Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna - Movie Review

KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA - MOVIE REVIEW

HE SAID:

Is it me or have filmmakers lost any vestige of social consciousness, if they had any to begin with. Is this the message that needs to be sent to young couples in India? Are they not already confused by the onslaught of American culture? If all our parents had decided that they needed love in order to stay married, we would all come from broken homes.

Amitabh Bachan is classy as the philandering father, but he needs to be careful about what he endorses. Being the legend that he is, he does not want to send the wrong message to his audience.

Shah Rukh Khan is stale as the husband who is a failure due to fate. He really needs to learn new moves. His usual overacting is getting tiresome.

Preity Zinta as the highly-driven successful wife to Shah Rukh Khan, has got nothing much to do except look pretty and dance, both of which she does quite well.

Abhishek Bachan as the overly affectionate husband is truly excellent. His understated humour and strong emoting skills sparkle. In places he looks and sounds exactly like his dad.

Rani Mukherjee as the wife unable to handle overt affection of Abhishek, is wooden. All through the movie she looks confused and towards the end her makeup less tear streaked face becomes a fixture. It almost seems like the director - Karan Johar had promised her a big part and that is why she gets a meaty role but is unable to deliver.

Kirron Kher - note the extra "r" in her name. Some numerologist made a lot of money on that one. She however, continues to act superbly, as Shah Rukh's mom.

Are there too many close up shots of the actors, or do I just feel that way, because I sat on the front row on opening night?

The few saving graces for this movie are Abhishek Bachan, New York and the humour in the first half. Abhishek, we have already talked about. I just can't believe that he is thought of as an unlucky actor. New York, at least as shown in the beautiful camera of the movie, is breathtaking. Of course as those of us who have visited New York know, it is a dirty, vicious, dangerous city.

Finally, I read somewhere that Amitabh Bachan sent a bouquet of flowers to the director. I am thinking that if Amitabh really agreed with the sentiments of the movie, he would not have stayed married to Jeya for so long.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, I give this movie a 6.

SHE SAID:

What a disgusting movie. What started out as a funny, smart film, starts to become rotten in the second half. Up until the point where Rani and Shah Rukh sleep together, I was waiting and hoping for the two of them to realise their mistakes and go back to their spouses.

What is the world coming to? I am very disappointed.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, I give this movie a 3.