O Segredo de Aman

Watching Indian movies outside of India is something very impossible, everybody speaks about "the famous bollywood movies", but nobody want to release this jewels in Europe. I am so lucky I could see this supermasterpiece at the oriental cinema festival in Barcelon, I couldn't believe what I was watching. The script is stunning, the choreography crazy, the actors are superlative, the music is impressive, the plot turns you on...you can keep inside the characters as I never did. The sound is also impressive. It was like watching Mary Poppins when I was 6 yeras old, during 3 hours I lost the total terms of reality!!!! As the movie has never been exhibited in Spain and there is not copy on DVD we are so "lucky" We could find a pirate copy in a Pakistan supermarket in Barcelon, with perfect sound and image!!!! Well, I hope this message will amaze you to get this movie from....where?

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).

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.

Being one of the first person to watch Kal Ho Naa Ho in my group, I was constantly battered by the same questions: is it worth it? what would you compare it to? whats it about? etc.

To answer these and other questions:

Was it worth it: well depending on your perspective of what an entertaining movie should be like, then the answer would either be: 'yes definitely' or 'you will be mad to miss it'. It is so worth watching and with it Karan Johar has confirmed the he is indeed a milestone in Hindi Cinema history. The movie is definitely directed by a another (Nikhil Advani), but it is a Johar camp movie. With the Johar camp you associate a good story, good production, good songs and the 'King Khan'.

What would you compare it to? Well to be honest .nothing. It has the originality of `Kuch Kuch', the splendour of `K3G' and the freshness of `Dil Chaata Hai'; but it cannot be compared to any of these or other movies. It is in a league of its own. The story may start as the run-of-the-mill hindi-cinema story, but just when we begin to get comfortable with it, it takes a turn down another path. Don't get me wrong, it is not a complex story at all - but it is unique and compelling.

Would you watch it again? Well to be honest, I am writing this after having watched it a second time. What is so rare about this movie is that even the second time round I laughed at the jokes, tapped at the music and got emotional in the sad scenes.

What's it about? Well it will not be fair to tell you about it, as it's an experience you should have first hand. But it has its plus points: the comedy is great (both in the gujju digs as well as the 'kantabein' scenes); the music grows on you (maahi ve being the best); the guest appearances of 'charmed' actresses; the acting - excellent all round from SRK to Zinta to Saif to Jaya; along with good direction and production. It also has its negative points - but then so do other movies and I would rather not get into those.

It may not be the DDLJ or Lagaan of hindi cinema, but it's the best movie of the year and definitely a movie that will entertain me for years to come.

Almost by mistake we found this movie in Netflix and for the first time ever my wife and I spent 3 hours laughing, crying, and enjoying an old story told in a different way. This is no Oscar material, but certainly entertaining and visually rich. Great simple humor.