Tumhare Hain Sanam

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.

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.

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam is a total misfit in the age of Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai or even Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai. Gopal (Shahrukh Khan) gets married to Radha (Madhuri Dixit) whose childhood friend is Suraj (Salman Khan). Gopal is suspicious of Radha's continuing friendship with Suraj which leads to tensions between the married couple. That's about it! Other than that, the movie consists of long, boring and regressive monologues from Gopal on his ideas of an ideal wife and marriage. And how poor Radha suffers as a result of her husband's archaic beliefs. Paradoxically, the saving grace is Shahrukh Khan himself who incredibly manages to pull off each scene quite convincingly. However the movie is interspersed with light moments which provide relief from the hi-pitched drama. Madhuri expectedly looks quite old in some scenes (the movie took 8 years to complete) but delivers a reasonably good performance. Salman Khan, as always appears comfortable with his happy-go-lucky role. Aishwarya Rai in a guest appearance is completely wasted. The songs have the feel of the eighties (sample the 'khatiya' song making a comeback!), except for the hummable title song. On the whole the movie is just about watchable. But, if you have something else to do, give it a pass.

The script of the movie was not as bad as it is directed. Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan all acted very well but the scenes and situations are not like the taste of viewers. The music by Bappi Lehri was also disturbing. One song by Nikhil Vinay "sub kuch bhula diya' was nice. Salman and Madhuri looked as if they does not know the inner feelings of Shahrukh Khan about their relationship but even a fool can determine how a husband will feel if his wife is so close with someone else.

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.