Kutch Kutch Hota Hai
Every week, the very awesome Kiva Ashby gives us her expert take on Bollywood movies.
Kutch Kutch Hota Hai
1998
Director: Karan Johar
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherji and Kajol
Length: 3hr 5min
Short summary: I felt like following up last week’s old school Bollywood romantic drama Pardes with an even more classic film, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Another good one that can be found on Netflix, this movie is always recommended by my fellow Bollywood lovers.
It was a box office hit and is one of my favorites. Rahul (Sharh Rukh Khan) is at the center of a good old fashioned love triangle between Anjali (Kajol) and Tina (Rani Mukherjee). The story starts with two college buddies that are inseparable yet argumentative at the same time. Rahul and Anjali seem to hate each other and have an open rivalry on campus. But of course their friendship and contention masks the underlying affection that Anjali has for Rahul. She realizes that she’s in love with him just in time to watch him walk out her life with another woman (Tina).
8 years later we see that Rahul and Tina married and produced a daughter. But sadly Tina dies shortly after. Knowing that Rahul would remain a widower Tina pens a special letter for her daughter to open on her eight birthday. With the opening of this letter Rahul’s daughter sets out on a mission to get the two friends back together.
Music & Dancing:
****
The songs are one of the main reasons this movie was such a blockbuster. The title song “kuch kuch hota hai” is still used today when making romantic dramas. The dancing was fun and very colorful. I actually have a lot of songs from this movie on my personal playlist.
Outfits & Wardrobe:
***
The majority of the movie is in a flashback so there were lots of traditional Indian clothes that I really liked. The Saris were beautiful and over the top embellished so I was very satisfied with that. There is one thing that always makes me laugh about the “western wear” that they always use for the young and hip crowd. It’s always super flashy. Like almost comically American. You see lots of GAP shirts and POLO hats in vibrant colors like yellow and orange. It always makes me sit back and ask myself “is that what we really look like?”, but either way I find it quite entertaining.
Overall rating:
*****
I’m trying to narrow my imaginary list of what movies to skip and what movies are a must see. I’m realizing that this is much harder than I thought it would be, especially since there are so many to choose from. But this is one that I have to put on the “MUST SEE” list. This film was Karan Johars directorial debut and is still today one of his most successful films. If you only see one Bollywood film, this would be a good one to see.
