Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Director: Karan Johar

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan, Kirron Kher, Amitabh Bachchan, Ahsaas, (Arjun Rampal, Saira Mohan)

7/10

Hype can be a double-edged sword. Especially so in the case of a Karan Johar movie that has been accompanied by defeaning pre-release tom-tomming. It can whip up audience curiosity, it can also make a movie wilt under the burden of expectations. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (KANK) was supposed to be Johar’s coming-of-age film, one where he bids alvida to the emotion-drenched melodrama of his earlier hits and ventures into the adult world of marital mismatch and strife.

So, does he? Well, yes, but he rather spoils the effect by gift-wrapping it all in typical Karan Johar spectacle — plenty of eye candy, extravagant party zones, gorgeous wardrobes, and so on. This is harsh reality meets lush unreality and the result can leave you distinctly underwhelmed.

Shah Rukh Khan is any working woman’s nightmare husband — jealous of his wife’s (Preity Zinta) success, touchy, and cutting. Rani Mukherjee has a perfectly loving husband in Abhishek Bachchan, but he leaves her cold. The disaffected duo is drawn to each other and then, naturally, they fall in love. Here, Johar throws custom and caution to the winds and shows that the great Indian marriage tie is not so powerful after all: the couples divorce, the wronged spouses move on, and the “sinners” don’t even die to be redeemed!

Bold stuff? It could have been if Johar did not drag it out for more than three hours and then top it with an utterly formulaic ending. Again, while the director does try to depict married relationships the way they often are — cruel, insensitive and built on habit rather than true feeling — he often loses sight of the fact that it’s a grim subject, as indeed is adultery. Such is his penchant for glamour that he almost ends up glamourising infidelity.

That said, KANK is quite riveting till the intermission. There are sparkling dialogues and nuanced performances, especially from Rani who portrays an inner conflict and void that Shah Rukh does not (dare we say it, cannot) attempt. Amitabh, too, is a treat to watch in his cameo role as Abhishek’s father. But like the Big Apple setting (really, what’s with New York and Johar?) the Big B too has little to do with the story. In KANK, Johar has taken a step forward. Too bad that he doesn’t make a clean break with his cinematic comfort zones.

Shuma Raha