Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (Romance, 2006)



Starring

Shah Rukh Khan .... Aman Mathur

Preity Zinta .... Naina Catherine Kapur

Saif Ali Khan .... Rohit





Karan Johar-SRK combination works for the third time as the two come up with a film that begins on a lighthearted note but ends with a climax that will reduce viewers to tears. Nikhil Advani deserves all praises for telling the story without making it mushy and yet not compromising on the emotional quotient at the same time.



At the center of the story is a happy-go-luck fellow who spreads happiness and believes in giving to others without demanding anything back. But as is said that behind every smile there lies an unshed tear, so is the case with the film’s protagonist Aman. And then there is a character of a gorgeous girl who seems to be aging before her time until Aman comes into her life. In the sidelines is a jolly guy (Saif) who has a golden heart but cannot impress upon girls.



The proceedings are fine and everything seems hunky-dory until the relationship between the three is tested by the harsh realities of life.



Shahrukh Khan towers over everyone in the film with his kaleidoscopic performance. He brings smiles to many a face in the first half and he is the one two draws them to tears in the latter half of the movie.



Preity Zinta looks stunning throughout the movie and delivers a noteworthy performance. Saif too stands in equal stead and proves his salt as an actor. Jaya Bachchan, as usual, spellbinds the viewers with her histrionics.



On the whole Kal Ho Naa Ho is a healthy entertainer that will appeal to family crowds and viewers of all ages.





Synopsis





Kal Ho Naa Ho is the story of three friends whose relationship is based on unconditional love and emotional empathy with each other.



The setting is New York in present times. Life is quite brooding for Naina Catherine Kapur (Preity Zinta). The cause of her sombre lifestyle is a family tragedy that shook her world and took her happiness away.



Her humdrum daily routine includes her chores in her half Punjabi-half Catholic household in which she has to deal with a short tempered grand-mother, has to look after her little sister and brother besides helping her mother Jennifer  deal with the family's financial troubles. In short, life could not be drabber for this gorgeous belle.



But things change with the coming of Aman Mathur  into the tiny Indian neighborhood where she lives.



Aman is an extrovert person who gets friendly with almost everybody and begins to win everybody’s heart with his jolly nature. When he sees the sadness in a young and beautiful girl like Naina, he sets about to bring happiness into her life.



For this he also gets help from his good friend Rohit , an eligible Manhattan bachelor.



After few initial failures, the two manage to bring Naina out of her dull and gloomy moods and make her genuinely happy. The three become very good friends and every thing is hunky-dory.



But this happiness is short-lived when it turns out that one of them suffers from a deadly disease.







Dev Saran (Shahrukh Khan), a formerly successful, now injured soccer player, is unhappily married to Rhea (Preity Zinta), who has a high-flying job with a fashion magazine. They have a son named Arjun. Maya (Rani Mukerji) is about to marry her childhood friend Rishi Talwar (Abhishek Bachchan). Samarjit a.k.a "Sexy Sam" (Amitabh Bachchan) is Rishi's dad, and Kamaljit (Kirron Kher) plays the peppy mom to Dev.



Dev happens to meet Maya before her wedding and despite being strangers, they connect instantly. It could be that the two are unhappy with their partners, it could be that Dev was only too happy to talk of his uncomfortable marriage or it could be that Maya just could not love Rishi and so, found Dev attractive. Whatever the case, the connection between the two remains a glowing spark that re-ignites when they meet four years later.



During those four years, Maya has married Rishi and Dev has met with an accident that leaves him crippled and ends his football career. So when Maya meets Dev the next time, he is bitter - his failed career and failing marriage are festering wounds to which his wife Rhea's professional success is salt. In the Talwar home, things are no better - Maya still does not feel any love for Rishi and feels guilty for her inability to have children.



Dev and Maya realize that their situations are similar and decide to help each other repair their breaking marriages. Things don't work quite as expected however, and they become more and more drawn to each other. At the same time, Rishi and Rhea are working to keep their marriages afloat and are willing to see hope in even the smallest, most innocuous signs from their partners. However, their efforts are insignificant in the face of Maya and Dev's intense unhappiness in their marriages and their growing love for each other.



Dev and Maya give in to a dreamy, coffee-drenched romance and realize they have fallen in love. However, when Dev is about to give flowers to Maya, he sees Rhea and gives them to her so she doesn't see Maya. He saves one rose for Maya. She takes the rose home and Rishi sees it and Maya gives it to him. Rhea and Rishi now think that their partners really love them and are happy. But after an incident at the ballet that makes Dev intensely jealous, they realize they now feel like they are cheating on each other with their own spouses. This realization brings them to a dramatic point of no return. Shortly afterward, they are caught in an embrace outside the train station by Sam and Kamaljeet.



Sam, having lived the good life for a long, long time ultimately has to bear the punishment of all his excesses - he has a fatal heart attack and as he lies on his death bed, he gives Maya some unconventional advice: he tells her to leave his son Rishi since neither of them are happy in their marriage.



Things come to a head and Dev and Maya decide to leave each other and return to their partners. But this re-union will not be without honesty, so they come clean and confess their extra-marital affair. Rishi and Rhea decide that enough is enough and end their marriages - this doesn't mean that Maya and Dev come together however. They only speak to each other on the phone, and lie to each other, saying that all is well in their marriages.



Three years later, Rishi goes to meet Maya and invites her to his wedding. There Rhea sees Maya for the first time in three years and realizes that she and Rishi weren't together as she thought. The news that Dev is still alone, combined with some prodding from Rishi and Rhea convinces Maya to run after Dev. Dev is about to catch a train to Canada when he sees Maya. He hides from her because he has told Maya earlier than he was happy with Rhea and he thinks that she is happily married to Rishi. However, Maya finds him in his seat a few seconds before his train leaves the station. He uses the emergency brakes to get out to meet her. Realising how alone the two have been, Dev proposes to Maya and she accepts.





review by Apun Ka Choice