Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)

Director:

Karan Johar

Writers:

Karan Johar (story)
Shibani Bathija (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 August 2006 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Dev lives in the United States of America and is a foot ball player. He is married to Riya, who works and models for a magazine...

Plot Keywords:

Bitterness | Traffic Signals | Divorce | Railway Platform | Dominatrix

Awards:

3 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Amitabh Bachchan	...	Samarjit 'Sam' Talwar
Shahrukh Khan	...	Dev Saran
Rani Mukherjee	...	Maya Talwar (as Rani Mukerji)
Preity Zinta	...	Riya Saran
Abhishek Bachchan	...	Rishi Talwar
Kiron Kher	...	Kamaljit 'Kamal' Saran (as Kirron Kher)
Arjun Rampal	...	Jay
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Abraham	...	DJ at club
Jarett Armstrong	...	Train Station Patron 1
Patrick Armstrong	...	Train Station Patron 2
Diane Baisley	...	Nurse
Tomm Bauer	...	Co-Worker
Himad Beg	...	Wedding Guest
Whit Blanchard	...	Chris - Waiter
Kristen Bough	...	Little girl on slide
Matt Brandstein	...	CIA Operative
Adrianna Bremont	...	Receptionist
Tracey Brennan	...	Dr. Anna
Arthur S. Brown	...	Reporter
Ahsaas Channa	...	Arjun D. Saran
Bob Connelly	...	Father of The Bride
Greg D'Agostino	...	Coach George Push
Michael C. Davis	...	Male Nurse #2
Manish Dayal
Peter Defeo	...	Commuter
Pat Dempsey	...	Soccer Player
Brian Ferrari	...	Sound guy
Kathryn Gerhardt	...	Hysterical Nurse
Nick Gjoka	...	Flyer Boy
Andrew Hillmedo Jr.	...	Background
Allen Ioccarino	...	Soccer Fan
Shobhit Jain	...	Extra / Kid
Matthew Joseff	...	Extra
Larissa Kohler	...	Extra
Ginger Kroll	...	Bridesmaid
Rithear Len	...	Soccer Fan
Oliver Martin	...	Street Guy
Madalyn McKay	...	Announcer
Saira Mohan	...	Catherine Cooper / Catherine R. Talwar
Moniere	...	Soccer Player
Omar Mora	...	Spanish Reporter
Carmel Navé	...	Secretary / Receptionist
Joel Ney	...	Annoying Man
Christine Lisa Racinez	...	Soccer Fan
Alyssa Ritch	...	Office Assistant
Robert Gordon Spencer	...	ER Doctor
Kali Stivison	...	Receptionist #2
Tibor Taylor	...	Party Guest
Christopher Wilford	...	Soccer Goalie (Dallas)

Also Known As:

Kank (India: Hindi title) (informal short title)
Never Say Goodbye (USA) (informal English title)

Runtime:

193 min

Country:

India

Language:

English | Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Ireland:12A | USA:PG-13 (re-rating on appeal) | Germany:6 | UK:15 | USA:R (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | India:UA

Filming Locations:

30th Street Station - 3001 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Dharma Productions

Trivia:

Ritesh Deshmukh was cast for a guest role in the film. The stills were even on the publicity material of the film. However, Karan Johar cut the part out at the last minute.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Dev is leaving for Toronto from Grand Central Station in NYC, he boards a SEPTA R1 train. SEPTA's R1 only serves Philadelphia, its suburbs and airport.

Quotes:

Maya Talwar: What did you think before marrying?
Dev Saran: Who thinks before marrying!
[laughing]
Dev Saran: Just kidding. Rhea and me, are friends from college, so we thought we'd give our friendship a new meaning. Besides what can be better than spending your entire life with your friend?
Maya Talwar: But, at times friendship replaces love and then there's no room left for love
Dev Saran: [thinking of way to ease her doubts] Listen to this quote- The sagas of everlasting romances have gone past long ago, just learn to make do with tiny love stories
Maya Talwar: Does that mean you don't love your wife?
Dev Saran: [ponders over her question] hmm
Maya Talwar: You shouldn't take this long
Dev Saran: [laughs] We are happy. We have made our little world together
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001)

Lack of focus and conviction

So, how do we make movie.

Step 1: Start from an idea Step 2: ... No point going to this step and onwards because that's where the thinking part ends in this case.

The idea was good, different and definitely unconventional. The execution was flawed and suffered from lack of thinking and complete inability to knit a story around that idea.

Let's start with lack of identity in and relevance of characters: Sam - couldn't figure out why is this character in the movie. He could not resolve anything, could not set an example of any kind. If he is trying to be Hugh Hefner, so be it - don't mix or dilute that character with stints of love for his late wife.

Kamaljit - Such a fine actress - totally wasted because of the same issue as above.

Maya - why is she unhappy? is she very fond of cleaning and Rishi very fond of throwing trash around; she wants to do or achieve something in life that Rishi is not letting her to? is she in love with some other guy before marriage (like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) and she is stuck here? Not explained at all in the movie.

Dev - Why is he so irritated all the time? What does he want in life? Why does he feel bad when Rhea kind of shows her generosity when she declines the promotion but he makes sarcastic remarks when he wins some small time cup in the beginning of the movie but she is unable to make it because of her interview? His love towards Maya all these years (even though he was married) and his waiting or letting the trains go, keeping a close watch at her etc. comes as a big surprise to the audience as well (at least tell us about it so that we can at least appreciate and understand your character and try to defend you.. because ultimately it is going to be your story)? How was he wronged to an extent that he had to leave his son, his mother because of some Maya after more than 5 years of marriage? What led him to pull the chain in the end when he didn't even know that Maya wasn't living with Rishi anymore? Totally confused guy with no sense of life.

Rhea - Understood. She is a career oriented woman and work comes first and family second. That's a personal choice and I appreciate that. She is very successful and took the magazine to No. 1 spot in less than 2 years (she joined when her son was 5yrs old). But her way of dealing with personal situations is very immature - don't believe she played any role in dealing with people issues to make the magazine such a big success. And what was the meaning of - Now we are No. 1 and now let us go back to our husbands and family. Are you saying that leaving husbands and family was part of the project plan to bring the magazine to No. 1 spot and that now there will not be any effort to keep it that way. Trust me, fight for sustenance at No. 1 spot is far more hard than achieving it.

Rishi - The most reasonable character in the movie. Although we don't know what is going on in his mind and how he wants to resolve things than just being totally committed and in love with Maya..but still.. we can grant him some room.

Arjun - A cute little angel with Chicken Little looks. He could have played a significant role in the movie to turnaround things and situations. But he is a kid...he gets to suffer in the end...so let us leave him for now.

In short - if we have so many weak characterizations playing the lead role in the movie, howsoever good the concept is - it is bound to fail.

The only good thing in the movie (that is why 1 star) 1- Music. Great Music!! But the songs, lyrics and the situations were totally out of sync with the storyline.

Mr. Johar - I have been a big fan of yours and I am sure you know this but I don't know why you missed it this time - There's a lot that goes into a movie to make it watchable than designer dresses, new york streets, and the most expensive and talented set of actors in Indian film industry. Please take charge of the movie and understand your responsibility and accountability to get the best out of them.

This is not a Karan Johar movie - this is a movie that happens to have Karan Johar's name as the director.