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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Yash, My Name Is Yash" ~ Family Ethics Versus True Love, September 3, 2005
Note: Hindi with English subtitles.
Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) adopted son of a wealthy Indian family is disowned by his Father (Amitabh Bachchan) for refusing his arranged marriage and marrying Anjali (Kajol) a poor local girl. Brokenhearted, Rahul not only leaves the family estate, but leaves India altogether taking up residence in London, England.
Ten years later his younger brother Rohan (Hrithik Roshan) goes in search of Rahul in hopes of mending the breach between father and son and restore family unity. Rohan was only a small boy when Rahul left, so when they meet again in London Rahul has no idea who he is. Rohan introduces himself saying, "Ash, my name is Ash," using his Father's name to stir his older brother's memories of home.
So begins the deception. Pretending to be a college student named Yash in search of lodging he is taken in by Rahul's family. With his disguise firmly in place Rohan begins to work on Rahul's emotions and love for family and Mother India in an attempt to breakthrough the bitterness of the past.
'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' is one of three fantastic Indian films produced in the last couple of years. While the other two, 'Lagaan' and 'Pinjar' are not normative Indian films, this one takes advantage of all the usual Bollywood formulas. However it does it so perfectly you don't care.
The sets and costumes are sumptuous beyond belief, while the music and dancing sways back and forth between mindboggling frenzy and sweet melancholy touching every human emotion imaginable. It doesn't get any better than this in Bollywood, or anywhere else for that matter!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Shava Shava" stuck in my head., June 4, 2005
This is the first Bollywood movie I have ever watched, so I do not have a basis of comparison with other Bollywood movies. I believe this is a good thing, because watching it, I was not caught saying, "Well, this wasn't as good as Asoka", or, "This is a rip-off of such-and-such". I saw it for what it was--a fun 3 act musical that keeps you glued. The music is infecting (I just bought the soundtrack because of it), the storyline, while predictable, is enjoyable, and once you realized it was a musical the song and dance numbers didn't feel as strange. If you hate musicals, you will hate this film, but for everyone else, you really should watch it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Singing, dancing and happy endings- welcome to Bollywood!, June 23, 2007
It's interesting that so many of the reviewers of this movie have Western names. It looks like Bollywood is starting to gain a non-Indian following in America, and why should we be surprised? Bollywood is fun! Unlike most of the dreadful foreign films that art house lemmings go into raptures over, Americans like Bollywood films for their inherent entertainment value, not because some elite of turtleneck-wearing professors or New York film critics discerns genius in the muddled hallucinations of some Italian gasbag. In Bollywood, Americans can enjoy the kinds of movies that Hollywood used to produce, while learning about a different culture. Of course, the main thing we learn about that culture is that Indian people frequently break out into song and perform lavish dance routines in the street, but still, there are fascinating nuggets of cultural education here. Besides that though, the subject matter of Bollywood films have a universal appeal: love and marriage, family problems, tradition and modernity- and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham has those themes in spades, along with some catchy tunes ("Say Shava Shava" for one), spectacular dance numbers and good clean fun. This movie is a bit long, but still a great introduction to Bollywood for non-Indians.
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