When I first saw "Kal Ho Naa Ho", I was surprised by the extremely modern way that was used to illustrate the film. I liked to see the Indian actors walking the streets of New York, and having a seemingly ordinary life of American, or at least Indian-American people. As a comedy, it worked partially - the humour is very Indian and some attempts to Americanise it fell flat, while some jokes were quite poor anyway. Still, the film is a wonderful comedy/drama about NRIs, and is very special as such, because most non-Indian films about Indians in western countries are incredibly stereotypical, and here you see a feel-good, positive energy where characters of Indian ethnicity are for once not portrayed as walking clichés.
But it's the dichotomy between the film's two main parts which is really hard to connect with. The first part was very nice, funny and entertaining. I liked the characters of the hot-tempered and sensitive Naina (Zinta), her loyal friend Rohit (Saif), who is a cool guy with a gold heart, but not very confident. Jennifer is a weary working woman, while her mother in-law Lajjo is a typical Punjabi mother in-law. The film is interesting and flows well, and then suddenly from nowhere comes Aman (Shahrukh), a happy-go-lucky guy who seems to have no problems in life, but he does want to solve all the problems in Naina's family when he meets the rather complicated girl, whom he falls in love with at first sight. The character of Aman is a great creation, adding a lot of comedy and humour to the film. Aman tries to get close to her and then, when she finally understands she is in love with him, he rejects her! It is weird, but then we get the real secret disclosed. Aman knows he cannot be with Naina so he tries to serve as a matchmaker between Naina and... Rohit, who also fell in love with her! A typical "Karan Johar love triangle" indeed. But it is not, it is done in a very different and charming way.
Up until that point I really enjoyed the film. The really big problem comes in the fourth quarter of the film: It is so, so slow! There comes the writer's insistence to make it into a bad, lengthy tearjerker, with the usual, overly cheesy elements of its sort, only that it's probably the longest sequence of its sort to have been made in a Hindi film. Anyway, the film is still a good product overall. The direction by Advani is very good. The music is out of this world and every song contributes to the film in its own way, the cinematography is terrific and the sound is superb (mainly because it's live sound).
Shahrukh Khan is mostly terrific, and then quite bad. His comic timing is fantastic, but towards the second half he goes overboard and sadly so, because given the energetic character, he could have extended the light attitude into the other parts as well. Saif Ali Khan is the film's biggest surprise. After Dil Chahta Hai, he shines with a wonderfully understated, sensitive performance. Note the scene when Naina tells Rohit about loving Aman and his expressions. Despite the strong presence of these two leads, however, the film naturally belongs to Ms. Zinta, who delivers a highly convincing performance in the central character. It goes without saying that she is the best choice for this role, which really goes through many transformations throughout the story. Towards the end she really outdoes herself. Jaya Bachchan is natural, highly dignified and restrained. The supporting cast, though, is mostly loud, although most of them come with nice comic turns.
There were undoubtedly too many emotions, but Kal Ho Naa Ho works wonderfully as Bollywood entertainment. It has a nice, quite innovative script in terms of writing style and the background of the characters. The makers paid attention to the American style and environment of the film, and I found the contradiction between the bright, free of worry New York and the tear-jerking proceedings of the story toward the end very interesting even if some of the drama could have been toned down.
But it's the dichotomy between the film's two main parts which is really hard to connect with. The first part was very nice, funny and entertaining. I liked the characters of the hot-tempered and sensitive Naina (Zinta), her loyal friend Rohit (Saif), who is a cool guy with a gold heart, but not very confident. Jennifer is a weary working woman, while her mother in-law Lajjo is a typical Punjabi mother in-law. The film is interesting and flows well, and then suddenly from nowhere comes Aman (Shahrukh), a happy-go-lucky guy who seems to have no problems in life, but he does want to solve all the problems in Naina's family when he meets the rather complicated girl, whom he falls in love with at first sight. The character of Aman is a great creation, adding a lot of comedy and humour to the film. Aman tries to get close to her and then, when she finally understands she is in love with him, he rejects her! It is weird, but then we get the real secret disclosed. Aman knows he cannot be with Naina so he tries to serve as a matchmaker between Naina and... Rohit, who also fell in love with her! A typical "Karan Johar love triangle" indeed. But it is not, it is done in a very different and charming way.
Up until that point I really enjoyed the film. The really big problem comes in the fourth quarter of the film: It is so, so slow! There comes the writer's insistence to make it into a bad, lengthy tearjerker, with the usual, overly cheesy elements of its sort, only that it's probably the longest sequence of its sort to have been made in a Hindi film. Anyway, the film is still a good product overall. The direction by Advani is very good. The music is out of this world and every song contributes to the film in its own way, the cinematography is terrific and the sound is superb (mainly because it's live sound).
Shahrukh Khan is mostly terrific, and then quite bad. His comic timing is fantastic, but towards the second half he goes overboard and sadly so, because given the energetic character, he could have extended the light attitude into the other parts as well. Saif Ali Khan is the film's biggest surprise. After Dil Chahta Hai, he shines with a wonderfully understated, sensitive performance. Note the scene when Naina tells Rohit about loving Aman and his expressions. Despite the strong presence of these two leads, however, the film naturally belongs to Ms. Zinta, who delivers a highly convincing performance in the central character. It goes without saying that she is the best choice for this role, which really goes through many transformations throughout the story. Towards the end she really outdoes herself. Jaya Bachchan is natural, highly dignified and restrained. The supporting cast, though, is mostly loud, although most of them come with nice comic turns.
There were undoubtedly too many emotions, but Kal Ho Naa Ho works wonderfully as Bollywood entertainment. It has a nice, quite innovative script in terms of writing style and the background of the characters. The makers paid attention to the American style and environment of the film, and I found the contradiction between the bright, free of worry New York and the tear-jerking proceedings of the story toward the end very interesting even if some of the drama could have been toned down.