Happy Friday! I think this can legitimately be considered a classic, don’t you? Not a perfect movie, but one that is also a little bit better and a little more interesting, and a little more memorable, than the run of the mill films. And anyway, it’s Preity’s birthday week.
I remember when this movie came out, and I remember being disappointed in it. I think most people were disappointed at the time. It wasn’t the movie we were expecting, not from Karan Johar and this cast. We wanted another Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. Or, to be more accurate, we expected another Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. This was too far off from what we expected to accurately gauge whether we enjoyed it or not.
To put it simply, we expected another Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, and instead we got Silsila. Adult, complicated, heartbreaking, and a little bit bitter. There were no easy answers and no good people and bad people. It broke the cardinal rule of Hindi film, and suggested that sometimes things DON’T turn out all right in the end.
And what was most disturbing is that our actors, our pretty happy dancing singing Hindi film actors, also turned in adult complicated heartbreaking and a little bit bitter performances. Top to bottom, they did an amazing job. An upsettingly amazing job, making you wonder how they feel being in all those other movies where they don’t get to play nearly as interesting a character.
I’ll start at the top with Amitabh. Partially a caricature, the randy flirtatious old man surrounded by call girls and sexy young things. But at heart, something a lot more complicated. A widower hiding his grief in shallow affairs, only able to connect with his son on this superficial level, and wise enough to see the truth everyone else is hiding from, that his son’s marriage is failing.
And then there’s Abhishek. The guy who always has a smile on his face and refuses to face up to, or even admit, that he has problems. Which just lets them grow and grow in his life and he refuses to hear what people are saying to him, refuses to try to be better or do better.
Rani, the co-lead of the film, is on the surface a typical heroine. Mature, sensitive, kind, loves children. But what makes it different is that this film shows underneath that perfect sweet heroine is a person with needs and desires and fears. She wears the mask, because she is afraid to show herself or anyone else the truth, the truth that will ruin all their lives.
Shahrukh himself, of course, the center of the film. And the most upsetting character. He is wrong, he is mean, he is unpleasant. And it’s not because he is hiding a golden heart, or even because of his hidden pain. It’s because he is wrong and mean and unpleasant and not willing to do the work to make himself any better.
And finally, Preity. Who I find most fascinating out of all of this. Because she hasn’t done anything wrong! She is doing the best she can for everyone around her, not lying about who she is but also not being selfish about it. And, remarkably, the film lets her keep that, lets her know that even as her world comes crushing down around her that it is NOT her fault. That she is the real “heroine” if virtue makes a heroine and deserves to get her reward in a happy life, a happier life than she had before.
(See her determinedly not letting her sulking husband ruin her fun? I love it!)
Maybe the film would have done better and been better if it focused on Preity, the blameless one, instead of the other characters. But then, it wouldn’t be as memorable, it wouldn’t be remembered the way it is. And perhaps Preity wouldn’t have stood out as much, not if she was surrounded by purely “bad” people making herself shine through as perfect, instead of surrounded by complicated people with shades of grey.
The thing is, this movie is about people trapped in an untenable situation which is forcing them to do things they know and feel are “wrong”. And Preity is the only one who resists that urge, resists doing anything she finds “wrong” no matter the temptation. It makes her even more notable, to see how she is surrounded by weakness and remains strong.
Strong, but still herself. She smiles, she dimples, she laughs. She doesn’t play the tragedy queen or change into a depressed housewife, she is always still “Preity”, the actress persona of joyful happiness, and the character Karan wants her to play, unapologetic about her life and her person.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna has a deceptively simple plot. Two couples, both struggling with marital issues. The husband (Shahrukh) of one and the wife (Rani) of the other become friends, and friendship leads to an affair. They decide to end it and tell their spouses the truth. Shahrukh’s wife (Preity) and Rani’s husband (Abhishek) both decide to end their marriages in response. Shahrukh and Rani do not stay in touch or even see each other until over a year later. At which point Rani learns that Shahrukh is divorced and runs to meet him, finally finding him in the train station where they used to meet, and he kneels down and proposes to her.
(Also, this wonderful song happens)
But what makes it complicated is the careful way in which these relationships are built so we see that there is no simple answer, some things just happen. Preity and Shahrukh are best friends who decided to get married, they enjoy each other and have a casual happiness with each other, and are both happy with their small son and Shahrukh’s mother Kirron Kher who lives with them and helps out. But then Shahrukh is in a car accident. He can’t work any more, goes from a high powered athlete to a part-time children’s soccer coach. And Preity, whose career used to be as good as his, is now the primary wage earner in the household. Which she accepts without bitterness, and also without guilt. She enjoys her job and her success in it, and also enjoys being married to Shahrukh. He may have problems not being the “man” of the house, but she does not. Besides a few small moments of feeling disconnected with her son.
Rani and Abhishek, on the other hand, grew up together. Rani’s parents are dead, she feels like Abhishek and his father Amitabh are her family. And Abhishek is passionately in love with her. She doesn’t feel the same way, but agrees to marry him anyway. Only to realize as time goes on that she loves him, but is not in love with him. She sees him as a little boy she has to clean up after not a grown man and a partner, and is incapable of feeling sexual attraction to him. It’s not Rani’s fault that she just doesn’t feel that way. And it’s not Abhishek’s fault that he is so in love with her he was willing to marry her knowing she didn’t feel that way. And Abhishek is still happy now, happy just having her around, doesn’t even care that she is unable to have children. But Rani cares.
The female characters are so much more interesting than the male in so many ways in this film! Rani is infertile, and she and Abhishek talk about wanting a child. But what is not talked about is that she wants a sex life, a satisfying sex life. Because that is not something a woman is supposed to say. So she avoids the topic and avoids her husband and doesn’t examine her own feelings.
And Preity, what she doesn’t say, is that she knows her husband is putting his unhappiness on her, and she will not accept it. She doesn’t say it, but she shows it, through every determined smile and brisk announcement, and putting on a good face for outsiders. What she also never says, but shows that she knows, is that Shahrukh has never loved her as she loved him. They were best friends, but she was the one who proposed to him, and she is the one who is in this marriage no matter what, while he is the one looking for an escape.
The affair starts with Shahrukh and Rani, finally, acknowledging the problems in their marriage and suggesting a partnership to help each other solve them. Rani acknowledges that her sex life is a problem and looks for a way to improve it. Shahrukh acknowledges that he needs to be more supportive and involved. But it doesn’t matter what they do, their marriages are already broken. They were broken as soon as Rani and Shahrukh found it easier to talk to a new acquaintance about their problems than their own spouses.
Abhishek has a similar problem, he can relate more easily to his father than to his wife, is more likely to look to his father for sympathy and support. It’s not a cause of problems in his marriage, but it is a symptom of it.
But Preity, she has no one. Her son is closer to his father than his mother. And her mother-in-law would, presumably, always pick her son over her daughter-in-law. And so Preity keeps working, and keeps smiling and hides her pain away. The one person in her life she could share it with, her husband, is the one who is causing it. And so she shows it to no one. Only, briefly, sharing her joy with Abhishek, a random stranger, when she thinks her marriage is having a rebirth and she is determined to make it better.
The triumph of the ending is the triumph of Preity. Shahrukh goes to her to tell her what he has done and we, the audience, almost think she might forgive him. She so clearly loves him and was happy at one point in her marriage (unlike Abhishek and Rani who were never happy), and they have a child, and she is the wife, the wife always forgives. But, she doesn’t!!!!! Karan and Preity remained true to the character they had built. This woman can take care of herself and she can forgive a lot, but she also knows her own worth. She will put up with a husband who doesn’t support her, a son who doesn’t know her, but she will not be cheated on, will not sink to that level. She is the better person, she is the wrong woman, she is innocent.
I can’t help comparing her with Jaya in Silsila. Jaya is similarly strong, refusing to reveal her hurt to the general public. And she is brave in telling her husband that she has come to love him. But she doesn’t slap him, she doesn’t leave him. She doesn’t take a chance and branch out on her own rather than staying with a man who doesn’t love him.
(This song just makes you want to slap Amitabh, doesn’t it? Both in the film and in real life)
Preity takes that chance. And is rewarded for it! Perhaps my favorite thing about this whole film is when Kirron tells Preity that she is staying with her. Preity isn’t alone after all, Shahrukh can’t take her family away from her. All her lonely strength and struggle with a smile didn’t go unnoticed, and isn’t unrewarded. Kirron stays with her, the real heart of the household, and her son stays with her too. A working woman can still be a beloved daughter-in-law and a needed mother. Even a woman who separates from her husband can still be a mother and a daughter-in-law.
And she is rewarded immediately. While Shahrukh and Rani go through their lonely exile, and even Abhishek has his period of sadness, we see Preity smiling and laughing with her son, happier already now that she is not carrying the weight of an unhappy husband around with her. She does not need a new husband or a new relationship to make her happy either, she is and always has been able to take care of herself, Shahrukh was more a burden than a joy.
At the end of the film, Abhishek has moved on and is getting married. This seems right, he never experienced even a temporary joy in marriage, Rani was unhappy and out of love with him from the very beginning. He needs that, a woman who loves and desires him, in order to complete himself. But Preity, it seems right that only know at this wedding is she beginning to consider the possibility of a relationship with her handsome editor and good friend of many years Arjun Rampal. She is not unlovable and she deserves to have that part of her life fulfilled. But she doesn’t need it, not the way the other 3 leads do. She is stronger than that, and wiser than that.
At the end of the film, Preity is the only character who was and is wise enough not to be stuck in an unhappy marriage. She kept going so long as Shahrukh was willing to stay with her. She fulfilled her own needs and kept her promises to him. But once he broke those promises, she threw him out. She wasn’t like Abhishek, desperately trying to make a woman who was uninterested in him pay him attention, or like Rani desperately denying her own unhappiness, or Shahrukh bitterly acting out his misery instead of trying to resolve it.
Preity is also the best example of the meaning of the title of the film. It’s not that Rani and Shahrukh are fated to be together and therefore can never say good-bye. It’s that you can’t say good-bye, not really, to the people in your life you once loved. Abhishek, he seeks out Rani and invites her to his wedding, having realized that she will always be a part of him. But Preity and Shahrukh knew that all along. They had a child together, they had a long life together, that will always be there and they will always care for each other. One of my favorite moments in the title song is when we see Preity, happy, and Shahrukh looking on with a sad smile. Sad for himself, but still happy for her, because their bond is never really gone.
dontcallitbollywood 
I don’t remember being disappointed when I watched KANK for the first time. I liked it. And I even forced my husband to watch it few years later. But last year when I wanted to rewatch it, I found it terrible, and couldn’t finish. There are so many unneeded scenes, dialogues and stuff.
You know those tv shows where they take a women with horrible make-up and trashy clothes and make a makover? When the woman wash all the mess off her face people are like: wow you are so pretty under the make-up. KANK is like those women for me. Beautiful story covered with unnecessary filmi mess.
In my opinion Karan wasn’t ready to do this kind of movie in 2006. He wanted something different, something bold but at the same time he had still this idea of big sparkling hindi movies in his head. And you can’t make it work. At that time he still hasn’t recovered after his father death, and had people saying: your father would not approve this kind of movie. So he had mess inside him, and it shows.
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Yes, I was so happy to read his autobiography and realize he saw and recognized the same problems with the film that we all saw.
My first reaction when I watched it was to want to remove the realness and keep the sparkle. I wanted Shahrukh to be less difficult and more charming, and a soapy reason for the marriages to fall apart. Keep the songs and the romance and all of that, but get rid of the unpleasantness.
Now though, I can appreciate that it really was a different kind of film and a different kind of performance. I think Karan made something closer to the film he wanted to make with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, a balance of songs and real emotions.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 6:37 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I couldn’t connect with any of the characters.I don’t mind flawed or selfish characters.It’s not just the cheating which is a no-no for me.None of the cast made me ‘feel’. The emotional connection which I expect from a Hindi movie was lacking here.I would have watched it with the same detachment if any of the characters -including Priety the most sympathetic one-was hit over by a truck. I feel that the movie lacks soul which I can’t say about any of Karan’s other movies.
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Interesting! Do you think if the plot had stayed the same but it had been filmed differently, more like Ae Dil Hai Mushkil for instance, you wouldn’t have had that problem?
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 8:37 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I don’t exactly know why I couldn’t connect with the characters.Maybe because they were all so detached and independent and would get along perfectly fine after some nominal rona-dhona?I don’t think that more suffering is the answer either.Certainly the musical numbers in KANK were jarring and too cheerful and didn’t fit the movie.But in Ae Dil hai Mushkil the music was just right.
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“Shahrukh and Rani do not stay in touch or even see each other until over a year later.”
It’s three years later by the way 🙂
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Thank you! I knew it was at least a year because of the seasons changing in the song, but I wasn’t sure beyond that.
The first time I watched the film, I felt like that period of separation was “punishment” for them, but now I have come around to seeing it as necessary for growth, for everybody. Rani and Shahrukh had to live alone for a while to be ready to start their relationship together for real. Preity and Abhishek needed time to recover as well. Coming back together after 3 years also underlines the theme that you can never really say goodbye to these people, no matter what changes in your life.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 8:53 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hmm, that’s a really good way of putting it. I always looked at it as punishment but what you’re saying makes a lot of sense.
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It’s also what happens in real life! The rebound relationship, the affair that goes straight to marriage, doesn’t usually work out. Because it’s too hard to make the leap so suddenly from sneaking around and forbidden romance to boring every day life. If this film is giving life lessons, the lesson is “end the affair, and focus on your marriage”. In their case, that meant that the marriage ended too, but they still sort of focused on their marriage, at least ending it properly and finding closure, before moving on to a new relationship.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 9:26 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That makes sense. Plus when things start to go wrong, you would probably be blaming your affair and the person you’re with now about how you ruined a marriage instead of blaming yourself? I don’t know if that really makes sense…
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Yes, that completely makes sense! You would start thinking “I gave up my whole life for you, you had better put the dirty dishes in the sink!”, like that.
Here’s an interesting thought. The way the affair plays out in this movie, two unhappy marriages, a couple that is a better fit and makes a connection outside of marriage, an affair, and then guilt and a decision to end it and tell their spouses the truth, and then the marriages ending, it could have all happened even if the affair WASN’T true love. It’s possible that the title song would have ended with Rani and Shahrukh realizing that they just needed a way out of their marriages and they weren’t really in love after all. It’s only during the title song, when they keep thinking of the other one for 3 years, that you know for sure it was love. Everything else before that could have just been bad marriages.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 9:36 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes! That makes a lot of sense!
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I’m glad you kept on with the idea of KANK being Preity’s most interesting role. She really is a functional adult in this movie–while being very likeable, and not self-righteous. Tough to get right. I’m sorry Kirron Kher isn’t on the movie poster. She is the heart of this movie for me. Her scenes with Amitabh are the only things that redeem his character as far as I’m concerned (and a couple of his with Rani). I think some of the messages of this movie are that love doesn’t automatically make someone a better person, and that erotic love can be scary, irrational, and unpredictable. In Shah Rukh’s case, the lesson might be, “even assholes can love, and need love”. I respect his 100% commitment to playing a jerk in this movie–he doesn’t flinch from being right on the edge of abusive to those closest to him–a couple of times over the edge when it comes to his son.
A couple of thoughts I had while reading this. I disagree that Shah Rukh is close to his son. He is more physically present than Preity, but has no interest whatsoever in who his son is, and mostly just uses the son to vent his anger and peevishness. Thank goodness Kirron is there to unconditionally love this little boy, otherwise he might have been really screwed up. Also–I wonder if, consciously or not, the film makers made Dev such a bad dad (even on his good days he’s not the greatest) because that makes it more acceptable for him to be with a woman who can’t have kids. (Of course they could adopt.) May be a stretch, but it just occurred to me. I’ve never really gotten why it was necessary for the character to be so mean to the kid, so maybe I’m just reaching for a reason.
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Interesting with Kirron being the heart of the film. It goes back to my favorite part of the ending, that Kirron choices Preity over Shahrukh. If she is the heart and moral campus of the film, then it is clear who is the one “right” character in the movie. Actually, both in-laws choose the daughter-in-law over the son, Amitabh encouraging Rani to leave the marriage if she is unhappy. An interesting statement on marriage in a way, that the in-law bond can remain and the love can be unchanged, separate from the bond between husband and wife. Which rang true for me, I have certainly seen that in real life, parents-in-law who remain close with their children’s partners post divorce. Not always, but it can happen.
What I found interesting with both Rani and Shahrukh’s characters is that the unflinchingly unpleasant way they played them (yes, Rani too, hers was more passive. but she was still very difficult to live with). They were culpable in the breakdown of their marriages, not the innocent victims of unloving spouses as these characters are usually played. And yet there was a soulmate out there, someone who would be a perfect fit in their life. My sister always compared this to Dil To Pagal Hai if Madhuri and Shahrukh had met later, which is completely accurate. Both women pressured to marry the son of their foster family, both men feeling pressured to marry the woman who they like but don’t like-like because she loves them so much. It’s not exactly an arranged marriage, not in the “marrying a stranger” kind of way, more just a marriage because you don’t think there is anything better out there. And just like in Dil To Pagal Hai, the problem was that they had a soulmate out there, someone who was just right for them, which would blow up all of these “Settling” plans. But unlike in Dil To Pagal Hai, they aren’t perfect wonderful people that anyone would love, they are difficult and unpleasant and unlikeable. But they still have a soulmate somewhere. That’s why I find that train station proposal scene at the end so moving, they are broken and old and cynical, but they still find within themselves this fantasy romance just like anyone else would have.
For Shahrukh and his son, I saw it as him taking his unhappiness out on the boy. Which, no duh. But with the large message of “sometimes divorce is good”. As in, yes he was a less present father post-divorce, but a much happier one. We saw that, when he really focused and stepped up he could be a good Dad, it was just the daily grind of disappointment in his life that made him forget how to be a good father. After the divorce, he was better and Preity was better and it was better for their son to have them apart and happy then together and miserable.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 10:24 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I meant to say in my first response–I agree that Kirron choosing to stay with Preity and her grandson, and the way she kind of asks permission to stay, are so wonderful! Good point about all the healthy messages KANK sends about love between parents-in-law and kids-in-law being possible, and transcending the marriage to their children. My paternal grandma was close with my mom long after my parents divorced. Grandma (a small-town Ohio lady to her core) would say, “He divorced her, I didn’t!”–which would make my mom roll her eyes, but also smile. Especially because the divorce was ALL my mom’s idea, lol.
Agreed that Dev is a better parent after he and Preity separate. And I like your idea about all of the main characters still caring about each other, and better able to be happy for each other, once they’ve all moved on from the bad marriages.
Rani would indeed be impossible to live with. I think that I find Rani so beautiful it is hard for me not to like her, haha. I was thinking that I’m glad she ends up with Shah Rukh as the perfect partner in Paheli, because in Chalte Chalte and KANK he’s got serious anger issues!
Interesting comparison to DTPH. I’m glad that Abishek and Preity don’t get together in KANK, but I hope that Akshay and Karisma end up together after DTPH. 🙂
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When I first saw the promos for this movie, I was sure it was going to be Preity and Abhishek having an affair, and then Shahrukh and Rani finding comfort with each other. I’m really glad it didn’t go that way, first because I like the idea that Preity and Abhishek had to go out and find themselves and then find the people they are really meant to be with instead of just neatly tying up all the loose ends. But also because it was kind of playing with the audience expectations! The wild cheerful event coordinator guy loved his wife and was entirely faithful to her. The bouncy ambitious clubbing career woman was all in in her marriage. It was the old-fashioned stick in the mud guy, and the homebody sweet teacher, who had the affair.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 11:15 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes! And I like the idea that Preity and Abishek are bonded in a way by the painful experience they shared, and are still good friends three years after it. Even though Shah Rukh fans (well me, anyway) find it annoying that Karan intercut the hotel room scene with Abhi and Preity dancing, it is playing with those expectations again. People seeing Abhi and Preity having fun together at the club could be judgy, while the real transgression is going on out of sight.
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Exactly! Being outgoing and modern and westernized and being traditional and silent and introverted are totally unrelated to being happy or unhappy in a marriage, and cheating or not cheating.
Another advantage of the 3 year gap is that it might make it easier for everyone to remain friends, or at least friendly, despite the affair. Shahrukh is always going to be part of Preity’s life because they have a child together, and Abhishek made it clear that he wants Rani back in his life as a tie to his father and his family that he doesn’t have from anywhere else. But could Rani and Preity or Abhishek and Shahrukh ever be able to be together peacefully if there hadn’t been those 3 years between? Making it clear that they aren’t the “reason” the marriage failed, there was something else happening too?
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 12:32 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ahhh, Karan, so wise in the ways of human relationships. (half-snarky)
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I agree that this is one of Preity’s best roles and the same is true of Amitabh. I find him such a snooze in most films but he’s so good in this because he’s emotionally vulnerable and I don’t think that’s a space he inhabits often in his roles.
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You’re right about Amitabh being emotional. It seems like he really needs to trust a director before he can open himself up in that space. And now, with all the aging-Amitabh gravitas, it is easy for him to be used as just sort of a God on a Mountaintop role instead of a real person. Baghban is the film that really sort of breaks down the strong perfect Amitabh to a human level in a way that is heartbreaking.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 11:23 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh my god, I meant to type Abhishek instead of Amitabh >_< but it's true of both of them isn't it? Only Abhishek isn't God yet (or maybe never)
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Oh wow, it’s way more true of Abhishek!!!!! I feel like in Guru he got in there a little and revealed some stuff, but still not all of it.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 12:51 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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P.S. Baghban looks great, adding to my list
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Baghban will make you SO ANGRY at the children. But, I mean, in a way that the film wants you to be angry, so it’s all good. And it’s an amazing film for showing an older couple love story.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 12:52 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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For raw vulnerable performances by the male Bachchans…
Yuva -the (only) other movie in besides KANK in which Abhishek (Jr B) was emotionally raw, vulnerable, real. Also one of the best mainstream movies of the 2000s decade, imo.
Nishabd – loosely based on Lolita, Amitabh (Sr B) effortlessly yet accurately portrayed the self aware self loathing internal conflict, with an internal non-showy yet very vulnerable & raw performance.
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@reflects on life, thanks for the recommendations!
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Thank you for shining your spotlight on one of my most favorite Hindi films, or more accurately, one of my most memorable experiences of witnessing my own thoughts and emotions interplay with the film as it unfolded itself to me on the big screen.
I suppose we all see what we want to see in any film, so if something resonates with you, then that resonance can overshadow any flaws.
I walked into KANK expecting something grittier than K3G, and that’s exactly what we got. I mean, just look at the movie poster. The foreboding grey blue sky of winter, everyone dressed in black and somber colors, all serious somber facial expressions and body language, and everyone except preity all bundled up in winter clothes. That’s not a poster that screams “masala entertainer” or even “rom com”. The poster says “relationship drama among adults” (as opposed to “coming of age story”, which so many Bolly romances are). My concern, from the poster, was that it looked like KJo was going to attempt foraying into Mahesh Bhatt territory, king of the personal but overwrought, over-plotted, melodramatic relationship drama. So I was worried that this movie would veer into soap opera territory. Instead, I was so happy and relieved to realize that KJo kept it reined in and was giving us such a balanced film.
As for all the masala-ness interspersed throughout the film, this was 2006, so masala relief elements, like club songs, uber-choreography, lip syncing, cameos, and comic relief characters & elements, were just the accepted and understood language of even the best Indian commercial films. Bollywood has evolved so much since then that this movie feels so dated now, despite so much about this film – the stories, the acting, the cinematography – is as fresh as ever.
Most people who I knew that didn’t like this film, didn’t like it for a much different reason than K3G nostalgia. They felt the movie accepted if not condoned extramarital affairs, and that it condoned if not advocated for the breakup of unsuccessful marriages. I don’t think the Indian or diaspora audience was ready for that in 2006, esp from KJo. But I thought that K2H2 already telegraphed KJo’s interest in messy relationships and life choices, I.e. Rani’s death was really just code for the inevitable divorce or dead marriage, and KHNH only heightened this.
I know a lot if ppl were annoyed with the “SrB doing his best Johnny Lever” relief character, complete with comical musical sound effects to cue audience laughter. But what I struggled with most was SRK’s showy overacting in his role. I don’t mind that he wore his bitterness on his sleeve and that his acting was so physical, but he was chewing the scenery a bit, making it difficult to concentrate on the scenes as a whole. KJo should have edited or redirected SRK a tad.
Another reason I enjoyed the movie is that I have been all 6 of these characters (incl kiron and SrB), and I have been in relationships with all 6 of these characters, at various points of my life. No extramarital affairs per se, but there are ways to “cheat” on a marriage besides physical intimacy with another human.
Finally, I really enjoyed how realistic the clothes, the homes, the mileus were in this film. It wasn’t cinema verite, it still provided some level of aspirational fantasy, but it wasn’t OTT. People with these careers and these incomes would wear these clothes and live in these homes. The coffee shops, park benches, living rooms, work spaces, all felt right. My only beef would be that south Asian immigrants and first gens in the usa aren’t typically fashion magazine editors, pro soccer players, or even school teachers – these are the kind of “follow your passion” careers that second gen (I.e. grandchildren of immigrants) would foray into.
A lovely film at its core. I agree with KJo that this film in particular deserves a reboot, retold in the language of modern Bollywood cinema, without changes to the actual story or characterizations. I think it could even use a sequel, like the Before Sunrise/Sunset movies, following the characters and their evolving relationships throughout their lives.
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You just blew my mind with the idea that K2H2 was supposed to be about a failed marriage, not a death. You are absolutely right! It kind of goes there already, with Rani’s awareness that Shahrukh doesn’t “really” love her and just won’t admit it, which is part of why she decides to leave him in death. But she could have just as easily left him and stayed alive, after realizing that something was missing in their relationship, Shahrukh’s guilt and obsession with “one love” works almost better as an ex-husband who is determinedly clinging to the idea that he can’t remarry, and Rani’s helping him to get together with Kajol also makes complete sense if she wants him to understand finally why their marriage failed. It even fixes the uneven power dynamic, it’s not that Kajol had to grow up and stop being a tomboy, it’s that Shahrukh had to grow up and stop just looking at the surface of things and realize that what he felt for Rani was an allusion.
I am fascinated with the way Karan deals with relationships, he seems so interested in drawing those fine lines between them in a way most other directors don’t. It’s not just “love” versus “hate”, it’s a particular kind of love versus other kinds of love. This film is maybe the pinnacle of that, because there are so many varied relationships overlapping between everyone. Even the way Kirron and Amitabh interact, I find fascinating.
You are right about the clothes! It was the same in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Very nice interesting clothing, but also the kind that people would wear just walking down the street. And in My Name is Khan too. He talked in his autobiography about how he was different from his filmi friends because he came from the real world and they were excited by how he knew the way people dressed and spoke in that world. I notice that most in his overseas set films. Gorgeous coats and outfits and so on, but just the nicest version of what they would be. And the same with apartments and houses and everything else, like you say. It’s yet another thing he shares with Yash Chopra. Yes, the clothes are amazing, but they aren’t the sort of “wearing a party dress to college” ridiculousness that other directors have. They are legitimate upper middle class outfits, appropriate for the situation.
I’d love the idea of a sequel! I wrote my own, but I want to see what Karan would do with it too. I don’t want to see Rani and Shahrukh break up or anything as predictable as that, but I would like to see Rani and Abhishek navigating a new relationship as siblings (people with a shared childhood and shared parents who they have lost), and Preity somehow managing to make her peace with Shahrukh and Shahrukh able to be sincerely happy for her.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 3:41 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Thanks for your response. Thinking about the sequel, do you think that KANK suffers from the same “KJo throws in a death” and “KJo doesn’t know how to end a film” tropes that his other films get criticized for? I think the death in this film is the most obvious and natural one of all his films. And I was satisfied with the ending, though I would argue that it was a bit too “tying up loose ends”. I would have preferred promising endings with slightly less closure. Like Abhishek in a passionate relationship where they are demonstrably into each other, but not yet engaged. Or the Rani SRK reunion ending with a clinging-for-dear-life never-ending embrace, then walking away hand in hand, but no proposal. That would have felt complete without feeling contrived. Plus, this would leave more room for play in a possible sequel.
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I think this death was definitely natural, as were the complications from it. All it did was remind Rani of how much Abhishek needed her and how it would break him if she were to end the marriage. Which weren’t things that happened because of the death, it’s just what reminded Rani of it. I think she would have gotten there anyway, she wasn’t ready to confront what she would be doing to Abhishek by leaving him, something would have made her think about it sometime.
My problem with the ending is all the coincidences. If Rani hadn’t happened to run into Preity at Abhishek’s wedding, they never would have met again. Really? That’s the only part that feels unearned to me, that feels like filmi magic. They could have just changed it slightly, had Rani and Shahrukh agree that they shouldn’t even think about each other and should focus on their marriages no matter what, and then years later have them google each other, or Rani sees a thing in the newspaper about him being the new coach for whatever team, or something like that. I just hate the “we will both lie in that last phone call and then bump into each other years later by total coincidence” idea.
I also have to say that I like the proposal. That part of filmi magic works for me, because it feels like it is a reasonable decision, after all their loneliness and unhappiness they want this magic and romance, Shahrukh would want to give her the romance and she would want it from him.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 10:05 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I don’t like Priety’s character either, all 5 of them are pretty awful. Not saying it would be easy or pleasant living with such a grump but I find her so condescending to him. One of his biggest problems is he feels disempowered and she is a big contributor to that. There is resentment on both sides – why would you want to stay with a man who treats your child so viciously anyway?
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I think part of Preity’s strength is also her weakness. She isn’t someone who is going to be made to feel guilty, or sacrifice for no reason. Which is something I like in her as a character. But it makes her a terrible match for Shahrukh’s character, someone who needs to feel needed. Obviously it was fine when they both had successful careers and fulfilling lives outside the home, but once Shahrukh became homebound, he needed a partner who would aggressively build him up, and that just wasn’t something Preity’s character could do. At least that’s how I saw it.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 3:59 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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This movie was a little messy. I think the issue was it had leads whom you just didn’t connect with. SRK’s character really didn’t have anything uplifting about it, and for me was what I hated most. He’s not a good husband to even begin with (he and Preity aren’t in sync even then, but its ok as long as its going well). He also then goes on to become a really awful father. I didn’t even realize SRK could play unpleasant so well. And Rani is pretty whiny as well.
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This IS a messy film~in part because I don’t think Karan really knew what he was doing here. I think he made the same mistake many writers make in writing about people & events & emotions of they have no experience.
As far as Dev goes~he had clearly planned his entire life around one career~A League professional soccer player. He had no fallback position because it had never occurred to him that he might need one.
Once the accident took away that career~and at the precise moment he had attained his dream~he was completely & utterly lost. He had married Rhea because she also was a ‘topper’ and their lives were laid out in front of them as one success after another. She even said to Maya that the day their son was born was the happiest day of his life~another success. But we never see him with his son when he is happy & a success~only when his life has been destroyed by this act of fate. True he was not happy in his martiage to Rhea when he met Maya on her wedding day~but he had no intention of doing anything other than soldiering on in it.
Maya NEVER should have married Rishi. They were just too different. I see why she did but their relationship was doomed from the start. Whereas Dev & Rhea’s wasn’t. It just required success on both their parts as far as their careers went.
Sam has to have been the most disgusting character I have ever seen in a Hindi film. He was SO slimy. And none of the justification for his creepiness rang true.
Dev’s mother was probably the best of the lot. But I understood how Dev fell into an affair with Maya. She was as damaged as he was & as unhappy. I found Rhea superficial & self-centered~not as noble as you did. If Shah Rukh hadn’t looked as hot as he did the whole film would have been less interesting for me.
But even I was disappointed in him in the very last scene at the train station when he asked Maya to share his incomplete life. He hadn’t learned all that much after all in those 3 years.
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Now you’ve got me thinking about it, and I think you are right about Shahrukh and Preity’s marriage, but also that it was doomed. Because no one has perfect success without any problems. At some point something would have gone wrong. Maybe it would have been another 20 years down the line, Shahrukh’s career starts to trail off due to aging, and he becomes bitter and has a hard time supporting Preity’s success. Or Preity loses a big promotion and Shahrukh isn’t there to comfort her and she disconnects from him and starts hiding her feelings. They were always on a tenuous footing, it just happened to be Shahrukh’s injury which revealed it.
And meanwhile, like you say, Rani and Abhishek just shouldn’t have been married. They were never going to be a good pair.
On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 6:59 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I finally watched this movie last night. I’d been putting it off because infidelity is one of my least favorite kinds of stories. I did in fact dislike it, but not for the reasons I expected to. It just felt very ham handed in the scripting, and lacking in authenticity everywhere – generic New York backdrop, an idea of love that is still very naive in spite of all the plot complications mixed in, and cardboard cut-out character types (the high powered working mom who’s never home, the party boy, the randy old man, the good girl tempted by fate, the athlete with broken dreams).
This is my least favorite Shah Rukh performance of any I’ve seen. It’s an extremely rare case where I think he was out-acted by all of the other leads. I’m kind of mad at Karan for writing this role and talking him into it. Agree with Reflects on Life that he’s chewing the scenery, and not even in a way that makes sense for the character as with some of his other roles. It’s a performance stuck together with tics and grimaces. It’s like he couldn’t figure out any way of building a character who would fall in love with a woman who’s not his wife, except by making him a really nasty piece of work. The SRK trademark is making even problematic characters sympathetic, and that works for all the roles of obsessive love, or when he’s playing the trickster at work in a corrupt system. But there is nothing sympathetic about Dev. He’s mean to everyone but Rani, and even when he’s in pleasant mode with her he’s sarcastic and difficult. You can see Rani trying to find a way to react lovingly in character a couple of times, including during the train station proposal, but he doesn’t make it easy.
Rani’s performance holds the movie together, in my opinion. She creates so many warm moments, such wonderful chemistry with Amitabh, with SRK in spite of everything, even with Preity at the end. The scenes with Abhishek are pitch perfect on both sides, this was a great performance for him too, maybe my favorite of the ones I’ve seen. Preity’s performance is good but I think the script doesn’t give her character much support and I hate her hair. (Shah Rukh’s hair, on the other hand, was the best part of the movie for me. Finally, just the right length and styling, for a whole movie. Wish I could switch this hair onto some of the other characters I like more.)
Two last things that bugged me. The black beast thing was dumb. Rani is really supposed to grab some kid and run off with him? That’s in character for her? And the other, this idea of one true love that the film uses to justify the infidelity is just a really poor fit with the whole story that’s built around it. It’s OK for SRK and Rani to cheat because actually, there’s one perfect person in the world out there, they just didn’t happen to marry that person. It’s OK for Amitabh to be a womanizing creep, because his one true love is dead. Like, go ahead, make a film with difficult characters and complicated emotions, but then accept that life can be messy and we can love different people in different ways, don’t try to hang it all on a fairy tale of one true love. It feels like either Karan chickened out or, like Ericablueyz said, he didn’t understand the emotions or characters he was trying to show us.
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Such interesting comments! My interpretation of Shahrukh’s character has always been that Karan set out to write a difficult person, the idea being that Shahrukh and Rani were both “broken” in their own ways, Rani was so restrained and quiet that she couldn’t really open up to people, and Shahrukh was bitter and angry at the world. Their affair was about finding the person who could make them feel happy, who could understand them in a way no one else could (because they are so difficult). Only, Shahrukh went too far in his performance, committed too much. We only had the bitterness, not the charm and love underneath in most scenes.
You pointed to Rani as being perfect and creating warmth with everyone. You are right, and I appreciate that even more because she did it without losing that sense that there was something special with her bond with Shahrukh. She is always sweet and kind and doing what will please the other person, except with Shahrukh, that is the one place where she is funny and a little crazy and more than just the perfect wife or the perfect daughter-in-law. And of course, also the one place she can truly feel desire. Personally, I really liked how that was handled. It wasn’t as simple as Rani being “frigid”, it was that she just didn’t feel attracted to Abhishek and no amount of time or effort was going to change that, sometimes people just aren’t attracted.
I hadn’t thought about the flaw of the “one true love” theory before! And you are right, it is a flaw. Especially because much of the plot is built without it. Shahrukh and Preity are happy together, and then their life takes an unexpected turn, they grow into different people, and their marriage can’t survive. Abhishek and Rani have no sexual attraction and never have, and after 4 years that’s not going to change either, and their marriage can’t survive that. And then separately, Shahrukh finds someone who can appreciate and enjoy his “new” person, this bitter sarcastic person on the outskirts of the party. And Rani meets someone who sparks desire within her for the first time. It makes sense that they would be drawn to each other, that as their marriages fell apart, they would fall in love and start an affair. If Karan really wanted a “true love” plot, he should have had happy marriages on both sides and then true love defeating them, instead of establishing flawed marriages in which an affair is almost inevitable.
Here’s the really interesting thing, back when this movie first came out I was in college and my desi friends (nice girls going to school near home) reported that they saw the movie with their parents and it didn’t make sense, because Shahrukh’s marriage was definitely hopeless, but there was no reason for Rani to leave Abhishek. And then I watched it myself and had the reverse reaction, Shahrukh and Preity could have saved their relationship through counseling and hard work, but Rani was never going to feel desire for Abhishek and thus she should not be expected to stay for both their sakes. Just a little interesting comment on Indian culture. I think in Karan’s memoir he mentioned similar reactions, people not understanding what was wrong with Rani that she wanted to leave this marriage.
On Sat, Jul 6, 2019 at 10:59 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes, I think he could have made it a more interesting movie by going the full sexual passion route you’re hinting at by saying Rani is just not fulfilled that way in her marriage. In that version, the Rani-Abhishek story line could stay basically the same, maybe a touch more on the idea that she can’t get past seeing him as a sibling. In the SRK-Preity story line, they started out attracted to one another, but after the accident he felt emasculated by having to depend on her, and they fell into a bad cycle of sniping at each other, which Preity started to avoid by working longer hours, so now they barely see each other but when they do there is so much built up resentment that neither will make the first move. SRK is still a good father to his son, though, which is how you see he still has a softer side that needs to show love. Rani and SRK start out with the same bond over broken marriages, but fall more quickly into a physical relationship because there is a strong attraction and they both have craved a deep connection for so long. In this version the wild card of sex, which brings a joy neither has experienced in years, causes a conflict between the selfishness of wanting to be happy and the selflessness of wanting to protect their families from scandal and pain. The affair is the catalyst to cause everyone involved to realize that sometimes the pain and destruction caused by breaking the rules is necessary for everyone to be free to find a happier, if more complicated, life for themselves.
Another option would be self realization. Rani is trapped in Amitabh and Abhishek’s version of her from childhood, she can’t break out to grow into the person she wants to be. SRK is stuck with his broken dream of being a soccer player, he hasn’t figured out what he wants to do with his life if he can’t be that, and he blames Preity because she’s working so hard to support the family that he’s decided he has to be around to parent his son instead of finding another job or purpose in life. (Not Preity’s fault, of course, but she’s become a convenient scapegoat.) Rani and Shah Rukh are able to see potential in each other that their spouses have stopped looking for, and the affair causes each to push against the constraints they’ve set for themselves and ultimately become better and happier people. The Rani-Abhishek relationship would lean into her compulsive cleaning and mothering, and she wouldn’t start teaching until after meeting Shah Rukh. The SRK-Preity relationship would be stuck in a really combative stage where every conversation was like navigating a minefield and they only play nice in front of company. The resolution from the fallout of the affair shows that one of the biggest factors to being happy in a relationship is liking the person you are in that relationship.
(Notice there is no scenario that requires him to be a terrible father, calling his son idiot and telling him to shut up. That really sinks any sympathy I can have for that character.)
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I like both of these ideas! And I think they are both already there in the movie, just not enough. I’d love for the film to have dumped the “true love” speech in the train station and change it to be a speech about how he feels sexy with her and vice versa, and she makes him want to be a better person and he inspired her to try new things. And there first meeting would be way more interesting (to me) if it wasn’t about feeling the true love, but about NOT feeling it. When he was healthy and successful, he was in love with his wife and just saw her as a random nice lady. And before she married Abhishek, when she didn’t fully understand the lack of sexual fulfillment she would feel in marriage, she was nervous but not unhappy. At that moment in time, they would not fall in love. But 4 years later, when she had been fully disappointed by her love life in her marriage and begun to feel trapped and unfulfilled in multiple ways, and when he was no longer the cocky young man who loved his wife, then they could fall in love.
I like your idea of having her start teaching as a plot point, that could be part of her conversations with Shahrukh and come up, and maybe her fights with Abhishek, that he doesn’t want her to start working because he thinks it is part of her not being satisfied with him instead of being part of her own journey. And then it would tie in naturally to the bit in the title song when she introduces herself to her students. It would be good if she does the same with Shahrukh. He is supposed to go from being a stay at home Dad and part time soccer coach to some kind of full time job in Philly that pays enough to support himself. Maybe she encourages him to think about how he can start fresh with a new real career instead of just drifting through life. And that could start interesting fights with Preity, as she wants him to keep taking the lead in parenting while he wants to explore going back to work.
Otherwise, so much of it already works! The tension between them that is both emotional and sexual, the way their marriage fights play out, it’s all there, just not quite right.
On Sun, Jul 7, 2019 at 1:49 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Whenever I think of the SRK-Rani pair in this movie, I always think of two alcoholics or two drug addicts getting together. (And why its frowned upon so much) Two bitter unhappy people who connect at their worst and lowest points in life. It’s not a perfect comparison but I keep thinking that SRK and Rani would have also had a terrible relationship and probably broken up eventually. When you connect at your lowest points in life, you tend to drag each other down whenever one wants to improve or move ahead. They don’t even know who the other person is when they’re actually happy and doing well in life.
Let’s see SRK actually improves his life when he becomes a coach. You have to remember this is a person with extreme drive and ambition – you don’t become a sports player making millions without it. That passion would eventually come out again when he transitions through his bad phase and really accepts his injury. He is so unhappy in the Preity marriage because he hasn’t yet really accepted what has happened to him. What happens with Preity is just a byproduct of his injury and losing his career. It isn’t really about not loving her.
If and when he’s able to find an alternate career, things would change. Say that teaching a high school team eventually leads to teaching a university team and maybe even a club team one day. He already has some name recognition from the past so it is not completely unlikely if he puts his mind to it. What happens then? He would find his fulfillment and most of his time would be dedicated to that. But the same would not happen to Rani. She would still be the dull school teacher who wants to be surrounded by kids because she can’t have one herself. She won’t have one with SRK either because the one he has is more than enough for him and he definitely won’t be willing to adopt another one. Her unfulfilment would never change. Now there is no excitement of sneaking around and being secretive and hardly spending time together. Now it’s just a routine boring life between two people who barely know each other now that they’re not complaining about their spouses.
I could honestly see SRK and Preity’s marriage working out after a separation period but I can’t see SRK and Rani working even if they’ve convinced themselves they are soulmates to justify their cheating. The SRK-Rani marriage would eventually turn into exactly what the Priety-SRK marriage was except with the roles reversed. SRK busy with trying to rebuild his career and hardly being home and Rani still not fulfilled because her problem was never really solved and will never be.
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One thing that I think needs to be explored more with the Rani character is her need for family. She loved Amitabh and Abhishek and felt loyal to them (to the point of marrying Abhishek against her will). And she held on to her marriage with Abhishek past the expiration date because she didn’t want to be alone. Finally being on her own, I think, could have given her a chance to confront her fears and understand she could survive that. And then come back together with Shahrukh just wanting to be with him in particular. That’s what I see as her big issue, not so much wanting a kid as wanting family.
Really, the basic set-up for this film has so much in it! Rani as the lonely orphan stuck married to a man she can’t be attracted to, Shahrukh as the former golden boy cut down to nothing, Preity as the working woman trying to hold everything together while her husband falls apart, Abhishek as the man who is trying to pretend to himself and everyone else that there is nothing wrong in his marriage. But then the execution just isn’t there.
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Thank you for bumping this thread. I had never seen it and boy do I have a lot to say about this movie.
I wish there was a way to remake this movie again and only keep SRK and Abhishek. I thought everyone else was miscast. SRK’s performance too was full of tics but I think this kind of unlikeable role needs someone who has as much charisma as him. The intervening years have also made him a much better actor now and I think he would be able to play it better. If you see/read some interviews from that time, he was totally unconvinced about this movie and role and said many times that he didn’t like it at all. He even mentioned that Gauri didn’t like the movie either. It was something he did for Karan because at that time, Karan only made movies with him or else he would have turned it down. He was just not into it and it was visible from his acting.
But for me, Rani and Preity were the most problematic. It didn’t make any sense. Cute, chubby Preity wearing ridiculous clothes a 16 year old would wear as a high powered fashion editor? It really looked like a joke. Normally I think Rani is a good actress but every time she came on screen, the only thing that came to mind was “cheater crying crocodile tears every 2 minutes.” There were a lot of scenes by the water and I really wanted to reach into the screen and push her in hoping she would drown. It was a test of patience watching the tears artfully dripping off her face every 2 minutes as she does horrible things. Why would he even be attracted to this morose bore of a woman who makes herself the victim no matter what? I detested Rani’s acting choices.
It was just uncreative casting. Karan just picked all the top players at the time and threw them in. Someone like Sushmita Sen would make much more sense in Preity’s role. An ex-model and now editor, tall and powerful enough to emasculate a lesser man, wearing power suits and who has an impeccable way of speaking. Someone who would have really connected with an equally successful professional sportsman who had as much charisma as her. Then it starts breaking up as his career dives and his personality becomes bitter and boring as he’s homebound now. He’s no longer the guy that she can show off or who fits well in her circles. He is self-hating and embarrassed that nobody cares about him anymore and all the attention is on her. So he finds an equally dull school teacher who has a smaller life just like he does now, played by someone who can be enchanting to him but not the beauty everyone craves – maybe Vidya Balan or Tabu, bored and uninterested in her younger childlike husband. Rani was too young at the time and she and Abhishek came with baggage since they had great couple chemistry in previous movies. It just didn’t make much sense. It’s like putting Kajol in the Preity role. Who would buy it? SRK leaves Kajol for someone else? No matter what story you craft, it’s an uphill battle and does not really work.
And the cheaters turned into soulmates who end up together? No thanks. I would have the affair being part of why the marriage ends. But they don’t end up together either. Everyone should move on to their own personal happiness but two boring cheaters being rewarded is a huge turn off.
Also, cut out Sexy Sam and make it a more intimate story set in upper class Mumbai. This makes the professions more feasible. A professional soccer player making millions living in NY? On what planet? Change it to a professional cricket player. A high powered Indian fashion editor in NY? Not likely.
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Karan says in his memoir that he originally wanted Kajol in the Rani role which would have worked so much better! Then we could really see the problems with Abhishek, how she is just too old for him. Plus we could have really believed the “meant to be” kind of chemistry between her and SRK. But, I also really like your Sushmita idea! Or, alternative, give Preity a job that isn’t fashion editor. It needs to be something high powered and connection based so she can keep running in to Abhishek, but finance would work too. Or head of a museum, or an art gallery, or something like that. Then she could wear discrete suits and charm the big money folks.
You know what else would have been interesting? To see Preity and Shahrukh as a power couple for a bit, see them working a party or a press conference, so that we can understand the contrast later when Preity has to work extra hard to make up for his dead weight, and Shahrukh feels lost and forgotten next to her.
On the other hand, for me the Rani and SRK relationship works for me better than it did for you. I saw them coming together as not so much settling for someone dull and small, but as finding someone who makes them feel special, who understands why they want a small dull life. Maybe Shahrukh would have still loved the parties and the big life if he hadn’t been injured, but as I read his character, he was always going to get tired of it. He and Preity just grew into different lives, and the life he wanted now was closer to what Rani wanted.
I also can buy Rani and SRK ending up together. the first time I watched the movie, I hated the 2 year gap, but now I really appreciate it. They had time. They built good relationships with their exes, independent lives of their own, and they were still sad because they missed each other. I agree with you that the original affair was largely also about their marriages breaking up. But coming together 2 years later shows that they had something more than just looking for an escape from a bad marriage.
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I wouldn’t have wanted Kajol in the role simply because I don’t like the idea of the cheaters ending up together. To me, the ending scene was a complete fail. For the rest of the audience too. I watched the movie in a theater in NY and half the theater walked out as soon as it looked like they were reuniting and Rani started her crocodile tears for the millionth time. I could hear people saying things like “bakwaas!” while the proposal was going on. I knew that day itself that the movie was going to tank.
Apart from that, can you imagine Sushmita walking into a room in a black pant suit with stilettos? Everyone in the room would be intimidated especially when she opens her mouth. That’s the kind of person that the Preity role should have gone to.
I mean just look at this… cute chubby dimpled Preity dressed in clothes that look like they came from Forever 21! And dancing around to Where’s The Party Tonight!! Ridiculous. Hanging out in an elite lounge or smoky bar, sure. But not this!
Anna Wintour would never!!
The biggest issue is that Karan tried to blend a typical big BW movie with a cheating story. So you have to have the item songs even when the characters look absolutely stupid in them. You have to have the grand love song even though they are cheaters and it’s kind of cringe if you think about it more than necessary. That’s why there are utterly stupid comedy scenes like the black beast. If you want to make a morally ambiguous story with all these elements, it doesn’t work.
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The black beast is the worst, dumbest plot device! And then Abhishek did black beast the sequel in Delhi-6 – what are the odds? Though at least that one was reaching for metaphor.
Totally agreed about the filmi elements meshing really poorly with the plot. I like the idea of recasting this movie, it opens up some interesting possibilities. I like Sushmita in the Preity role, that’s a good one. I think Arjun would actually have been a better Dev than Shah Rukh, you could switch them and have SRK be the love interest waiting in the wings. Agreed that he’s gotten good at playing these complicated characters, but I’m still not sure he could play Dev with conviction, it was just such a fail connecting with his motivations. Arjun can do soulful and bitter well. If you want to switch out Rani, Vidya could do interesting things with the role, or maybe Lara Dutta? She can play innocent but with an edge.
You’re right that the Dev character is driven and ambitious and would need to find a new outlet for that. Combining that with another driven and ambitious spouse, though, isn’t always a lasting formula. Having one spouse be more grounded and less focused on career or material success could work over time, as the one to bring heart and perspective. I could imagine the Maya character working in something less lucrative and more service-oriented, and that has a human connection that lets her use her mother side. It’s funny, I didn’t have a strong reaction against the cheaters ending up together, but I do like Margaret’s idea about Maya overcoming her fear of being alone. In my first scenario, passionate connection, I think they do end up together because they turn out to be well matched in an unconventional way. In the second scenario, self-realization, they might outgrow each other and move on to other relationships while staying on good terms.
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I call this film “Revenge For Kal Ho Na Ho”. Or “Preity’s Revenge!” Or “Chak de! Preity!” 😁🤣😂
Also, in KHNH, Karan had it planned so that the filming schedule could capture the changing seasons in New York. Events messed up those plans and they had to scrap that. So I really enjoyed seeing how he totally went all in on that idea when he got another chance (filming kank) – it’s the kank montage of shah rukh and raani’s outdoor meetings together where Karan was able to get this bucket list thing done. Knowing how badly he’d wanted to do that in khnh but didn’t get a chance to, I laughed out loud and just smiled throughout when I saw his long yearned for little ode to the beauty of Manhattan all so lovingly smooshed (and beautifully so!) into that montage.
As for KANK in general, it’s not on my list of favorite srk films, but especially after seeing kkgg, ddlj, and definitely khnh (where I felt like a heavily rung out dish rag throughout and especially by the end), I love kank nonetheless. It just felt refreshingly mature and more adult and less obligatorily saccharine sweet than the previous rom dramas. And I really enjoyed all these actors in these more original, modern and interesting roles.
Also, I love love loved raani’s husky voice in a panic, exclaiming “The Black Beast!!!”. It’s been a while since I’ve seen kank, and I’ve seen raani in many films, but whenever I think of her, I think of her in that train station scene in kank where she snatches up the kid and runs, trying to save him from the clear and notorious black beast himself, apparently, shah rukh! 😁🤣🤣 Don’t know why, but hearing her in my mind saying “the Black Beast!” – it just cracks me up every time. I don’t always enjoy Karan’s attempts at “humor” in his movies, (though I always appreciate that it’s coming from a good heart) but in this film, I found myself appreciating AND enjoying his humor the most of his other films up to this point (i have seen many clips of but not the whole My Name is Khan yet – it’s on the list!).
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