Kabhie Kabhie

After directing action movies Joshila and Deewaar, Yash Chopra made Kabhie Kabhie with a theme that he is good at i.e. Love. The movie starts with the song "Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shaayar Hoon" and, ends with the song "Main Har Ek Pal Ka Shaayar Hoon". What lies between the two songs of the poet is a well told love story spanning two generations that shows the transformation of the poet from "Pal Do Pal Ka Shaayar" to "Har Ek Pal Ka Shaayar".

I have watched Kabhie Kabhie several times and, yet I have not got tired of this movie. The main reason for this is that as an audience I can associate to Kabhi Kabhie in different ways, to the characters, to the story, to the music or simply to the musings of the poet.

There are seven main characters and, all of these characters are natural and realistic that audience can feel each of the characters emotion and associate to them. Amitabh, Rakhee, Shashi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Naseem, all of them have acted very well; but it is Amitabh who steals the show. Parikshit Sahni and Simi Grewal have supported well as the foster parents of Neetu Singh and, Deven Verma provides the comical relief (given a few scenes he leaves a good impression).

Yash Chopra has handled the theme of the movie very well and, has directed superbly. He keeps the story telling simple and linear, develops each character very well, and never goes far from the crux of the story even when touching issues like premarital relationship. Though brief, he also captures the capital Delhi nicely. I regard Kabhie Kabhie as Yash Chopra's best movie until now. He did break the grounds with "Lamhe" in terms of story but he is yet to surpass Kabhie Kabhie as director.

Music and songs have always been the strong point of Yash Chopra's movie. Kabhie Kabhie is among the top ones in that list. The credit goes to both Khayyam and Sahir. One may have to watch Kabhie Kabhie second time just to enjoy the music and songs. The songs melodiously rendered by Mukesh, Lata, Kishore and Pamela to date are chart busters. At the time when Kishore's voice was getting associated with Amitabh, Khayyam broke the trend by using Mukesh's voice to capture the soul and the depth in the poet's (or Sahir's) lyrics (note that in Trishul he did it again using Yesudas's voice for Amitabh).

Khayyam not only composed delightful music for beautiful songs written by Sahir, but also scored one of the best background music in Hindi cinema. The background music is very rich, consistent, pleasant and captures the mood of the characters so as to relate them to the audience. Khayyam has done it mainly by efficiently fiddling with two instruments, such as, two guitars (when Sweety introduces Vicky to Preeti and, when Amit, Anjali, Vicky, Sweety and Preeti are eating dinner), guitar and sitar (Amit and Anjali discussing in the bedroom while they are thinking about two different things and, the change when they talk about themselves; Preeti and Vicky arguing in the garden after Preeti comes to know about her mother), banjo and violin (when Anjali finds out about Preeti and Vicky's love) to describe a few.

It isn't that there are no weak moments in the movie. The story line does has some weakness; but the different strengths of the movie does not lets the audience feel or see them, or lets the audience to ignore them.

As a whole Kabhie Kabhie is one of the best movie that has graced the screens of Hindi cinema.

A year after the classic 'Deewaar' (1975), the Yash Chopra-Amitabh-Shashi combination joined forces once again. But unlike the hard-hitting action-drama, this time they teamed up for a simple, poetic romantic drama.

I am normally a big fan of multi-starrers and family dramas and this is a big reason for my liking this film. The film has about 9 central characters and all of them manage to leave a mark. Also a film starring Big B and Shashi Kapoor is always a must-watch for me. The crackling chemistry they shared between them was far superior to any of the leading heroines of those times. No wonder they did more films together than with any particular heroine!

But in most of these films there is a perennial complaint of Big B tending to overshadow Shashi. But 'Kabhi Kabhie' is a heart-warming exception. Not just compared to Bachchan; but out of the entire bouquet of characters, it's Shashi who creates the biggest impression. His ever- smiling charming persona with a big heart of gold, is a complete delight. My favourite scene was where he went under the table to snoop on his son's telephonic conversation. Also the confrontation scene between him and Bachchan towards the end was terrific. It's just for him, that one could see the film time and again!

The other attraction of the film is we get to see stars like Big B, Shashi, Rakhee and Waheeda Rehman, who were in their youth; being projected in older roles. If these characters were to be played by actors who matched the age, then the film would lose half the charm.

One expects a tight narration in multi-starrers; but here the tone was kept deliberately simple. It's obvious from the start that it's gonna be a very poetic film. But unfortunately this makes the film quite boring and monotonous at parts. In fact the original premise of the Amitabh- Rakhi romance ultimately turns out to be a mere subplot. One certainly expected something more here. But just on the verge of the climax where it appeared we were headed for a melodramatic finish, we are treated to a sudden chase-sequence which was a delightful surprise. The sequence is brilliantly shot with horses, jeeps and motorbikes embroiled in a trail with blasts going off on the picturesque Kashmir mountains behind. It's the ideal finish required for a film like this.

Music by Khayyam and lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi are highlights of the film. But there are just too many songs in the 2nd half which obstructs the pace of the film.

This was a terrific example of the versatility of Chopra who could switch effortlessly between two diverse genres. Although, he is mostly remembered as a 'King of Romance', personally I find him more capable in the action-ventures like 'Deewaar', (1975) 'Trishul' (1978) and 'Kala Patthar' (1979). As a result, 'Kabhi Kabhie' fails to match up to those standards; but is still the best romantic film of Chopra after 'Chandni' (1989).

Many consider it to be a great romantic film or even a poetic film. But for me, this film is special just because of Shashi, the star-cast and for getting to see a whole bunch of actors playing characters far older than their real age!

Yash Chopra made several good films in 70's, 80's till early 90's IMO

After the riveting DEEWAAR(1975) he returned with Bachchan and Shashi which was their perhaps 3rd film together after blockbusters like ROTI KAPDA AUR MAKAAN(1974) and DEEWAAR

The film starts off well and slowly transforms into a mature love story with lot of complications

The story slowly moves ahead 20 yrs and the story gets more complicated but it's brilliantly handled

Yash Chopra handles the film very well, he excels in handling relationships Music is good

Amiabh handles his part like a pro, in a role that sheds his angry young man image he does a great job Raakhee is good too Shashi too does a good job Waheeda excels Rishi Kapoor is delightful, Neetu too does a good job Balraj Sahni, Simi Garewal lend adeqaute support

Kabhi Kabhie is what I'd like to call a complete movie- it has all the fine elements. Good story, great dialogues, great direction- and great acting. Amitabh Bachan, Raakhee, Shashi and Rishi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman and Neetu Singh gave a convincing and touching performance.

I enjoyed Mukesh's songs. The poetry was simply breathtaking! The scene between Amitabh and Raakhee meeting 20 years later was very touching. It was a very beautiful love story, woven through several generations, and it felt as though it was a journey through several emotions and moments of recollection, remorse, repentance, etc. There was an atmosphere of unspoken love and care in the story. Many untold things took physical shape and meaning only in the hearts of the audience. It was great! All-in-all a 9/10 movie!

"Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein" who can forget that song by the late Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar. I first saw this movie in the mid 1970's when it was first released. The cinemas were totally packed - "House Full." The songs were already famous before the release of the movie.

Amit Malhotra, recites one of his poems at a college / university where he meets Pooja" and they both fall in love. But parents have other plans and Pooja gets married to an architect, Vijay Khanna while Amit returns home and joins his father's business - a construction company. As time passes, Pooja and Vijay have a son, Vikram, also known as "Vicky", who falls in love with Pinky Kapoor while studying and the two plan to get married. The two families meet and realise that Pinky is Doctor R.P Kapoor's daughter and that Vijay is his patient. In the meantime, Pooja who has her own TV show, interviews Amit Malhotra, who informs her that he has given up writing poetry. In the meantime, Doctor R.P. Kapoor informs his wife that he is worried about what Vijay will think when he finds out about Pinky's past.

"Kabhi Kabhie," directed by Yash Chopra, stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee Gulzar, Shashi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Parikshit Sahni, Simi Garewall and Nasreen. Ifteqar and Deven Varma make a special appearance.

This movie is "poetry in motion" totally and that is not to mention the acting, the story, cinema photography and lastly the songs. This is a typical Yashraj film where the scenery is concerned - mountains and snow.

Conclusion: This is a worthwhile to watch whenever you have the chance for "Love Is Life."