Kal Ho Naa Ho

In viewing a Bollywood picture it's a must that you check in your cynicism at the door. Else you may get caught unawares. Indian cinema, with its vibrancy and unabashed sentiment and rampant eruption of song and dance, wears its heart on its sleeve. KAL HO NAA HO, which came out in 2003, perfectly typifies this.The story is set in bustling New York City and narrated in voice-over by the lead female character, sullen 23-year-old Naina Catherine Kapur (Preity Zinta). The film opens during a dark time in Naina's life. She dwells in a half-Punjabi, half-Catholic household, a dangerous state that is grounds for constant bickering between Naina's Catholic mother, Jennifer (Jaya Bachchan), and her embittered, more traditional grandmother. Naina has an adopted little sister who is loathed by the grandma. The Kapurs are about to lose the family restaurant. All the tension and ill feelings root back to an old family tragedy. It's resulted in Naina's having to grow up too soon. She's pretty much become the adult in the fam. She has no time for trivial activities such as having fun or smiling. She wears glasses that only enhance her severe demeanor.She does enjoy the occasional innocent flirtation with her wealthy friend, Rohit Patel (Saif Ali Khan), whom she met while attending a New York university. But it's not until an offbeat stranger moves into her neighborhood that her life is truly sent topsy-turvy. Aman Mathur (Shah Rukh Khan) is one of them cats imbued with an infectious zest for life and he wastes no time in impacting everyone in the community. He makes particular efforts to extend a friendly hand towards Naina's troubled family. Aman is so charismatic that he promptly launches an impromptu block party. But he's hiding a secret, and it's a secret devastating enough that not only is he willing to relinquish his one shot at love, he schemes to make the girl he adores fall in love with someone else. Keep in mind that most Bollywood films tend to start out bright and peppy and full of silly humor, but then predictably segue into sweeping tear-jerkers. And Shah Rukh Khan, India's leading box office superstar, is never happy unless he's making his audience reach for a hankie. Shah Rukh, like the film industry in which he toils, has no intention of demonstrating restraint.He turns in a towering performance (some may say over-the-top). Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan are both marvelous. This was Zinta's best performance up to that stage in her career. Saif not only handles the somber scenes well, he also walks away with the best comedic moments. Director Nikhil Advani and writer Karan Johar manage to distinctively draw the three actors' parts, and I love how the dynamics alter depending on which characters were interacting with whom. Naina and Rohit exhibit an effortless chemistry, and you believe they could be friends, but then you also believe Rohit's unspoken pining for her. Naina and Aman share a more fractious relationship. She hates him on sight (he teases her and calls her "Specsy"), but then his antics and big heart eventually wear down her defenses and she tumbles head over heels for him. So theirs is a stormy affair, especially since Aman's secret compels him to pretend he isn't in love with her. A terrific bromance develops between Aman and Rohit, and Johar mines this for plenty of comic scenes. And when all three are hanging out together, there's a fun playful vibe that surfaces. Which makes it all the more wrenching when, later on, it all falls apart for them. You may find yourself reaching for a whole mess of tissues. Which leaves Shah Rukh feeling all kinds of smug. He's done it again. He's made you cry.KAL HO NAA HO ("Tomorrow May Never Come") clocks in at an expansive three hours, so by the end you do feel like these characters are old friends. But a bulk of the running time is dedicated to the extravagant musical numbers which, by the way, do advance the plot. While I wasn't down with all the songs, I did hum along to the energetic, Bhangra-influenced "Pretty Woman," the cute retro "It's Time to Disco," the melodic and wistful "Kuch To Hua Hai," and the soulful title song. Meanwhile, "Mahi Ve" has Kajol and Rani Mukerjee making special appearances.This DVD offers sub-titles in English (and also in Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Kannada, and Malayalam). It gives you the option to skip directly to the musical numbers. It also has Director Nikhil Advani's commentary (in English).

This movie made me cry the first time I saw it, and (no spoilers) I cried harder, longer and earlier the second time. A beautiful film with catchy tunes and a wonderful if heartbreaking story that still makes me tear up after seeing it multiple times. If you can handle reading subtitles, it's great

This movie was ahead of its time. I watched it for the first time 20 years later and it is just as relevant today.

I believe this is the third film from Karan Johar. His first two (that I have, that are wonderful stories) are "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", and "Kabhie Kushi Khabbi Gham". So, after those two great films I thought that this film would be just as wonderful.It's OK, I guess. I wouldn't say that "I don't like it" because I love all the main characters in this film. Of course, Yash Raj, and Karan Johar continues their investment in having Shah Rukh Khan as their leading man. But, then we also get Priety Zinta (who was with Shah Rukh Khan in "Veer-Zaara", and "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"), and Saif Ali Khan from some other great Bollywood films in the past 10 years. So, just about any movie that has more than three big names in Bollywood is definitely going to be successful.But, the one thing that makes this movie real important to me is that it also stars Sonali Bendre who is such a beautiful Hindi actress. It's great to have at least one Blu-Ray high definition film featuring Sonali Bendre.Just for the fun of it, they had a small cameo of the ever beautiful Kajol and also my favorite Bollywood actress Rani Mukherji (dancing in a song video) of which these two were also in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", and "Kabhie Kushi Khabbi Gham" together and with Shah Rukh Khan.If you an English speaking American, and are new to Bollywood films, let me give you a breakdown of how I interpret and ingest the Bollywood experience:First of all, you will most always be reading English subtitles.The average Bollywood film is about 3 hours long.Bollywood films are very colorful. All their beautiful fashion, and colorful dance floors. In High Definition, just the sceneries alone make you appreciate what High Definition is all about.About 30 percent of the film will be music videos (with Yash Raj films, it's more like about 45 percent).About 30 percent of most Bollywood films have some rather silly, really unfunny, and downright annoying comedy scenes (which is usually in the first half of the film), then the film will start to become more serious, as it moves along.One of the main reasons why you will watch a Bollywood film, is because you already chose to fall in love with one of their many beautiful actresses, or handsome actors. (I personally try to see all Rani Mukherji films, and Shah Rukh Khan is the one actor known to be one of the biggest box office sellers of Bollywood.)So, I guess I can honestly say that I have about 10 Blu-Ray Bollywood films which about 7 of them are Yash Raj releases. Thouugh I have about 100 Bollywood films on DVD, all I really care to get on Blu-Ray now is "Lagaan" which was the first Bollywood film that I saw about 10 years ago. And perhaps "Mann" with Aamir Khan, and "Rangeela" which stars the enchanting Urmila Matondkar.

The movie was funny at times but sad and tragic. I liked the inclusion of Kajol and Rani in the dance number it seems to be an SRK trademark tribute to all his previous co-stars. The DVD however was bad with lines across the film at certain junctures due to poor reproduction. These Indian DVDs need more Quality Control

I have a few Indian films I always find them well made with good story-lines. This one is a real "tear-jerker". I'll not give much away, save to say there is a love story, intertwined with destiny or fate, playing it's hand, causing worry and confusion. The usual dancing, very well done, at a wedding celebration, so in context. A good film.

Loved it.Blimey. You'll need tissues.

Without a doubt my favourite Bollywood film and in my top three for favourite films of all time! Beautifully written. I've watched it many times before and I regret not buying it sooner. It's good enough to put a lump in your throat each time you watch it!

Classic. Great great sound track. Heart ripping emotion and anything with Rani M in is a winner. Some superlative cliches like .... don’t want to spoil it . SRK is masterful as usual. Totally recommended

The movie is very much better than on videos which I think is very bad on videos which I can't tell what they are doing on videos, DVD is much more better than on videos,