The New York Times
'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna,' a Bollywood Divorce Tale
By NEIL GENZLINGER Published: August 12, 2006
A French version would have a lot more sex and cigarette smoking. An American one would probably end with a letter opener in someone's back. But only in Bollywood would the standard-issue marital-infidelity tale include disco-style musical numbers and clock in at almost three and a half hours.
That is what the director Karan Johar serves up in "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" ("Never Say Goodbye"), a giant-size love story that aspires to be "Gone With the Wind" but without the Civil War. It is full of big Bollywood stars and outsized everything: the rainstorms are a little rainier than real life; the wind machines are cranked up an extra notch; the close-ups get closer and linger longer than usual; the coincidences that drive the plot are a little more numerous and unlikely than normal screenwriting allows. And those song-and-dance extravaganzas!
For something so silly and so long, however, the film is surprisingly engaging, thanks largely to its very watchable actors; it's easy to see why they are international stars in the world of Hindi films. And the movie is a clear departure from the genre's usual happily-ever-after. If the marriage isn't working, it says unmistakably, divorce is the answer.
Shah Rukh Khan plays Dev, a rising soccer star who suffers a career-ending injury. He is unhappily married to Rhea (Preity Zinta) but meets the lovely Maya (Rani Mukherji), an ice princess whose husband (Abhishek Bachchan, son of the Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan) can never quite manage to defrost her. Soon Dev is lovestruck, and who can blame him: Ms. Mukherji's eye makeup, which we get to observe in detail, is much better than Ms. Zinta's.
The story takes place largely in New York, whose native inhabitants are often turned into buffoons by Mr. Johar, payback, perhaps, for Hollywood depictions of foreigners over the last century. The director actually displays a fine comic touch in a series of ridiculous scenes: at a kiddie soccer match, in a bed store, at the opera. And there is some droll banter between Mr. Bachchan and his father, Amitabh, who plays the same familial role in the film.
The movie's humor is deft enough to make you wonder why Mr. Johar's cinematic eye seems stuck in the land of Playboy videos, shampoo commercials and early MTV. But those looking for subtlety and sophistication should not have wandered into this film in the first place. As for the story's central lovers, it's never quite clear what Maya sees in Dev, whose emotional switch has only two settings, angry and morose. Perhaps that eye makeup is clouding her vision.
KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA
Opened yesterday nationwide.
Directed by Karan Johar; written (in Hindi, with English subtitles) by Shibani Bathija; director of photography, Anil Mehta; edited by Sanjay Sankla; music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lyrics by Javed Akhtar; art director, Sharmishta Roy; produced by Hiroo Johar; released by Yash Raj Films. In Manhattan at the ImaginAsian Theater, 239 East 59th Street. Running time: 200 minutes. This film is not rated.
WITH: Amitabh Bachchan (Samarjit Singh), Shah Rukh Khan (Dev), Abhishek Bachchan (Rishi), Rani Mukherji (Maya), Preity Zinta (Rhea) and Kirron Kher (Kamaljit).