Given the background of Dharma Productions and an interesting starcast, I wanted to catch the first show on the first day. Much was being anticipated of the flick because of big names associated. Plans changed and I suddenly had to leave out of town to attend a wedding. Expectations rose as people started spreading positive reviews about the film.
A few things about the movie were already known factors. The Karan Johar brand genre - 'romance', a buzz that the basic premise of the flick was inspired by Anand, Counting on Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta, given their refreshing portrayals in Dil Chahta Hai etc. If not for anything else, it was after all a Shah Rukh Khan starrer and if one may acknowledge his popularity, people just love him onscreen.
A couple of days passed by and finally, I got a chance to go watch the movie. I walked into the theatre with a hope to get entertained at a wholesome scale and I walked out somewhat pleased but with a fairly forgettable experience.
The story is of Naina Catherine Kapur (Preity Zinta). Her mother, Jennifer (Jaya Bachan) is a Christian married to a punjabi Sikh. Other members of her family are her two siblings and her Grandmother. The family has a hard time coping up with life after a personal tragedy. There is a 'kapoor' family (of two sisters) living next door, who are an integral partner of Jennifer's family and business - a not-so-well doing small restaurant. Every member of this 'extended' family has their own set of problems.
The only normal relationship Naina has is with her friend, Rohit (Saif Ali Khan). Rohit is a typical rich, young and an unsettling guy. Naina finds him unique because he is very nice, honest and a normal person. He would narrate his flop 'girl-acquiring' stories to Naina. For a change, He has no intentions of parting with his dad's wealth. Although Naina values Rohit, she had never thought beyond their friendship. Things get worse among the family. One night they all pray together asking God to send down an Angel who would touch their lives and bring happiness to them.
Enter Angel, Aman (Shah Rukh Khan). He moves in next door on a 'mysterious' purpose. On the very first day, he makes his way right into the hearts of Jennifer and her two younger children. His charm and his attitude catches up big time with other neighbors too. Naina, on the other hand hates him because he had brought in some changes around so quickly that she is unable to accept, given, her boring state of inertia. A few days pass by and She gives in, realizing that Aman had in fact made her smile after a long time. In the mean while, a good friendship develops between Aman and Rohit.
A complex triangle develops with Rohit in love with Naina, who is in love with Aman, who loves Naina, but is aware of Rohit's love for Naina.
Further Proceedings lead to situations which result in three broken hearts - of Aman, Naina and Rohit ! Post interval, the story focuses on Aman's newly found mission. His past and his purpose of visiting New York is revealed to the audience but not to Naina and Rohit. How Aman manages to accomplish his mission and indeed brings about happiness in everybody's life forms the crux of the story hereafter.
The narration of the story starts out interestingly. Plausible Characters are introduced quickly. The family lives in New York and for a change, its not the multi-millionare setting but an average middle class family trying to stay in business. There are many funny moments all through the movie. The characters stick to their sketch and don't show dual shades. The split screen moments and view expressions by the whole cast, on some issues, bring along with them, the creativity factor. Aman, Rohit and Naina look right for their ages. The pace is uniform.
If one could sense any flaws, then it would all be in the logic department. All the Characters have good sketches except for Aman, the most important of them all. We know nothing much about his past. He comes in from nowhere and seems to have an Angel like understanding, literally. When, how and where he falls in love with Naina is totally beyond Comprehension. Most of the audience is already aware of Aman's state, so the concealment till the interval didnt quite work well. It is not clearly understood what Aman was suffering more for......Naina or his own gigantic personal problem?
The chemistry between Rohit-Naina, Aman-Rohit, Jennifer-Dadi were excellent but the one between Aman-Naina was quite under-developed. Side tracks were brilliantly handled. Jennifer-Dadi track was terrific. Rohit-Naina track was very endearing. Rohit's parents' 'gujarati' track was stupidly funny. Rohit's servant maid, Kantaben, mistakes Aman and Rohit for a couple and literally trembles, everytime she sees them together. This was hilarious.
Some scenes are very heartwarming. Most of them convey the essence. A ridiculous scene comes across later in the movie when Rohit and Naina become aware of Aman's disposition and the reaction of Rohit is totally insane. A much needed mother-son scene towards the conclusion was shockingly, missing ! If the triangle was introduced just to be different from the premise of Anand, then, honestly, this was a big mistake because the overall effect could have remained the same and maybe better by doing away with the cliched triangle.
Preity Zinta was a delight to watch. She was very Pretty. Her emoting capabilities were almost flawless. She could smile, look serious or break into tears very easily. A few more meaningful roles and she should be competing for the best. Shah Rukh Khan, to be honest, looks like a patient. He suits well I guess because of the nature of the role. His energy and passion are missing. Shah Rukh Khan is a natural choice for the role, given that there is none other who, one could think, could portray Aman. Every time a scene is about to slip away, Shah Rukh, with his charismatic effect, somehow, salvages it. Its his Character not his acting, which was inadequate. He should get really healthy before he shows up in the next movie, though. Saif Ali Khan had the luxury to portray one of the precisely defined and perfectly developed character, Rohit. Some scenes seemed like they were indeed written for him to fully exploit his innocent looks, savvy attitude and his comic timing.
Jaya Bachan as Jennifer was perfect. Sushma Seth will surprise you with her presence. Lillette Dubey and Simone Singh will catch you by surprise. Reema Lagoo shares an eye contact chemistry with Shah Rukh Khan. Sulabha Arya, Sateesh Shah and Ketaki Devi were hand-picked for their short roles. Rajpal Yadav in a cameo, just excels. Some surprise special appearances will put on some smiles.
Cinematography(Anil Mehta) is of professional standards. Karan Johar's decent screenplay supports the story well but if it were his own movie, Iam sure he would have paid a lot more attention. Nikhil Advani's creativity shows in all the non karan-johar-trademark scenes. He makes a very confident debut. Dialogues(Niranjan Iyengar) were good but none to be cherished. Music(Shankar-Ehsan-Loy) was strictly average and so were the lyrics(Javed Akthar). The soul stirring track much needed for the kind of subject, was missing !
Bottom line, If one starts out with an 'assumption' that Aman is passionately in love with Naina, then the proceedings make perfect sense. There are many interesting characters with some interesting things going on between them. You are bound to like a few of them, if not all. So, go ahead and watch the movie for sure. Who knows, given the quality of bollywood movies lately, such a pleasant movie may not come out in the near future.
