Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam

Horribly cobbled together script make this film a torture to watch. The only saving grace is the acting of the three main actors, who try their best to rescue the cringey dialogues and awkward plot twists. They really deserved a much better script. Some of the scenes are so bad, so many plotholes. Also so much misogyny -- not just from Shahrukh's character, but in the entire film. Madhuri's character is infuriatingly childish to the point of appearing simple-minded. The aim was to make her naive, especially where Suraj is concerned, but she ends up coming off as an 8-year-old in a 30-year-old's body. The only redeeming moments are Shahrukh's comic moments, which he executes brilliantly.

I have a mixed feeling about this movie. The plot itself was refreshing, and performance by the actors were fairly decent, though it seems to have suffered because of the prolonged production time. The movie sort of fits little bit in the mid-90's feel (if it was made today, the title song would probably have been shot in Switzerland or some other scenic location rather than in some dry grassland in India - this was disappointing). The songs list could have been lot better as there is was a good selection on the CD but unfortunately some really bad numbers made it to the movie instead. Nevertheless, it's enjoyable if you don't set your expectations too high. Should provide for some interesting debates for newly weds!

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam is a jewel of a film in many ways. Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit turn in a couple of really fine performances. Salman Khan, in spite of having a good chemistry with both Dixit and the other Khan, fails to excite me much, however. He was competent, but I felt that his musical numbers were an unwelcome intrusion into what is otherwise a very mature, realistic look at a married relationship. As in real relationships, it is often the little misunderstandings that fester until they threaten to destroy lives.

In this case, the husband Gopal (Shahrukh), although devotedly in love with his new bride Rhada (Madhuri) is self-centered and short-tempered, and misinterprets the fond affection she feels for her childhood friend Suraj (Salman) as romantic love. In their turn, Suraj and Rhada are too immature and blind to realize how their relationship is tormenting Gopal. Gopal, instead of being honest with Rhada and expressing his frustrations, remains silent until it is nearly too late to save the marriage.

I think this is one of the best performances of Shahrukh Khan's career. Not generally known for restrained performances, he shows here that in the hands of a competent director he is a wonderful actor with a huge range; he goes from subtle to frantic to silly without ever losing the honesty of the character. His performance as Gopal is mature and finely nuanced with a depth of layers not generally common to Hindi films. Madhuri is wonderful, as always.

The two Khans always share a good screen chemistry, in spite of Salman's stilted acting talents, and they share one really well-acted scene together when Gopal, nearly mad with frustration, presses a gun into Suraj's hand and invites Suraj to shoot him, shouting "Don't you know I die each day because of you?"

It's a shame that this film didn't get more attention, but admittedly it has some problems. The sets are often shabby and cheap looking, the story doesn't always flow well, and as mentioned before, Salman's dance numbers are overblown and out of place. On the plus side, however, is the hauntingly beautiful title song, beautifully picturised with Sharukh and Madhuri. But on the whole, the film doesn't quite measure up to the callibre of Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit's performances.

Many people seem to dislike 'Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam', but according to me it was a very entertaining and watchable picture. The film deals with such themes as marriage, friendship, crisis, envy, ego and separation. I cannot say these issues were dealt with in a very realistic way, neither can I say the writing was at its best, but the film was generally well-made and the issues did provoke some thoughts in my mind despite the uneven execution.

This is the story of a newly married couple - Gopal and Radha. Radha is very close to Suraj, a childhood friend and a popular singer at present, and this is the film's main conflict. Gopal is increasingly more suspicious of his wife's continuing friendship with Suraj, whom she actually treats like a brother, but this leads to tensions and makes Gopal's life miserable. The story follows this conflict, Gopal's frustration, and looks at this triangle from many angles, letting the viewer have mixed feelings about the situation.

I liked the story and the concept was quite efficient. The dialogues ranged from poor to good to amazing, and the film, though fairly outdated, remains thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. Although towards the second half the proceedings become more intense, it for the most part works as a dramedy. The editing could have been better, but the music was excellent, especially the title song "Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam", which was a pleasure to the ears and which was well pictured on-screen. Another beautiful song is "Sab Kuchh Bhula Diya", sung by Sapna Awasthi and Sonu Nigam.

Where acting goes, the film is dominated by Shahrukh Khan who steals the show with his hilarious yet relatable character of a suspicious and principled husband. He is sincere, witty, sharp, uninhibited and impulsive here, and that's what makes his performance so entertaining and moving. Madhuri Dixit is as always very compelling and beautiful, while Salman Khan plays the golden-hearted pop star with restraint. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam has many nice moments, and though it may not be an extraordinary film, it should definitely be a worthy watch for lovers of this genre and of Hindi films in general.

I was not so sure of how the movie would be when I rented it, but maybe my low expectations caused me to be pleasantly surprised and kept me in my seat and watch the movie completely. The idea is good...the actors/actresses did Ok, but it could have been much better handled by the director. Still, kudos for such a "brave" project.