Well, if you are as new to the Bollywood phenomenon as I am, you will be as confused by this movie as I was (... and if you are a Bollywood expert, you should skip this review). To Eureopean tastes, and probably also to American tastes, many aspects of the movie seem to be implausible. The male lead, Shah Rukh Khan, THE Indian Top Star, seems not be able to act, but nobody seems to care; the story is outrageously simple and pure kitsch; the movie is extremely long; the actors tend to break out in song and dance for no reason whatsoever; etc. However, the movie is quite charming in its way. The actors, Khan included, are lovable and do not even try to display any skills at the Robert de Niro-type of method acting. The overly emotional acting is highlighted by dramatic panning and freak breezes that even turn up in closed rooms, but it is exactly what the audiences want, and it goes hand in hand with the over-the-top lavish extravaganza of the sets and the well-choreographed song and dance sequences, since ENTERTAINMENT is all the movies aim at. So, if you are a purist, if you cannot accept kitsch for all it is worth and if you want psychological drama instead of bright sets and sentimental love stories, DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. If, however, you occasionally indulge in something that is neither intellectually challenging nor deemed high art, but that is clean, bright and bubbly fun, you will enjoy this picture. There I will not bother you with a synopsis but I will only point out that you will probably want to watch one or two other movies to understand this phenomenon. The chances are high that you will see the same actors again, playing the same roles again, only with different names.
Review of Kal Ho Naa Ho
