Karan's second film moves forward from exploring the meaning of love (in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) to exploring the relationships within a family. What role do parents play in determining the fate of their children, and what happens when children go against their parents wishes? In Struwelpeter the child is punished badly! Thankfully Karan's protagonist does not suffer the same fate. Rahul (the ever effervescent Shahrukh) is the adopted scion of the rich and famous Raichand family over which the paterfamilias Yashwardhan (a grim Amitabh) rules with an iron fist. Rahul falls in love with the ordinary girl Anjali (an even more effervescent Kajol) and is told it cannot be. Fates determines otherwise and the family is rent apart when Rahul does marry Anjali. He goes into self imposed exile to London along with Anjali's younger sister Pooja. His younger brother Rohan is determined to reunite the family and sets out on a quest to find his brother in London.
This story has shades of the Ramayana except that Rama was sent into exile at his stepmother's behest. Here Karan creates an artificial barrier between father and son by making the protagonist an adopted son. This prevents them from talking it over as any normal family would. Yashwardhan is a tarter, Nandini (his wife - played by Jaya Bachchan) is a doormat, Rahul is overwhelmed by the favor his parents did by adopting him, Anjali is a demented nationalist, Pooja turns into the caricaturized Poo, Rohan is weepy and sentimental. So all characters are drawn in an extreme way and within that scripting they do what they are supposed to do very well. The families meet and part and meet again and then part again only to finally come together in a finale that is less weepy than that in KKHH but quite dramatic all the same.
The story is highly dramatized, the settings are over the top (except Chandni Chowk and even that is a set), the rich are extremely rich, and the poor ain't doing so bad either. All these are huge problems with the film. Amitabh is in his most cartoonish character ever - and he plays it one dimensionally. Hritik is bad as the son. The child stars are somewhat annoying - but I have a partiality for chubby kids so I didn't mind the young Rohan! What is good about the film? The comedy is actually quite funny. The acting by Kajol is great in the first half, she is stunningly beautiful and her bubbly personality has no fakeness to it. She owns the first half of the movie. In contrast SRK owns the second half as the head of a chaotic household in London. He is preoccupied (no doubt earning a living), concerned about the tiny clothes wearing sister-in-law, in love with his wife (you see enough stray moments of their banter to be quite sure) and pining for the estranged family but too proud to admit it. Kareena does her best to get into the skin of the character as a most annoying and brattish Poo. Jaya does a great job as the doormat wife who finally decides she has had enough. Rani is brilliant in a cameo as the bubbly Naina, Farida Jalal is great as the Nanny. The music is very good and Shava Shava, Bole Chudiyan, Yeh Ladka Hai Allah, You are my Sonia, Deewani Hai dekho are all catchy but THE standout song is Suraj Hua Maddham. The lyrics and picturization for this number are amazing.
In the dross of over the top bhajans, karwa chauths and patriotic fervor we have such amazing gems as the confrontation between Jaya and SRK in a mall in London; we have the parallels between SRK taking leave of his brother on a park bench and reuniting with his brother on another park bench - beautifully crafted moments; the sequence between SRK and Kajol where he tells her why it hurts so much more if you are an adopted son - these sequences should convince you that these are people who have honed their acting craft well. But such moments tend to get lost in the otherwise pedestrian nature of the rest of the film. Perhaps Karan will someday assemble a movie that will have mostly gems and little dross! However, K3G is a GOOD timepass film and has enough sprinkling of gems that you might just end up watching it again.
This story has shades of the Ramayana except that Rama was sent into exile at his stepmother's behest. Here Karan creates an artificial barrier between father and son by making the protagonist an adopted son. This prevents them from talking it over as any normal family would. Yashwardhan is a tarter, Nandini (his wife - played by Jaya Bachchan) is a doormat, Rahul is overwhelmed by the favor his parents did by adopting him, Anjali is a demented nationalist, Pooja turns into the caricaturized Poo, Rohan is weepy and sentimental. So all characters are drawn in an extreme way and within that scripting they do what they are supposed to do very well. The families meet and part and meet again and then part again only to finally come together in a finale that is less weepy than that in KKHH but quite dramatic all the same.
The story is highly dramatized, the settings are over the top (except Chandni Chowk and even that is a set), the rich are extremely rich, and the poor ain't doing so bad either. All these are huge problems with the film. Amitabh is in his most cartoonish character ever - and he plays it one dimensionally. Hritik is bad as the son. The child stars are somewhat annoying - but I have a partiality for chubby kids so I didn't mind the young Rohan! What is good about the film? The comedy is actually quite funny. The acting by Kajol is great in the first half, she is stunningly beautiful and her bubbly personality has no fakeness to it. She owns the first half of the movie. In contrast SRK owns the second half as the head of a chaotic household in London. He is preoccupied (no doubt earning a living), concerned about the tiny clothes wearing sister-in-law, in love with his wife (you see enough stray moments of their banter to be quite sure) and pining for the estranged family but too proud to admit it. Kareena does her best to get into the skin of the character as a most annoying and brattish Poo. Jaya does a great job as the doormat wife who finally decides she has had enough. Rani is brilliant in a cameo as the bubbly Naina, Farida Jalal is great as the Nanny. The music is very good and Shava Shava, Bole Chudiyan, Yeh Ladka Hai Allah, You are my Sonia, Deewani Hai dekho are all catchy but THE standout song is Suraj Hua Maddham. The lyrics and picturization for this number are amazing.
In the dross of over the top bhajans, karwa chauths and patriotic fervor we have such amazing gems as the confrontation between Jaya and SRK in a mall in London; we have the parallels between SRK taking leave of his brother on a park bench and reuniting with his brother on another park bench - beautifully crafted moments; the sequence between SRK and Kajol where he tells her why it hurts so much more if you are an adopted son - these sequences should convince you that these are people who have honed their acting craft well. But such moments tend to get lost in the otherwise pedestrian nature of the rest of the film. Perhaps Karan will someday assemble a movie that will have mostly gems and little dross! However, K3G is a GOOD timepass film and has enough sprinkling of gems that you might just end up watching it again.