Well attempted... Review on Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

Bollywood has grown and evolved at a fast pace in the recent years, the credit for the same may be given to a number of factors. One of the biggest factors for the same is the change in the vision of the film makers. As the younger generation of film makers is coming into action, not only the style but the entire concept of film making has taken a new turn. The recent example of a “new age” film is Karan Johar’s latest hit “Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna”.

The movie revolves around the subject of infidelity in marriage- a subject that has been raised in one way or the other in various films made in the history of Indian films. May it be “Nikah” or “Silsila” , directors have directly or indirectly tried to represent the bad side of marriage which leads to one of the partner finding companionship out of the relationship with another man/woman.

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna like KJ’s other films, deals with human emotions in the most passionate way. It begins with the success stories of 4 people in their own ways. While Dev Saran (SRK) is a great football player, his wife Riya Saran (Priety Zinta) gets her dream job as the editor for a fashion magazine “Diva”. On the other hand Rishi Talwar (Abhishek Bachchan) is all set to marry the love of his life Maya (Rani Mukherjee) who despite of having all her doubts about her decision to marry Rishi, takes the plunge, a move that changes her life altogether.

Gradually the movie moves towards the greatest failures in the lives of these characters either professionally or personally. We witness how these failures affect their relationships in adverse ways. While Raj meets with an accident and gets a defective leg for life and cannot play ever again, Maya gets to know the fact that she can never give birth to a child. Thus tensions and disparities arise between the two couples who are unable to cope up with these problems. Despite conscience efforts, their marriages reach to a break-up point. That is when Raj and Maya get to know each other and develop a liking for each other. They find in each other what they were always looking for in their marriages. It’s still not that the two are alike, yet they enjoy their dissimilarities. They enjoy being complimentary to each other. Still in their heart of hearts they understand their commitment towards their spouses and make sure they live up to them as well. But soon they indulge in a physical relationship. Still they decide to return back and admit it to their partners, thinking they would be accepted back. But that does not happen and both the marriages break.

The movie has its own set of flaws, and they are many. The greatest one being absence of any solid reason for Maya’s attraction towards Raj. We understand her despair due to the failure of her relationship with her husband, but that does not mean she would fall for any man who walks into her life? And for once even if that happens, what makes her wait all the years to reunite with him?

It’s true that “art is a mirror to the society”, the film raises a topic that is becoming common in Indian society off late. We may try to veil it as much as possible, but it is a fact that we cannot turn a blind eye to. Under the covers of social norms and restrictions, marriages are leading to a point where either of the spouses find a companion in a third person. Though very common and accepted in the western countries, India is still to accept this fatal truth.

The ending of the film suffers due to KJ’s effort to please his audiences.When we witness Rishi and Riya accepting Raj and Maya’s relationship in a very casual way .It surely gives us a feeling of youthfulness in the story. But when we see how Raj and Riya themselves hook partners and plan to get married to them, it appears to be a make shift kind of arrangement where all the 4 are happy and the movie gets a happy ending thus! But does real life work like that? And is finding a partner the only aim in life?

Thus, despite of the great change and maturity in Bollywood, it still needs many years to grow up to the level of letting a story have a real - like and more convincing ending, even if it sad!