Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
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| Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna | |
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 Movie poster for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna |
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| Directed by | Karan Johar |
| Produced by | Dharma Productions |
| Written by | Karan Johar |
| Starring | Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan & Kirron Kher |
| Music by | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| Cinematography | Anil Mehta |
| Editing by | Sanjay Sankla |
| Distributed by | Dharma Productions |
| Release date(s) | August 11, 2006 |
| Running time | 193 Min. |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | $ 11 million [Rs 50 Crore] |
| IMDb profile | |
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (Hindi: कभी अलविदा न कहना, Urdu: کبھی الوداع نہ کہنا, translation: Never Say Goodbye) is a film directed by Karan Johar and produced under the Dharma Productions banner. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan and Kiron Kher in pivotal roles. Arjun Rampal and Saira Mohan have cameo roles in the film. The film's score and soundtrack has been composed by the musical trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is set in New York City. It was filmed over a 90 day shooting period in the USA and a few scenes were shot on 4 large sets in Mumbai's studios. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was released on August 11, 2006.
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[edit] Synopsis
Dev Saran (Shahrukh Khan), a formerly successful, now injured footballer, is unhappily married to Rhea (Preity Zinta), who has a high-flying job with a fashion mag. They have a son named Arjun. Maya (Rani Mukerji) is about to unhappily marry her childhood friend Rishi Talwar (Abhishek Bachchan). Samarjit a.k.a "Sexy Sam" (Amitabh Bachchan) is Rishi's dad, and Kamaljit (Kiron Kher) plays the peppy mom to Dev.
Dev happens to meet Maya before her wedding and despite being strangers, they connect instantly. It could be that the two are unhappy with their partners, it could be that Dev was only too happy to talk of his uncomfortable marriage or it could be that Maya just could not love Rishi and so, found Dev attractive. Whatever the case, the connection between the two remains a glowing spark that re-ignites when they meet four years later.
During those four years, Maya has married Rishi and Dev has met with an accident that leaves him crippled and ends his football career. So when Maya meets Dev the next time, he is bitter - his failed career and failing marriage are festering wounds to which his wife Rhea's professional success is salt. In the Talwar home, things are no better - Maya still does not feel any love for Rishi and feels guilty for her inability to have children.
Dev and Maya realise that their situations are similar and decide to help each other repair their breaking marriages. Things don't work quite as expected however, and they become more and more drawn to each other. At the same time, Rishi and Rhea are working to keep their marriages afloat and are willing to see hope in even the smallest, most innocuous signs from their partners. However, their efforts are insignificant in the face of Maya and Dev's intense unhappiness in their marriages and their growing love for each other.
Dev and Maya give in to a dreamy, coffee-drenched romance. But after an incident at the ballet that makes Dev intensely jealous, they realize they now feel like they are cheating on each other with their own spouses. This realization brings them to a dramatic point of no return. Shortly afterward, they are caught in an embrace outside the train station by Sam and Kamaljeet.
Sam, having lived the good life for a long, long time ultimately has to bear the punishment of all his excesses - he has a fatal heart attack and as he lies on his death bed, he gives Maya some unconventional advice: he tells her to leave his son Rishi since neither of them are happy in their marriage.
Things come to a head and Dev and Maya decide to leave each other and return to their partners. But this re-union will not be without honesty, so they come clean and confess their extra-marital affair. Rishi and Rhea decide that enough is enough and end their marriages - this doesn't mean that Maya and Dev come together however. They only speak to each other on the phone, and lie to each other, saying that all is well in their marriages.
Three years later, Rishi goes to meet Maya and invites her to his wedding. There Rhea sees Maya for the first time in three years and realises that she and Rishi weren't together as she thought. The news that Dev is still alone, combined with some prodding from Rishi and Rhea convinces Maya to run after Dev. Dev is about to catch a train to Canada when he sees Maya. He hides from her because he has told Maya earlier than he was happy with Rhea and he thinks that she is happily married to Rishi. However, Maya finds him in his seat a few seconds before his train leaves the station. He uses the emergency brakes to get out to meet her. Dev finds out that Maya has been living alone all of that time too and feels very bad. Then they finally get together.
[edit] Cast
- Amitabh Bachchan ... Samarjit Singh Talwar a.k.a "Sexy Sam"
- Shahrukh Khan ... Dev Saran
- Rani Mukerji ... Maya Talwar
- Preity Zinta ... Rhea Saran
- Abhishek Bachchan ... Rishi Talwar
- Kiron Kher ... Kamaljeet Saran
- Ahsaas Channa ... Arjun Saran (Dev and Rhea's son)
- Arjun Rampal ... Jay (Guest Appearance)
- Saira Mohan ... Catherine Cooper (Guest Appearance)
- Kajol ... Special Appearance (Dancer during song Rock'n'Roll Soniye)
- John Abraham ... Special Appearance as DJ during song Where's The Party Tonight? [1]
- Alyssa Ritch...Diva Magazine Office Assistant
[edit] Characters
- Samarjit Singh Talwar (Sexy Sam) - Samarjit knows how to keep Vulgar and disreputable activities going , and set a revolting example to younger people, but when it comes to family matters that threaten to turn it all into a messy situation, he likes being hypocritical, and behaving as if he can set everyone right by showing them how he leads his life. He is a wasted old man, who does not follow societal rules.
- Dev Saran - Handicapped, he starts looking at everything with a negative mindset and finds himself unable to enjoy the smallest pleasures given by life. With a feeling of loneliness and disappointment all around him, Dev lashes out at any given opportunity including his wife. But Maya's entry in his life brings along a calming effect.
- Maya Talwar - Maya's inability to have children and her guilt over this strains her relationship with her husband. Doubting the very essence of the relationship they share, the love they feel for each other and the life they want to live from hereon, Maya finds herself on the crossroads when she meets Dev.
- Rhea Saran - Rhea is smart, successful and caring. She may not be the usual housewife that is generally accepted from a woman belonging to her social circle but that is hardly a worrying thought for her as she believes that everything counts in an individual's life, with love and luxuries holding equal importance.
- Rishi Talwar - Rishi too loves Maya enormously and it's her and only her who is of utmost importance to him. But a difficult situation comes his way when he realizes about Maya's handicap. Frustrated and depressed, he has his violent fits that further draw Maya away from him.
- Kamaljeet Saran - A mix of traditional values and a progressive mindset, she may seem unfazed by the situation at her home but puts her foot down when things go extreme.
[edit] Crew
- Producer: Dharma Productions
- Director:: Karan Johar
- Story: Karan Johar
- Screenplay: Karan Johar & Shibani Bathija
- Dialogues: Niranjan Iyengar
- Cinematography: Anil Mehta
- Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
- Music: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani & Loy Mendonsa
- Choreography: Farah Khan
- Editing: Sanjay Sankla
- Sound Recording: Stephen Gomes
- Production Design: Sharmishta Roy
- Costume Design: Manish Malhotra
- Make up and Styling: Mickey Contractor for MAC
[edit] Music
The film has seven songs composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy:
- Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - Sonu Nigam & Alka Yagnik
- Mitwa - Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shankar Mahadevan & Caralisa
- Where's The Party Tonight - Shaan, Vasundhara Das, Loy Mendonsa & Shankar Mahadevan
- Tumhi Dekho Naa - Sonu Nigam & Alka Yagnik
- Mitwa Revisited - Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shankar Mahadevan & Caralisa
- Rock 'N Roll Soniye - Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, Mahalaxmi Iyer
- Farewell Trance - Shweta Pandit & Caralisa
[edit] Trivia
- Karan Johar has stated that Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is his original idea and refutes claims that the story has been inspired by Yash Chopra's Silsila (1981) or the Hollywood film Closer (2004).
- Since Karan Johar considers Kajol his lucky mascot, he made sure that Kajol was present in his film by way of a brief appearance in the song Rock and Roll Soniye.
- Shibani Bathija who co-wrote the screenplay of this film is also the writer of Fanaa (2006).
- 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 'K'.
- Sony BMG acquired the rights for the music of this film.
- Yash Raj Films acquire the rights for the film's dvd and vhs releases.
- The music of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was launched in the United Kingdom on June 12 2006 and was officially released in India on June 16 2006 along with a grand music launch at the IIFA Awards function in Dubai.
- Riteish Deshmukh originally had a guest appearance in this film, but his scene was cut during the editing process.
- You can spot director Karan Johar sitting in the train, a few rows behind Shahrukh Khan, during the climactic sequence.
- The movie holds the record for highest 1st week gross for an Indian movie.
- At one point in the song "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna," you can see Maya walking before a set of steps on a rainy day in Fort Greene Park. If you look closely, one of the background pedestrians is Rhea.
- The script of the film has been invited to be included in the library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or more commonly known as the Oscars [2]. Other films that have made it to the Oscar Library are Parineeta, Salaam Namaste and Phir Hera Pheri.
- The movie is set in New York City and centers around the train station, yet whenever a train is actually shown, it is a SEPTA train (a regional rail train from the Philadelphia area). The train station interior shots (with the exception of the footage from the great hall in Grand Central Station) are all of Union Station in New Haven, Connecticut.
[edit] Response
[edit] Box Office
The movie is emerging to be the biggest worldwide grosser in the history of European cinema beating Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham's five year old record. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna opened in atleast 1,200 screens worldwide. [3]
In the United Kingdom, drawing £75,750,000 over the weekend and releasing at number 'one' on the UK Top 10, EDI (a UK-based tracking agency) has officially declared Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna Hindi cinema's biggest opener. Back home, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, with a multi-star cast, has seen a record opening at many places in the country, and the film has made Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million) in the first week itself. Film-goers' interest in India, however, rapidly waned after the first week [4]. The film's business started to fall alarmingly from the second week in India, but it was very succesful overseas. Till date, KANK is the highest overseas grosser Indian film.
The Hindu in its report on 21 August 06 states Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna has collected Rs 72 crore worldwide in the first week of its release and broken all records of the Indian cinema's box-office history.
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna has collected $3,275,444 USD in United States (as of 25 September 2006) [5] while in UK it netted an amazing £71,959,584 (as of 6 September 2006). In the US, one big help was due to the fact that the film debuted in 64 theatres, unusually high for a Bollywood film in the US, in cities including not only traditional Bollywood markets, but Miami, Tampa, and Raleigh as well. It was the biggest debut for a limited release film in the US in 2006.
This film, along with Lage Raho Munna Bhai are the joint highest grossing films of 2006. Both films grosed a combine of 90 Crore Business in India and the Overseas.
[edit] Reviews
Inspite of the film's phenomenal commercial success it received fairly mixed reviews. Tough critics were generally positive towards the film. It has only a 4.8 rating on IMDb. The film's commercial success majorly came due to huge advanced bookings and the immense hype created by the film's sparkling starcast. The five lead stars got fairly good reviews. [6]
[edit] External links
| The Films of Karan Johar |
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| Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna • Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham • Kuch Kuch Hota Hai |
