Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

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.

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.

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.

....Karan Johar for KANK!

I was waiting with so much excitement for this movie only to have my hopes dashed in the biggest way possible. I have loved some of Karan Johar's earlier films and thoroughly enjoyed them. However, I think this time around, he has completely got it wrong! (Which is OK because we are all humans and we make mistakes). This being a Rs500 million one.

This movie dragged on endlessly. The only salvation to all this... Amitabh Bachchan and Abishek Bachchan, who stole the show with their on-screen chemistry.

Is this movie worth a watch? No...not unless you have absolutely nothing better to do. Even then, I'd recommend chewing or biting your arm off as a better option.

I really don't understand how people can have so much hate against this movie. No offence, but i think some people over analyse movies way too much and try so hard to find meaning and concepts in the movie which aren't there because they weren't intended. Some people don't seem to 'understand' how Dev falls in love with Maya (vice-versa) or how they could salvage such love for that prolonged period of time after they separate from their spouses, and I think that's one of the stupidest thinks to not 'understand' if you are an avid Bollywood movie fan. There have been countless examples of such prolonged and unexplainable love in Bollywood movies in the past and it seems quite unfair to judge this movie badly for that aspect alone. I don't know if it seems highly improbable to the audiences around the world of how they continually keep on meeting each other, but it's another common example found in Bollywood films. Some scenes (I agree) could have been perceived better but the music (and accompanying scenes) I feel was beautifully sweet. The point is, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna was quite a beautifully shot story of adorable love, and portrays challenges with marriage and love (although it has been done before and sometimes better) and with fair acting on some and excellent for others (I was highly impressed with Abishek's performance ^^). Appreciate it for what it was and (im saying the stupidly obvious but..) if you've found such unforgivable flaws then try and think how you'd fix them.