That's Entertainment. Review on Kal Ho Naa Ho

The man’s dying. He’s suffering from a heart ailment sillies. Yet, he teaches her to love, plays cupid between her and her best friend, sorts things out between her mom and grand mom, proposes to her tiny tot sister etc etc and resolves a family crisis. That’s Aman Mathur for you in Kal Ho Naa Ho, the latest offering for you from Dharma Productions, the makers of blockbusters like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and Kabhie Khushi, Kabhie Gham.

Aman is directly related to Anand, Hrishikesh’s Mukherjee’s grand creation in the eponymous Anand. Like Anand, Aman too suffers from a fatal illness. Like Anand, Aman too has this knack of bringing cheer in the life of others. It’s as if Aman had seen Anand behave in this larger-than-life way in the face of death and had assiduously decided to imitate him.

Life is a burden for Naina Catherine Kapoor (Preity Zinta) when Anand … oops … Aman (Shahrukh Khan) actually crosses her threshold. He begins by helping her mother (Jaya Bachchan) make desi dishes in the kitchen so that sour-faced, cacophonic grandmom (Sushma Seth) who thinks she is Lata Mangeshkar can stop scowling. Then mom’s wobbling restaurant business takes off … courtesy Aman and his magic wand. He becomes buddy-buddy with Naina’s trying-to-be cool cat friend Rohit (Saif Ali Khan) and convinces him to marry Naina. It’s not too difficult to convince Rohit who’s actually too desperate to fall in love. The problem is Naina who has fallen for Aman’s charm. The problem is Aman himself, who despite his ailing heart, nurses a soft spot for Naina. How Rohit, Naina, and Aman resolve this predication forms the rest of Kal Ho Naa Ho’s plot.

Karan Johar, who had directed the previous two films of Dharma Productions, is content writing the script of this film and providing support to debutant director, Nikhil Advani as Producer. Needless to say, this film has Karan Johar’s stamp writ over each and every frame . There are those wedding songs; eulogies to mothers and fathers, and grand fathers; abundance of trite neighbours and a general feel good temperament to the movie. However, where Kal Ho Naa Hoscores over Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham is in the fine balance of mirth and tragedy, laughter and tears – truly a case of Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham. Even the most tragic of scenes are structured with a smile. Add to this well-rounded characterizations of the three lead players and what you have is a winsome product.

Shahrukh Khan excels as Aman. Watch him propose to Jiya, watch him read pages from Rohit’s diary, and watch him sing, dance, make merry and … finally … die. Truly, a knockout performance.

Saif Ali Khan as Rohit is charming, endearing, and honest. He compliments Shahrukh’s brilliance with his honesty and poker-faced humour.

Preity Zinta is fast climbing up the ladder of superstardom. Watch out Aishwarya and Kereina. As Naina Katherine Kapoor, she is to Kal Ho Naa Ho, what Amitabh Bachchan was toAnand - absolutely first rate.

Jaya Bachchan is in fine fettle here. She delivers a bravura performance without much fuss.

Much was expected of the music and alas, it falters. Apart from the well-worded title song, all the other numbers of Kal Ho Naa Ho are at best, hummable. Pull up your socks Shankar-Ehsan-Loy.

To sum up, Kal Ho Naa Ho is an extremely entertaining fare. It may not be path breaking, but it definitely warms your heart.