MOVIE REVIEW: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
My adventures in watching Bollywood films starts in 1997 on high school prom night. I came home so exhausted, I flopped on the couch in my tuxedo and fell on the remote. The TV changed to the local PBS station showing Hindi performances; I can still see the people dancing to the strains of violin and pounding on the tabla drums. It was from then on I would give Bollywood films a chance. Not one year after, a masterpiece of film was made and I would not watch it until TEN YEARS later: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, the story of a man’s love for two people named Anjali.
Anjali (played by Saana Saeed, Student of the Year, Munna Michael) is 10 years old and has been given a gift by her father Rahul (legendary actor Shah Rukh Khan, Yes Boss, Paheli, My Name is Khan). It was left to him by Tina (Rani Mukherji, Om Shanti Om, Chennai Express), his wife and Anjali’s mother. Before she died in childbirth, Tina prepared a pack of letters for Anjali to read on her 10th birthday — not even Rahul knows what’s in them. As Anjali reads her mother’s letters, we learn of her namesake…and are transported to the days when Rahul and Tina were young and in university.
In this portion of the story, we learn how Rahul and Tina met but also we learn of Anjali-Prime (played by Kajol, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Salaam Venky) the short-haired tomboy. While Anjali-Prime and Rahul did fall in love, it was not meant to be: Anjali-Prime did not fit the mold of a traditional woman (no matter how hard she tried), and Rahul chose the safer route and married Tina. The empathetic Tina knew that Rahul STILL held love for Anjali-Prime and in her final letters gave young Anjali a mission: find Anjali-Prime and get her together with Rahul so he can be happy. Thus begins a long series of misunderstandings and cross-town trips, leading to a pastoral children’s summer camp where we find Anjali-Prime.
It’s been over a decade since we last saw Anjali-Prime, and things have changed: no longer the short-haired tomboy, she wears her hair long and is basically a camp counselor to all the kids. It is here she meets a wealthy suitor named Aman (Salman Khan, Veer, Ek tha Tiger, Dabangg) who is willing to marry Anjali-Prime and make her happy. She almost said yes but still holds a torch for Rahul…and things become intense when young Anjali shows up with Rahul hot on her heels. The two former school chums who never allowed their love to be revealed have a emotional reckoning of sorts, which puts young Anjali in a bind: if her father won’t act to woo Anjali-Prime out of respect for Aman, how can she fulfill her mother’s wishes? Melodrama flourishes in a way only the masters of Bollywood can create!
This movie was formative for me, as it truly helped me to understand why people love movies so much. It takes them away to a place where their emotions can be expressed. If they feel repressed, these movies and their over-wrought set pieces are an amazing emotional outlet and allows them to stay quiet in the presence of critical eyes. Even then, some emotions could not be openly expressed at the time of this film’s production, leading to amazing choreography. Best of all, the emotion in this film transcends language — I only needed the subtitles for the plot. And don’t get me started on the wedding scenes. The film still holds a place in my heart, and I often hear the strains of the theme in my head at random.
CHOICE CUTS (spoilers ahead):
- The leads Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol also starred in the 1995 film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, a film so beloved by the Indian people it’s been playing in theaters for over 25 years.
- “MRS BRAGANZA WOOOOOW~” This beautiful teacher knew Rahul and Anjali-Prime during their university days, was at the camp when the two met once more…and hadn’t aged a day! The character was played by actress and long-time Comedy Circus host Archana Puran Singh (Love Story 2050, Agneepath).
- The comedy bits with Col. Almeida (played by Indian stand-up comedian Johnny Lever) being a British loyalist, going so far as to swap the Indian national flag with the Union Jack had me laughing aloud.
- “Crying in the rain so no one sees your tears” was amazing to experience on the silver screen, as I had only heard it mentioned in love songs.
- Kajol in the golden wedding gown, decked out in jewelry, her bright eyes glistening with tears, lit by fire against a backdrop of the night’s stars and passing comet is burned into my memory. It’s an amazing tableau.
- The scene where Anjali-Prime changes her whole look to attract Rahul — the makeup, the heels, the dress — made me sad, because she didn’t think she was enough the way she was and tried to compete.
- Tina’s entrance into the narrative was pure Saraswati manifested — the stride, the guitar, the look of unshakeable confidence in her eyes — and I am here for it.
- In reading this review back as I tried to explain how this movie makes me feel on the inside, I realize I can’t but I won’t change the review.
