New York masala

I would like to start this review by saying something personal. This film was my introduction to Indian cinema. And what a film to start my love for Indian films with.

The story is about a serious girl Naina who's life changes when a new neighbor moves in. Just like Naina these chains of event changed me as well. I loved just about every minute of this film; its fun, its funny, it has great song and dance number, and can actually be dramatic and serious. The acting is pretty good, and stars of course the King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan.

With great humor,fantastic song and dance numbers,and good acting; this 2003 Indian film is my absolute favorite Indian film. And who knows maybe it could be your new favorite Indian film.

A friend recommended this movie to me. I was skeptical at first..I'm a Chinese and i haven't really watched a Hindi Movie seriously. BUt i didn't regret watching Kal ho Naa Ho. Heart warming, funny and touching...

The songs and Choreography are great! My favourites are Pretty Woman and Kal Ho Naa Ho. The storyline is very similar to Koran dramas, except that the dialogues were much more intense!

it really kept my eyes glued to the screen. The acting was very intense as well, feelings were expressed very well. The energy Level was explosive especially during the dance scenes!

A must watch!!

I am NOT a sap for sad movies...maybe I will cry a tear or two. I didn't even lose ONE tear during Titanic that so many raved about as a "great love story". THIS movie? I cried for 45 minutes straight! It is like an Indian soap opera...but better. Shah Rukh Khan portrayed the sacrifice of this man with a certain nobility that really got to me. I know he is often said to be "overacting" but his portrayal of this character and the pain and sacrifices he went through really swept me up into an emotional state. There may be times when you are in the mood for a story about someone without the modern "I,Me,Mine" attitude, about someone who knows that the real meaning of love often carries with it the need for making sacrifices and may mean caring more about the other person's needs than your own.

What can you say about this movie? The makers have ensured that they have greased the wheels properly before the turkey was served.

Lets look at the few aspects of the movie::

01. Story: Nothing new but well-presented. And obviously the "Anand" factor was a diversion.

02. Characters: All of them etched out well. Be it talented Jaya Bachchan, Sushma Seth, Lillette Dubey, Sweetu, Rajpal Yadav or the highlight Kantaben. Simone Singh was good as well - she attempts a bit of skin-show, desperately wanting to break-free from the Heena image.

03. Comedy: Comedy tracks have been really worked upon. There are many pokings at Gujju's directly (the audience on both my sides appeared threatening!) - but in spite of that the G.U.J.J.U. song makes up for all the damage. Clever, very clever. Kantaben was good and so was Satish Shah (and his English).

04. Location: The movie is a proper New York Darshan bus. The trivial mistakes about jogging to Central Park from Queens can be easily overlooked in the age where the scripts have crater sized holes.

05. Music: S-E-L have given one of their best compositions to date. Be it the title song or Mahi Ve - all of them stay with you for a long time. My favourite is Its the time to disco, Vasundhara Das rocks (she bring out the voice of Nazia Hassan).

06. Lyrics: The title song is definitely Javed Akhtar caliber. For the rest he should give the credit to a pseudonym.

07. Spl. Appearances: Sonali Bendre and Sanjay Kapoor have extended special appearances. And in blink-an-miss appearances by Kajol & Rani (lucky mascots of Karan Johar), Uday Chopra and Jugal Hansraj.

08. Protagonists: SRK plays his part extremely well in the author backed role as "the good Samaritan", however does succumb to a bit of his usual hamming. Saif proves yet again that he is a dependable actor and at times can steal the show right under the nose. His performance at the restaurant (proposing scene) is wonderful. Preity does full justice to her character (Kareena - sour grapes! sour grapes!).

09. Tracks: In fact the movie is full of tracks but interesting ones. Be it Kantaben, Simone Singh, the wrong house, 7-day proposing, Sweetu, revamping of the restaurant or Gia's adoption track. The director has just done a good copy-paste of it.

The makers have ensured that there is maximum utilisation of resources at all fronts. For a first-timer Nikhil Advani has done a commendable job, obviously under the baton of Karan Johar who ensured that Yash Johar films flag remains high and rising.

Definitely worth a watch.... with family.

PS: Its interesting to see that from time to time, SRK acknowledges Aamir Khan in his movies (here the Lagaan song and in K3G the Ghulam matchstick).

Well, it is always a bit difficult in Western countries to get to see Bollywood movies with English subtitles, and though I have made a bit of an effort to spot them in the last few years I wouldn't call myself a Bollywood expert - and of course I've grown up with Western rather than Indian aesthetic standards ingrained. Although as a fan of Baroque Opera, I don't really have much difficulty with the basic premises of the Bollywood style!

Having said that, this was possibly the most interesting Bollywood movie I've seen to date - especially in its attempt to incorporate elements of Western pop culture, including several blatant references to American movies, from Grease and a spoofed James Bond to Brad Silberling's City of Angels, which evidently contributed a lot to the way Shahruk Khan's character is handled (including him starting to see things in black and white when he is near dying - that one goes back all the way to Wim Wenders!).

The soundtrack is stunning, and again it's great to see the way the New York setting gives opportunity to mix in some Western elements in an intelligent way. The dance and song numbers are a true joy, and it doesn't hurt that they are better integrated into the plot than in most Indian movies I've seen.

Shahruk Khan is nicely parodying himself - at least, I thought he was... maybe I'm wrong??? :-o - I also particularly enjoyed the running joke about Aman and Rohit being a homosexual couple - one could indeed ask oneself who is really in love with who here? And why exactly does Aman prefer to love vicariously rather than going for the girl himself? It's also perhaps significant that it is Rohit rather than Naina who stays with Aman to the last. I am sure the filmmakers are intelligent enough to be aware of these undercurrents, even if perhaps most audiences aren't!

In any case, watching this movie (with a very sympathetic audience at a foreign film showcase here in Wellington, people who actually laughed in most of the *right* places!) was a pure joy and it makes me happy to see how Indian cinema is finally beginning to be perceived as a legitimate part of international film culture even by Western audiences, rather than just an exotic oddity - something that Chinese and Japanese movies, for instance, have already achieved to a much greater degree!

And now I'm off to buy the soundtrack...