Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
| Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Release Poster | |
| Directed by | Karan Johar |
| Produced by |
Hiroo Yash Johar Karan Johar |
| Written by |
Karan Johar Shibani Bathija Niranjan Iyengar |
| Starring |
Amitabh Bachchan Shah Rukh Khan Abhishek Bachchan Rani Mukerji Preity Zinta Kirron Kher |
| Narrated by | Shah Rukh Khan |
| Music by | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| Cinematography | Anil Mehta |
| Edited by | Sanjay Sankla |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
Dharma Productions Yash Raj Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 192 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language |
Hindi English |
| Budget | ₹50 crore[2] |
| Box office | ₹113 crore[3] |
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (English: Never Say Goodbye) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama, directed by Karan Johar and produced under the Dharma Productions banner. Released on 11 August 2006 in India and North America, it stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta and Kirron Kher in lead roles. Arjun Rampal makes a special appearance in the film.
Set and mostly taking place in New York City, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna explores themes of adultery. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was promoted with the tag-line, "A Love.... That Broke All Relationships". It was a success internationally especially in the United States. It became the highest grossing Indian film of all time overseas at the time of its release. The film was screened in over 1,200 cinemas worldwide,[4] grossing a worldwide total of ₹1.13 billion (US$16 million).[5]
It was screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Plot
Maya (Rani Mukerji) is an orphan who is to marry her closest childhood friend Rishi Talwar (Abhishek Bachchan). The two have been raised by Rishi's fun-loving father Samarjit a.k.a. Sam (Amitabh Bachchan). Dev Saran (Shah Rukh Khan) is a successful soccer player in the United States. He lives in New York City with his wife Rhea (Preity Zinta), his son Arjun (Ahsaas Channa) and his mother Kamaljit a.k.a. Kamal (Kirron Kher). Maya encounters Dev moments before she is to marry Rishi. Although Dev and Maya are strangers, they connect instantly and moments after they part, Dev is hit by a car and permanently injures his leg.
Four years later, Dev is now extremely short tempered and bitter because of his inability to play soccer and Rhea's successful career makes him feel inferior to her. Maya too is in a similar situation. She has found that she is infertile and does not feel any love towards Rishi because she believes he is selfish. Dev and Maya witness Sam and Kamal embracing at a flower shop. Sam and Kamal explain that both, having lost their spouses, have decided to help one another through their loneliness by means of friendship. Dev and Maya decide to take a break from the stress of their respective relationships. In doing so, they find themselves drawn to one another.
Dev and Maya arrange a dinner for their respective spouses on the occasion of their wedding anniversaries so as to salvage their respective marriages. After returning home from the dinner, Rhea accuses Dev of being jealous of her professional success and also makes Dev realize his failure in being a good father to their son. Rishi expresses frustration at the lack of affection that Maya has shown towards him and resents Maya's inability to have children. Maya arrives at the train station and finds Dev, who after a confrontation finally confesses that he has fallen in love with Maya, and so has she.
Sensing the tension in their children's marriages, Sam and Kamal try to talk Rhea and Rishi into trying to reach out to their spouses and when they do, Dev and Maya start feeling guilty because they are happier with each other than with their respective spouses. The two couples attend a ballet, where Dev and Maya try making each other jealous by showing affection to their partners. The next day, they realize that they have been playing with their spouses' feelings but nevertheless give in to their love and cross the forbidden limit by sleeping together.
The next day, Sam invites the Sarans for a dinner party on the occasion of Kamal's birthday. At the party, after a conversation on love, marriage and fidelity, Dev 'jokingly' confesses that he loves Maya. Sam senses that there was more to Dev's remark than light banter. The next day, Dev and Maya are caught in an embrace outside the train station by Sam and Kamal. Both Sam and Kamal are shocked and upset at the fact that Dev and Maya cheated on their spouses, despite both Rhea and Rishi's attempts to salvage their respective marriages. That night, Sam has a heart attack. On his deathbed, he advises Maya to leave Rishi as she was depriving Rishi and herself of true love and happiness in life. After Sam's death, Dev and Maya decide they must end their relationship and go back to their respective spouses, but first they must tell them the truth about their extramarital affair, because neither of them would be able to move on with their spouses in the shadow of dishonesty. Shocked and heart-broken, Rhea and Rishi divorce their spouses. Dev and Maya lie to each other and say that they have managed to sort things out with their spouses, believing they'll never meet again.
Three years have passed since their last encounter with each other. Rishi visits Maya and says that he has fallen in love again and is remarrying. Rhea, having also been invited, arrives at Rishi's wedding with her boss Jay (Arjun Rampal), whom she is now dating. Rhea learns that Rishi and Maya are divorced – Rishi learns the same about Dev and Rhea. Rhea, after confronting Maya tells her that she had left Dev as soon as she came to know of his affair with her. Maya is encouraged by Rishi and Rhea to stop Dev, who is leaving for Toronto by train. At the train station, Dev sees Maya but tries to avoid her, believing she is still with Rishi. Maya sees him just as the train leaves. Dev, having seen Maya's teary eyes, pulls the emergency brake and arrives back at the station. He makes it back before Maya leaves the train station. They finally find happiness with their true love and decide to start a new life together. At the end, Dev mentions that true love should be the only foundation of a relationship. A flawed foundation would lead to the breakdown of the relationship, which in turn would lead to heartbreak.
Cast
- Amitabh Bachchan as Samarjit "Sam" Talwar
- Shah Rukh Khan as Dev Saran
- Abhishek Bachchan as Rishi Talwar
- Rani Mukerji as Maya Talwar
- Preity Zinta as Rhea Saran
- Arjun Rampal as Jai, Rhea's boss
- Kirron Kher as Kamaljit "Kamal" Saran
- Ahsaas Channa as Arjun Saran, Dev and Rhea's son
- Kajol in the song "Rock 'N' Roll Soniye"
- John Abraham as DJ in the song "Where's The Party Tonight?"
- Riteish Deshmukh as Mr. Narang, Maya's boss (Deleted Scene)
- Kavi Chopra as a young soccer player
- Karan Johar as Train passenger in a special appearance
Production
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was directed and written by Karan Johar who collaborated with Shibani Bathija to write the screenplay, and Niranjan Iyengar produced the dialogue. Produced by Dharma Productions, the soundtrack was performed by the musical trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar. Farah Khan was brought in to organise the choreographical aspects of the film, with costume designer Manish Malhotra, production designer Sharmishta Roy and MAC cosmetics all playing a major role in production.
Kajol was initially offered the role of Maya Talwar. When she refused, due to her prior commitments with Yash Raj Films's Fanaa, the role was passed on to her cousin Rani Mukerji, who was supposed to play Preity Zinta's part. However, Kajol made a guest appearance in the song "Rock 'N' Roll Soniye". Riteish Deshmukh also had a guest appearance, but his scene was cut during the editing process.
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is set in New York City, while many of the scenes were filmed in East Hartford and New Haven in Connecticut. The soccer game scene was filmed at Rentschler Field, the home of the UConn Huskies football team. In several scenes, a light 'UConn' can be seen on the field. The majority of the Grand Central Station scenes were filmed at New Haven's Union Station and Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. In an interview Karan Johar stated that the filming for the song "Tum hi dekho na" was done at multiple locations and ended up being extremely time consuming. The "blue section" of the song was shot at Columbia University in New York, the "yellow section" was shot at Wall Street, the "orange section" in Bear Mountain, the "green section" in New Haven, and the "red section" in Hoboken. The red section was initially designed to take place in the rain. However, due to the low temperatures, the rain drops produced by the rain machines started freezing in mid air. This posed a risk of physical harm to the actors. Consequently, the film makers decided to do away with the rain. However, they still wanted to make use of the 200 red umbrellas they had purchased. Eventually, they decided to shoot the red section on a sunny day where the actors used the umbrellas to block out the sun. The shooting for the green section also ran into problems. Two hundred extras were hired for the section but only fifteen showed up. Consequently, crew members present on the set wore the green costumes to take their place. Ayan Mukherji who was an Assistant Director of the film can be seen in a green sweater carrying a box in one of the frames.
The movie was filmed over a 90-day shooting period in the USA but a few scenes were shot on four large sets in Mumbai studios.[6]
Rani Mukherji suffered from a severe skin allergy during the filming in the US.
Like previous Karan Johar movies (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... and Kal Ho Naa Ho), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna has a four-word title that starts with a "K".
Soundtrack
| Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | ||||
| Released |
12 June 2006 (UK) 16 June 2006 (India) | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 42:07 | |||
| Label | Sony BMG | |||
| Producer | Mayank-Kaustubh | |||
| Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy chronology | ||||
| ||||
The music and background score of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy while the lyrics were penned by Javed Akhtar and the soundtrack was released on 16 June 2006 by Sony BMG in India.
Development
This is the second time that lyricist Javed Akhtar and the composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have teamed up for a Dharma production. The title song Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna rendered by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik is a tearjerker. Mitwa, an evocative sufi rock ballad, marked the introduction of Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali into the Bollywood scene. Rock 'N' Roll Soniye, picturized on Amitabh, Abhishek and Preity is a 60's Rock 'N' Roll track, sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan and Mahalakshmi Iyer. Then follows Tumhi Dekho Naa, a soft and romantic ballad, which again is sung by the Sonu Nigam - Alka Yagnik duo, is picturised on Shah Rukh and Rani. Where's The Party Tonight? by Shaan, Vasundhara Das, Loy and Shankar Mahadevan is the club song picturized on Abhishek and Preity. Farewell Trance is the trance version of the title track, which is a rarity in Bollywood. The album also has a remix - Mitwa - Revisted.[7] The soundtrack ends with a sad version of the title track, "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - Sad Version" which speaks of destiny, meeting again in life and never saying good bye.
The trio took care to not make the album sound repetitive, especially since the overall genre of the soundtrack is similar to that of their previous chartbuster Kal Ho Naa Ho[8] (2003).
Release
The music of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was launched in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2006 and was officially released in India on 16 June 2006 along with a grand music launch at the IIFA Awards function in Dubai.[9]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" | Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik | 08:07 |
| 2. | "Mitwa" | Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Caralisa Monteiro | 06:24 |
| 3. | "Rock 'N' Roll Soniye" | Mahalakshmi Iyer, Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan | 05:44 |
| 4. | "Tumhi Dekho Naa" | Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik | 05:50 |
| 5. | "Where's The Party Tonight?" | Vasundhara Das, Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa, Shaan | 06:21 |
| 6. | "Mitwa" (Revisited) | Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, Caralisa Monteiro | 05:35 |
| 7. | "Farewell Trance" | Caralisa Monteiro, Shweta Pandit | 05:47 |
| 8. | "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" (Sad Version) | Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik | 02:06 |
| Total length: | 42:07 | ||
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Bollywood Hungama |  |
| Rediff.com | |
| Planet Bollywood |  |
| Bollyvista | |
Though there were a few negative buzz around earlier at London where the music released,[10] the overall reaction to the album was positive from all the mainstream critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama dismissed those initial negative reaction, saying "Much before the official release of the music album of KANK, rumour brigade has been having a field day in pulling down the album. Well, that's not something new as with every biggie comes its share of detractors. But on hearing the songs for yourself, you realize that is it NOTHING, but a rumour! The album is yet another fine product from the team that delivers the kind of path-breaking music expected from it."[12] Sukanya Verma of Rediff called the album " a treat for the melody-starved.".[11]
Sales and chart performance
The album opened at #1 and retained the top position in the music charts for ten straight weeks, despite facing tough competition from musical hits like Fanaa, Krrish and Gangster.[13] According to the figures from BoxOffice India, the album sold over 1,900,000 copies in India[14] making it the second best selling album of the year, marginally behind Dhoom 2.
Release
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, with a multi-star cast, premiered on 12 August 2006 and was screened in over 1,200 cinemas worldwide.[4]
According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) originally gave the film an R rating because of language and some sexual content. It was re-rated PG-13 on appeal.
Reception
Critical reception
On its release, the film received positive reviews from critics worldwide.
Critic Taran Adarsh described the subject matter as a delicate one which could have easily been disastrous and praised the way in which director Karan Johar boldly constructed the film, citing it as his finest work to date.[15] Adarsh approved in particular of the script and the devices the director incorporated to contrast emotions between scenes, remarking that, "the screenplay balances the two extremes; light moments and dollops of emotions with amazing ease".[15] The individual cast performances were also praised by Adarsh, who commented on the effectiveness of the casting and the interaction of the actors.[15]
Rajeev Masand gave the film 4 out of 5 stars praising the screenplay and Johar's direction, saying "Few writers have such solid control over their screenplay as Karan Johar does. Few understand the intricacies of narrative as well as he does. Johar goes from highs to lows, from plateaus to peaks with the ease of a pro. He knows exactly how to turn a seemingly ordinary scene into something special with just that one line of dialogue, or that hint of background music."[16]
Derek Elley of Variety also praised the diversity of emotions displayed by the cast, remarking that, "scripter Shibani Bathija never lets her characters inhabit a secure emotional place for very long, and impediments to happiness come from their own weaknesses rather than social constraints or plot-generated misunderstandings".[17] Elley noted Amitabh Bachchan's performance as an ageing lothario and praised Preity Zinta as "stepping far beyond her makeup".[17]
Raja Sen of rediff.com was particularly critical of the film, also expressing dissatisfaction with its length. He remarked, "I feel older. A showing of Karan Johar's mammoth 22-reel Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna has left me unbelievably exhausted. I walked out of the hall feeling my cheeks for stubble, wondering if my clothes are suddenly dated and my hair's turned grey. I've lost a sizeable chunk of my life, and you will too".[18] Unlike other critics, he identified flaws in the script and criticised the strength of characters saying "The characters are cardboard, the setting is glitzy, the songs are tiresome, and the story oscillates between high melodrama and slapstick hilarity, going nowhere. Rarely has a weak script relied so completely on pretty people with big names to carry every line through".[18]
In the United States, the film received a number of positive reviews.
Critics such as Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times emphasised the larger-than-life nature of the film, remarking that, "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".[19] He praised the humour in the script and the director's comic timing in certain scenes such as the children's soccer match, the bed store, and at the ballet show.[19]
Box office
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna saw a record opening at many cities in India and generated ₹ 600 million in the first week itself, although it is currently Johar's lowest-grossing film according to net collections, even if unadjusted for inflation. It emerged the highest grosser worldwide for an Indian film, surpassing Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham's five-year-old record.[4] The film is currently the seventh highest grosser overseas with a total gross of $10 million.[20]
It opened strongly in the United States and the United Kingdom with first weekend grosses of $1.3 million in the U.S and $1.4 million (£750,000) in the UK[21]
In total Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna collected US$3,275,444 in the United States[22] while in UK it netted over £5,079,688.00. In the US, one factor contributing to its success was the fact it debuted in 64 theatres, unusually high for a Bollywood film in cities with lower Indian populations such as Miami, Tampa, and Raleigh as well.
The film's total worldwide gross is of ₹113 crore.[5]
Awards and Nominations
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna received a number of awards and a high number of nominations.
See also
References
- ↑ "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ↑ "A Rs 150 cr question". Financial Express. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
- 1 2 3 "sify.com". KANK opens in 1,200 screens. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
- 1 2 "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna". Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ↑ Official website of Dharma Productions Archived 26 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine., Retrieved 31 January 2008
- ↑ "Karan Johar on KANK's Music". Sify.com. 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ↑ "'Karan Johar likes his English hooks'". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ↑ "'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna' music launch at I.I.F.A". Bollywoodhungama.com. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- 1 2 ""We were quite disheartened on Sunday when some websites in London said that KANK is the worst album they have ever heard. And they wrote this without even listening to the album" – Ehsaan Noorani". Bollywoodhungama.com. 2006-06-13. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- 1 2 "Great tunes from KANK - Rediff.com movies". In.rediff.com. 2006-06-16. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ↑ "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna : Music Review by Joginder Tuteja". Bollywoodhungama.com. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ↑ "Top Ten albums of the week". Bollywoodhungama.com. 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ↑ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2009-01-22. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- 1 2 3 "Indiafm.com". Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, by Taran Arash. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ↑ http://ibnlive.in.com/news/masands-verdict--kabhi-alvida-naa-kehna/18315-8.html
- 1 2 "Variety". Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, by Derek Elley. 16 August 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- 1 2 "Rediff.com". KANK is an exhausting film by Raja Sen. 11 August 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
- 1 2 Genzlinger, Neil (12 August 2006). "New York Times". Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, a Bollywood Divorce Tale by Neil Genzlinger. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
- ↑ "boxofficeindia.com". KANK. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
- ↑ "boxofficeindia.com". KANK declared a hit in India. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
- ↑ "boxofficemojo.com". Box office results in USA. Retrieved 10 August 2007.