The story begins sadly. Rahul's beloved wife, Tina, has given birth and dies soon thereafter*. But before dying, she writes a series of letters to be given to her daughter one at a time over the next 8 years. Anjali loves reading the letters and now that she is 8, she's about to receive her final letter from her deceased mother. In this letter, Anjali learns that before Tina, Rahul had a relationship with another woman...also called Anjali. But Rahul was pretty dense and didn't realize Anjali loved him so much and instead he fell for Tina and married. Now, through the letters, Tina is trying to enlist the help of her daughter to reunite Rahul with this Anjali from long ago, as Tina thinks they'd make a great couple and Anjali would make a great mother to young Anjali. There is just one problem...and I won't say more as I don't want to spoil the film.
While not all Indian movies are love stories filled with singing, these are the most popular films in the country and we do get a lot of them exported here in the States. I generally like them but also realize that there is a certain sameness about them...a sameness accepted and embraced in India but a sameness not as likely to be adored abroad. In many ways this reminds me of romance novels. The readers realize there are clichés (I do NOT mean this in a negative way) and accept them as part of the genre...but to those who don't read romance, they might be rather critical of these plot devices.
I mention all this because "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" had many of these story elements....which will no doubt be accepted by lovers of the genre but which will not sit so well with others. It's a shame, as the first portion of the film is very good and engaged me. The next, the long flashback to college days, was one plot device after another after another...like they were shoving every Bollywood cliché into it. As a result, the college portion clearly was not the best part of the movie. Shah Rukh Khan was 33 but played a goofy 20 year-old...and he played him rather broadly. While this was far-fetched, his being so clueless about the girl who loves him is embarrassingly bad. So is much of his behavior...so much so that it's easy not to like him...or you might even hate him. This is a sharp contrast to the beginning of the film when SRK breaks your heart...and it made the college portion of the movie seem trivial.
So is it worth sticking with the film and slogging through the college portion? Well, the main story line is quite good and definitely pulls at your heart...so have a few Kleenex nearby just in case. I suggest watching it but perhaps getting a snack or long bathroom break during the college section. And, for that matter, you take a break pretty much any time the camp counselor appears...he is very poorly written and more a distraction than anything else. In contrast, every time Salmon Khan appeared in the film, the movie lit up...he was magnificent as 'the other man'....and I was pulling for Anjali to get him in the end of the picture! Overall, a good film that could have been better. Worth seeing...but very uneven.
*FYI--I have never seen a woman dying who looked this healthy and beautiful in all my years watching films!
While not all Indian movies are love stories filled with singing, these are the most popular films in the country and we do get a lot of them exported here in the States. I generally like them but also realize that there is a certain sameness about them...a sameness accepted and embraced in India but a sameness not as likely to be adored abroad. In many ways this reminds me of romance novels. The readers realize there are clichés (I do NOT mean this in a negative way) and accept them as part of the genre...but to those who don't read romance, they might be rather critical of these plot devices.
I mention all this because "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" had many of these story elements....which will no doubt be accepted by lovers of the genre but which will not sit so well with others. It's a shame, as the first portion of the film is very good and engaged me. The next, the long flashback to college days, was one plot device after another after another...like they were shoving every Bollywood cliché into it. As a result, the college portion clearly was not the best part of the movie. Shah Rukh Khan was 33 but played a goofy 20 year-old...and he played him rather broadly. While this was far-fetched, his being so clueless about the girl who loves him is embarrassingly bad. So is much of his behavior...so much so that it's easy not to like him...or you might even hate him. This is a sharp contrast to the beginning of the film when SRK breaks your heart...and it made the college portion of the movie seem trivial.
So is it worth sticking with the film and slogging through the college portion? Well, the main story line is quite good and definitely pulls at your heart...so have a few Kleenex nearby just in case. I suggest watching it but perhaps getting a snack or long bathroom break during the college section. And, for that matter, you take a break pretty much any time the camp counselor appears...he is very poorly written and more a distraction than anything else. In contrast, every time Salmon Khan appeared in the film, the movie lit up...he was magnificent as 'the other man'....and I was pulling for Anjali to get him in the end of the picture! Overall, a good film that could have been better. Worth seeing...but very uneven.
*FYI--I have never seen a woman dying who looked this healthy and beautiful in all my years watching films!