been sung by Sunidhi Chauhan in a very husky voice, apparently to ensure that it goes with the personality of Kareena Kapoor. I am not sure if the song Yeh Mera Dil picturised on Kareena Kapoor is getting good reviews. I don’t think the song is doing that great as well.

The music of the film, at least what has been shown on television has been fairly average with nothing to write home about. However, I am awaiting the main song i.e, Khaike Pan Banaraswala and am really interested in knowing how Farhan Akhtar – Javed Akhtar – Shankar Ehsan Loy would have done this song in view of the fact that this is one of the two songs that they have retained in the remake. The promos of Khaike Pan Banarswala have already started and it’s got the fresh voice of Udit Narayan, who seems to be in his elements while singing this song. He’s sounding very good. Maybe because the beat of this song is such that it has to sound good. From the promos, it seems that the basic orchestration seems to be the same. However, it would be very difficult to rate a song based on a 5 second promo. So, will have to wait for the real thing. The interesting trivia about this song Khaike Pan Banaraswala is that when Kishore Kumar was recording the song, he actually had a pan and sung the opening lines "Arrre Bhang Ka Rang Jama Ho Chakachak, Phir Lyo Pan Chabaay, Arre Aisa Jhatka, Lage Jiya Pe, Punar Janam Hui Jaaye". No wonder the song was such a huge hit. Not only did it have a magical voice of Kishore Kumar at work, it also had the attitude which was so effortlessly carried on screen by Amitabh Bachchan.

Don - V

The music of Farhan Akhtar’s Don is by Shankar Ehsaan and Loy and the lyrics are by Javed Akhtar. Farhan Akhtar has retained two songs from the original Don i.e., Khaike Pan Banaraswala and Yeh Mera Dil and Shanker Ehsaan and Loy have given a jazzed up remixed version of these two songs. So far, they have aired three songs from the film, i.e., Moriya Re (co-inciding with the just concluded Ganesha Festival), the ever-green Yeh Mera Dil and the remixed, re-worded, re-composed and jazzed up Main Hoon Don.

The title track Main Hoon Don has been sung by Shaan. In the original Don, Kishore Kumar had breathed life into the song by his playful singing. Probably keeping this in mind, Shankar Ehsaan and Loy have consciously ensured to stay away from the original soundtrack of Main Hoon Don and have come up with a very stylized and very techno soundtrack. Personally, I like this song and Shaan has done a wonderful job and so have Shankar Ehsaan and Loy.

Don - IV

However, from the television interviews of Farhan Akhtar, it seems that he has made slight changes to the story line of Don and keeping the same in sync with today’s generation.. Another departure apparently is that Farhan Akhtar’s Don is meaner, more suave and very stylish.

Unfortunately, it seems Shahrukh Khan has put in lot of effort to act (read ham) to look mean as the Don and I think that this may be the reason for him not succeeding as Don. One look at Shahrukh Khan’s filmography as a mean, negative or action oriented role, and it would be clear that he has not had great run either at the box office or for critical acclaim save and except Darr and Baazigar.

He’s had pretty disastrous outings as a baddie / action oriented roles viz., Anjaam, One Two Ka Four, Ram Jaane, Duplicate etc. Anyways, this would be another test for the great Shahrukh Khan to prove his mettle as an actor considering his movies that have done earth-shattering business till date have only been candy-floss mushy and romantic films. Although very little, but Shahrukh Khan has made some of these above attempts at playing negative / bad / action oriented roles but with very little success.

Don - III

The main characters in Farhan Akhtar’s Don are pretty much the same as that of Chandra Barot’s original Don.

Name of Character – Farhan Akhtar’s Don (Remake) – Chandra Barot’s Don (Original)

Don / Vijay – Shahrukh Khan (earlier played by Amitabh Bachchan in the original)

Roma – Priyanka Chopra (earlier played by Zeenat Aman in the original)

Jasjit – Arjun Rampal (earlier played by Pran in the original)

Inspector D’Silva – Boman Irani (earlier played by Iftikhar in the original)

Malik – Om Puri (earlier played by Om Shiv Puri in the original)

Anita – Isha Koppikar (earlier played by Aparna Choudhary in the original)

Kamini – Kareena Kapoor (earlier played by Helen in the original)

Don - II

Fortunately or unfortunately, comparisons to the original Don are inevitable. The original Don (1978) was directed by Chandra Barot and was written by Salim – Javed duo and earned Amitabh Bachchan his Filmfare Best Actor Award. The music of the film was by Kalyanji Anandji and the lyrics were by Anjaan. All the songs in the film were superhit especially the Khaike Pan Banaraswala, Main Hoon Don and Yeh Mera Dil.

Farhan Akhtar is remaking this 1978 classic where Shahrukh Khan takes over the mantle (and huge responsibility) of playing the characters of both Don and Vijay. The television promos of this film have started and one thing that comes across immediately is that this is a very stylized version of the film.

Don - I

Don ki talash gyaraah mulkon ki police kar rahi hai, lekin Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin, na mumkin hai!

This famous dialogue (I may not have got the dialogue verbatim) from the movie Don brings back the memories of Amitabh Bachchan with his trademark booming baritone playing the unforgettable Don in this 1978 super hit film. Unfortunately, Shahrukh Khan, in Farhan Akhtar’s remake of the same film, does not sound as effective as Amitabh Bachchan when he says this same dialogue.

Omkara - V

To sum up, I don’t think that these minor negatives can in any way affect the quality of the film. Omkara is one of the best films to be released in recent times. It takes lot of guts and gumption to make a film like Omkara and to say that Vishal Bharadwaj has excelled in his endeavour to make a good film, would be an understatement. I would be surprised if Omkara does not sweep away all the major awards next year.

Vishal Bharadwaj is clearly one of the leading film makers we have today and considering his earlier films Makdee and Maqbool, he has proven himself beyond anybody’s doubts about his ability as a master story teller. He’s here to stay and will in time to come, become one of our finest filmmakers.

Omkara - IV

One of the negatives in the film may have been the language. Although, the story and Uttar Pradesh settings demanded use of such language, the local Uttar Pradesh dialect can be difficult to understand. Which probably was one reason why the movie could have done even better than what it already is. Needlessly to say that the movie is both, critical and (huge) commercial hit.

Another negative is the excessive use of expletives in the film. I guess the story demanded use of expletives. Although I’m not too sure, but the use of the foul language in the film makes it difficult for a whole family to watch the film together. Nonetheless, I think that the cuss words were very effective to the narrative of the film. After the release of the film, there was this big hype about use of foul language and actually somebody had taken the producers and director of Omkara to court to cut out the expletives. Of course, the court said that if the censor board has passed the film with the expletives so be it and the request was rightly turned down by the court.

Omkara - III

Naseeruddin Shah as the politician Bhaisahab has very limited to do and is good at it. Ajay Devgan as Omkara the weak, suspecting and jealous protagonist is awesome and clearly is in his elements and having the time of his life in his career. He’s really transformed into one of the leading actors of his time. His brooding intensity and his earnest potrayal of Omkara comes across effortlessly onto screen. Ajay Devgan breathes life into the character of Omkara as if he was living it. Konkona Sen Sharma as Indu, wife of Langda Tyagi is also top rate. Even though Kareena Kapoor does not have much to do, she’s done a pretty decent job of whatever little scope her character had. Bipasha Basu did not have much to do in the film. One surprise element in the film is Deepak Dobriyal who makes his debut in this film. He has shown good promise and with good roles, will emerge as a good acting talent.

However, the entire movie belongs to the devil himself, LANGDA TYAGI!!! Inspite of not having an author backed role, Saif Ali Khan has managed to come out tops with flying colours. He has infused reality into his scheming Langda Tyagi character. Right from the look to the mannerisms to the language to the body language – everything is awesome! His entire performance where he tries to ensure Kesu Firangi’s downfall and his attempts to poison Omkara’s mind against Dolly Mishra. I've read in media reports that he actually consumed tobacco to get that realistic look (read dirty teeth) and he had to make many visits to his dentist after the shooting of the film was completed. Saif Ali Khan probably should win all the major awards for his terrific potrayal of Langda Tyagi and this movie would go down as one of his finest performances of his career. Here's another actor who's broken the rules and done movies ranging from Dil Chahta Hai to Kal Ho Naa Ho to Hum Tum to Salaam Namaste to Being Cyrus to Omkara. What a range!!!! He's grown into a very fine and mature actor.

Omkara - II

The story is set in Uttar Pradesh (a Northern state in India) where Omkara “Omi” Shukla is the “Bahubali” to Bhaisahab and leads a gang of outlaws. Amongst other cohorts, Langda Tyagi and Kesu Firangi are the two trusted lieutenants to Omkara. When Bhaisahab moves from the local politics to a higher level, he appoints Omkara in his place. And when the time comes, Omkara appoints Kesu Firangi as his “Bahubali”, much to the disappointment of Langda Tyagi who has been his trusted lieutenant for over 15 years. This is where the movie becomes extremely interesting as from this point on, Langda Tyagi schemes the downfall of Kesu Firangi and unknowingly triggers off a chain of events that destroys everything around him and Omkara.

Right from the story to the script to screenplay and most importantly the characterizations of the lead actors, Vishal Bharadwaj is top rate in every department of filmmaking. However, he could have totally done away with the music in the film as it tends to dilute the intensity of the story and disturb the narrative flow. Save and except the title track, all the songs were dragging the plot. And the title song has been sung exceptionally well by Sukhwinder Singh setting out the (mostly bad) qualities of Omkara. The title track has very good music and lyrics.

If the other songs were cut out of the film, then the impact of the movie would have been significantly higher. However, these days, producers have to keep the commercial parameters in mind while producing the film and I guess the same would have happened to Omkara. There were two item songs “Beedi” and “Namak” in the film. Of course, the song “Beedi” is a huge hit and may have ensured good sales of music of the film. Of course, it also had Bipasha Basu as Billo Chaman Bahar gyrating to the beats of “Beedi” with the wily Langda Tyagi and her lover Kesu Firangi.

Omkara - I

Evil! Thy name is Langda Tyagi!!!

Omkara (2006) directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Deepak Dobriyal (debut) Bipasha Basu and Naseeruddin Shah, was released about 5-6 weeks back and is doing amazing business at the box office, both India and abroad.

Omkara is Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello. Ajay Devgan plays Omkara “Omi” Shukla (Othello), Kareena Kapoor is Dolly Mishra (Desdemona), Saif Ali Khan is Ishwar “Langda” Tyagi (Iago), Vivek Oberoi is Keshav “Kesu Firangi” Upadhyay (Cassio), Bipasha Basu as Billo Chaman Bahar and Naseeruddin Shah as Bhaisahab.

Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of Othello is very impressive, even though I haven’t read Othello at all. However, in one of the promotional interviews, Vishal Bharadwaj said that slight changes were made while making Omkara. Vishal Bharadwaj also wears many hats while he was at the helm of Omkara. He has co-written the screenplay and the dialogues of the film. He has also composed the music of the film. Very talented indeed!!

Happy Birthday Asha Bhosle - II

In her career spanning six decades, Asha Bhosle has numerous awards. Some of the main awards won by her are as follows

7 Filmfare Awards:

Don (1978) - Yeh Mera Dil Pyaar Ka Deewana
Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1974) - Chain Se Kabhi
Naina (1973) - Hone Lagi Hai Raat Jawan
Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1972) - Dum Mara Dum
Caravan (1971) - Piya Tu Ab To Aaja
Shikaar (1968) - Parde Mein Rehne Do
Dus Lakh (1967) - Garibon Ke Suno

2 Indian National Awards for:

Umrao Jaan (1981) - Dil Cheez Kya Hai
Ijazat (1986) - Mera Kuch Samaan

In 1997, she became the first Indian singer to be nominated for the Grammy Award, for Legacy, an album with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. She has received seventeen Maharashtra State Awards. She received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001 for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.

Here is wishing Asha Bhosle many happy returns of the day!!!

Happy Birthday Asha Bhosle - I

Asha Bhosle, the diva of Indian film industry was born on September 8, 1933 in Sangli, Maharashtra, into the musical family of Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar. Her father was a theater actor and classical singer who had been born in the village of Mangeshi in Goa. When she was nine years old, her father died and their family moved from Pune to Kolhapur and then to Bombay. She and her famous older sister Lata Mangeshkar began singing and acting in films to support their family.

Her career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over 900 Bollywood movies and sold many records. Nobody knows exactly how many songs she has sung, but in one of her interviews she had said that she may have sung more than 12,000 songs in her entire career spanning six decades. Some people believe that she may have sung more than 20,000-25,000 songs in her career.

Asha Bhosle has sung songs primarily from film music and continued to sing and excel at pop music, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian Classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, and Rabindra Sangeet. She has sung for actresses right from the 40’s till date and continues to wow audiences with her ever so young voice.

She has worked with various music directors right from O. P. Nayyar to Khayyam to Sachin Dev Burman and Rahul Dev Burman and right upto A. R. Rahman.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie IX

However, I would like to add one comment of my own. Towards the end of the film, there is a dialogue. I cannot remember the whole dialogue, but it says that for a successful marriage to work, the only thing one needs is “be-intehaan mohabbat” meaning tremendous love. From personal experience (and at the cost of sound like a cynic), I can say that these things when said on screen, sound very good but is not the entire truth. It is not just love that can sustain a successful marriage. There has to be trust between the two people, there has to be respect for one another, there has to be transparency in the relationship and there has to be faith between the two people. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. This is what I feel. Of course, I could be wrong here. But this is what I genuinely believe. And it is this aspect of marriage that has not been explored by Karan Johar in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and which is why I think he’s gone wrong in dealing with the sensitive issue of an extra-marital affair. Had he done that, I think the movie would have been far too superior than what it is today. Anyways, these are just the thoughts of an amateur blogger.

What do you guys think of what I’ve said above? Does anybody have any comments?

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie VIII

One guy who’s risen above the circumspect acting in the movie of the other stars and the flawed script / story, is Abhishek Bachchan. He is so very natural. He is quite effortless with a range of emotions right from funny, to being loving and caring husband to a raging husband to a grieving son who knows that he is about to lose his father. His jig on the song “Just Chill” was quite good. And he was the junior most in comparison to all other stars in the film in terms of acting, number of years in the industry, accolates and hits. And yet he stood out. He’s clearly here to stay and for a long time.

Another aspect that stood out in the film was the chemistry between Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. These two are very good together and their off-screen chemistry comes so naturally on screen.

All in all, my take on Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is that it’s a bad movie with bad performances (except Abhishek Bachchan), bad music and a really bad story. However, the box office collections have another story to tell. Which may also throw some light on my skills to write a critique about a film.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie VII

Music of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and lyrics are by Javed Akhtar. Sadly, the music is lacklusture. The only passable song is Mitwaa and it has some very good lyrics. However, one striking fact about this song in the movie is that the lyrics of the song do not match with the situation in the film. I don’t know if anybody else felt this way. The other song Rock and Roll Soniye is totally in the Kajra Re mould and tries to capture the chemistry of Amitabh Bachchan-Abhishek Bachchan. Other than that, there is not even one song worth its salt that needs mentioning.

In terms of performances, I thought that this possibly was Shahrukh Khan’s worst performances. For some reason, the way he has acted in this film, reminded me of the way he acted in Ram Jaane. He is trying too hard to live the flawed character but just ends up looking unconvincing. Frankly, he has not done justice to the role. Of course, his presence has ensured stupendous box office collections for Karan Johar. But that’s a different story and I’ve dealt with it. Rani Mukherji was strictly okay and Preity Zinta did not have much to do except wear designer outfits and look good. Amitabh Bachchan as Sexy Sam was okay.

Karan Johar in his promotional interviews had said that had Amitabh Bachchan not said okay to play Sexy Sam, Karan Johar would not have made this film. I don’t know why these guys patronize one another so much. The character of Sexy Sam besides being inconsequential, was not even a part of the so called story of the film.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie VI

Even when Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji get dumped by Preity Zinta and Abhishek Bachchan, they don’t make any efforts to work towards their already fallen marriage. Considering Shahrukh Khan has a young son, he has no remorse in leaving his son and mother behind. That I thought was a little strange because his relationship with his wife may have been over, but he still had his son and his mother. That aspect of their relationship also half baked like the rest of the story of the film.

The humour in the film is completely contrived. Especially that part where Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji try to get cosy with Preity Zinta and Abhishek Bachchan respectively (at the Opera) in an effort to outdo the other. For god’s sake, they are all grown up people, not some school children. I thought that entire sequence was churlish.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie IV

The entire sequence where both Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji try to advise one another on how to spice up their marriage and how to make their respective relationships with Preity Zinta and Abhishek Bachchan work was not convincing. Karan Johar has said in many interviews that the character of Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji are flawed. I think that so is his story. The structure of the story where Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji come close to each other and decide to have an extra marital affair is just not convincing.

Finally, what I thought was the most complicated and confused part in the film was when Preity Zinta and Abhishek Bachchan realize that Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji may not know that both their marriages have fallen apart and when then meet up accidently at Abhishek Bachchan’s second wedding, they egg Rani Mukherji on to go and make a life with Shahrukh Khan as he is on his way to Canada for ever. That to me can never be a reason for two people to get together. This actually justifies their extra marital relationship and the old adage that “end justifies the means”. It was almost as if they came back together full of guilt and due to the fact that since both of them had been dumped by their respective partners, it’s okay for them to come together.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie V

However, what I could not understand was the problem in the relationship of Abhishek Bachchan-Rani Mukherji. Okay, their life styles were distinctly different i.e., Abhishek Bachchan headed a Public Relations firm and Rani Mukherji was a school teacher. However, Abhishek Bachchan loved Rani Mukherji completely and was always on the lookout to spice up their married yet mundane lives. I just could not understand why does Rani Mukherji feel that their marriage is falling apart. Her apprehension before getting married to Abhishek Bachchan is fine as every woman goes through the same emotion i.e., whether they are marrying the right man or not, but once having married him, a woman cannot keep on having that feeling all through her life whether she’s married the right man or not.

In fact, Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji had been childhood friends and she had grown up with Abhishek Bachchan. All the more reason for her to feel more comfortable with Abhishek Bachchan. However, that aspect of Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji’s relationship has not been exploited at all. This according to me is one of the major drawbacks of Karan Johar’s story.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie III

Anyways, coming back to the movie, I thought there were more negatives in the movie than the positives. To put it succinctly, the story of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is about various problems in the married relationship of Shahrukh Khan-Preity Zinta and Abhishek Bachchan-Rani Mukherji and how they fall out of their marriage and how Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji fall in love outside of their marriage.

The problem in the relationship of Shahrukh Khan-Preity Zinta was okay inasmuch as Shahrukh Khan was a failure as a footballer and as a husband and that his wife is a beautiful super-successful and super- ambitious working woman and he had that obvious element of jealousy and low self esteem that in their marriage, it is Preity Zinta who “wears the pants”.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie II

The reason why I think Karan Johar makes movies only to make money are:

1. His movies only have big and established stars which guarantee him the openings. Case in point, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Kaal and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Hang on a second! Isn’t that the entire of filmography of Karan Johar both as a as director as well as a producer? Well of course it is and that’s my point.

2. He taps the NRI (Non-Resident Indian) market very well but shooting his film in New York. Both his last films Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Kal Ho Naa Ho were based in New York and he ensured that the movie got tremendous publicity while it was being shot. Not to mention the fact that Karan Johar knows how to tap the NRI market by cashing in on Shahrukh Khan’s popularity.

3. The canvas of his movies is large, lavish sets, lavish locations, fancy gadgets, latest designer costumes etc. These are all the ingredients to lure the common man to live that fantasy for those three hours. Of course, nothing wrong with creating a fantasy for the common man. Just that the fantasy should not (actually NEVER) take precedence of the main crux of the film i.e., the story.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - The Movie I

After writing my previous posts on Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, I got an anonymous comment on the same criticizing me for writing about Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna without even watching it.

Inspite of all my efforts of not watching Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, I eventually had to give in to my wife’s emotional blackmailing and saw the movie on Monday i.e., August 28, 2006. Well, to recapitulate from some of my previous posts, I wasn’t too jazzed about watching the film and had many apprehensions about the film. And I was absolutely spot on. So, here’s my take on the film after watching it.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is considered to be a bold move by its director Karan Johar and he has thinks that watching this movie will make people think about their married relationships. Karan Johar also thinks that he has matured as a film maker. I am not sure as to whether he has matured as a film maker indeed or not, but I personally think he has not. As stated in my earlier posts on Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, it seems that he is primarily makes movies to make lots of money. And that he does in style. Full page advertisements carried in leading national newspapers stated that Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna had collected 120 crores in just three weeks of its release (as it then was) and I’m sure he’ s added quite a few numbers to that as you read this.