Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Like an Expensive Melodramatic Indian Soap Opera In New York Karan Johar attempts to make a 'so-called mature' movie but the handling of the themes and the storytelling is very amateur. Many of the comedic sequences, especially the silly ones like 'black beast' (racist?) were cringe inducing. Much of the dialogues are the kind you would hear in soap operas.

The characters are poorly written. Rhea is supposed to be a strong woman who loves her job and family and while her quality time with family is limited, her excuse to Dev is that she's 'forced' to be the 'man' of the family? This is not the kind of thing one would hear a strong independent woman say. Then there's Maya, who is also a strong character and yet she lets herself be treated so harshly by Dev. Sexy Sam is quite a pathetic caricature blend of a sleazy Casanova-type old hag (who only seems to sleep with white girls that are about 40 years younger than him) and the loving father who's there for his son and whatever.

The last hour is so laughable because of the sheer awfulness in execution, acting and writing. Johar's direction lacks aim and focus while his script seriously lacks consistency. The overall soundtrack is far from memorable but two songs are quite beautiful: 'Tumhi Dekho Na' (artistically shot) and 'Mitwa'. Not surprisingly, the background score is heavily intrusive.

Shahrukh Khan pretty much overacts in every single one of his scenes. Dev isn't supposed to be likable nor sympathetic but the way Khan plays him is frustrating to the viewer especially with his overdone expressions and measured tone of voice. In my opinion, this is perhaps Rani Mukherjee's worst performance to date. She fails to demonstrate the complexity and depth of Maya and could someone ask Rani or Johar why Maya keeps crying so much? Abhishek Bachchan tries to be funny and charming but he's not entirely convincing which, unintentionally, makes it easy to understand why Maya doesn't want him. Amitabh Bachchan is incredibly irritating as Sexy Sam (though he is not as bad as Khan) but otherwise he does a fine job in a number of sequences, especially the ones with Kiron Kher. Kher is quite superb as the grounded mother and Sam's confidant. Preity Zinta stands out as she delivers an impressively restrained performance with grace and élan. She easily steals the show from Bachchan, Khan and Mukherjee.

It's interesting that Johar has attempted to tackle a mature contemporary theme and even though he failed, I think his intentions were sincere. Perhaps, this is a path Johar shouldn't tread yet.

One of the most awaited films of the year is KANK. I'm a Karan Johar fan and I must say, he has excelled as a director. After his recent successes Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, KANK is another masterpiece.

Shah Rukh Khan takes a bold role in this film and does well as a short tempered, disgruntled man. Some of the scenes with Preity and his son were funny. Preity looked pretty as always. Rani also was OK, though the character Maya was too complicated.

Big B and Abhishek were the best in the film. Amithabh playing the old but youthful man who is still the wise 'Samarjit' behind 'Sexy Sam' was very good. Abhishek did well in the emotional scenes but stole the chow in the comic scenes.

Overall, KANK was a good film, but the affair of Dev and Maya was pointless and stupid, I didn't like it one bit. Songs were good like 'Where's the party tonight' and 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'. The film was good.

Worth a Watch.

I'm gonna keep this short and simple. The movie is OK. Not too great, not too bad. Flaws: Too long-3.5 hrs, not to mention too stretched. Storyline doesn't make all that much sense. Boring at many times, ESPECIALLY after the interval. Too much repetition of certain things. Overacting by many of the actors at times in the movie.

Good: songs, and cinematography is very very good. Well executed humor, and jokes. Entertaining in the first part of the movie. Acting is good by Shah Rukh Khan, Rani, and Abhishek, although at times, they tend to overact a bit. bold, and different type of story. likable by some who like change.

Overall: Good for ONE and ONLY ONE viewing. If you view it more than once, you will start to get a huge headache.

i gave it an 8 because granted the music wasn't as great as one would as liked but the movie is different and i saw it the day it opened and i am still thinking about it. the movie is bold and different from the typical karan johar movies, it's gets really funny and gets serious. you have to keep an open mind, and if you don't take the contents of the movie to mean that you can cheat on your husband, you'll enjoy it. traditionalist keep an open mind and people you complained about karan's first three movies as being the same and that's true. here is a movie that has never being done in bollywood and it's sad that people are trying to compare to the Hollywood movie closer. there are huge differences between the two movies, closer was about two dishonest couples who took life as a game and lost each other in the process. KANK is about finding out that sometimes when you commit in haste you can hurt others as well as yourself in your quest to make things right. the portrayal of shahrukh as a husband jealous of his wife's success is right on the money about the pressures couples face when the female takes control. can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

Well first of all, i would like to say that this film by Karan Johar disappoints many. I watched the film a day before it was released nationwide, and i was very disappointed at the result. The film plot is hard to believe at times, and only 2 or 3 scenes were of the Karan Johar quality that i used to know out of all the 3hrs and 11 minutes. The film concentrated on Shah Rukh and Rani too much, that after a while i got bored of them. The first half was very slow, and was shot in the familiar setting of Kal Ho Naa Ho. I was very impressed by Abhishek Bachchan, as he really shone in this film as so did Preity Zinta. Amitabh Bachchan was his usual great self and brought a little comedy into the film. Kirron Kehr was also appealing in the film. The second half picked up a little speed but the plot was very slow, and dragged on a little at times. The songs were pictured beautifully and i think the songs were the highlight of the film. Overall, i did not enjoy this film, and i am very disappointed at what should have been a great film to see, considering the cast and budget.