MartinHafer I recently wrote an article for Influx Magazine about my love for Indian films. However, if I'd started with "Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai", I doubt if I would have wanted to watch another Bollywood film. I find this strange, as the film was HUGELY popular and won a ton of awards-- including the IIFA awards for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director among others. Why did I dislike the film so much? Well, it's simply plastered from start to finish with clichés--and was sloppily written. Now I know that formula films are popular in India and the film was wildly successful, but this sort of film simply wouldn't do so well in the States because of the writing. I can think of many Indian films I liked much more--such as "Kahaani" and "Three Idiots"--films which were more original and lacked the strong formulaic qualities of "Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai".Hrithik Roshan (the director's son) and Kareena Kapoor both star in this film--and both went from being unknowns to mega-stars because of this movie. Rohit (Roshan) is a poor but exceptionally handsome singer who sees a woman, Sonia (Kapoor), in the next car. He's smitten and it's love at first sight (cliche #1). Later, they meet and they instantly hit it off. Now, considering how much they are interested in each other, how would you expect Sonia to behave? Yep...she's irritable, nasty and pushes him away constantly for no discernible reason (cliche #2). Later they get marooned on an island and, surprise, surprise, they argue and fight but later come to fall for each other (cliche #3). They return home and plan on getting married--when disaster strikes and they cannot yet get married (cliche #4). And, in the interim, she travels to New Zealand and meets a man who is the exact double for Rohit (cliche #5). More clichés exist in this film....but you get the picture. The bottom line is that I hate it when plots seem contrived and formulaic--and this film clearly is both. Now it's not all bad--the stars gave nice performances when they weren't behaving stupidly. Plus, if you are looking for eye candy, both stars are quite beautiful. Roshan in particular is just pretty...not necessarily rugged--just very, very pretty. And, although the songs sounded tinnier than more recent Indian films, they were catchy. The bottom line is that I do not understand the reasons for this film's amazing success.

BethKyleXYnet My friend and I like musicals. She convinced me to try one from India but I didn't really know what to expect. We watched Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai and liked it even though some parts are cheesy. The music and dancing were good overall. The guy's character was handsome and a good singer and the girl's character was...kinda annoying really but she improved a bit as the movie went on. If you're looking for a classic Rogers and Hammerstein, this isn't it. If you want something a little different, go for it. It's better than you might think. Now if only I could get the soundtrack out of my head.;)

Peter Fawthrop Holy cow. This movie is ridiculous. I'm so frustrated at trying to figure out which Hindi films are worth buying and which ones are pathetic. It seems like almost every review section for a Hindi film has comments like "The best film Ive ever seen" and "The worst movie of all time." How does someone unfamiliar with all these movies know what to believe? Well, I've seen 3... Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, and this one. Lagaan, aside from an overly long cricket game, is a very sweet and charming film. You can't go wrong with it. Dil Chahta Hai grew on me. It started off as a really bad, MTV-like movie and then it redeemed itself with a little bit of depth and one of the most beautiful sequences in sight and sound I've ever seen or heard- Wah Ladki (something or other) You know it if you've seen it- it's where the whole movie theater flaps their arms up and down. And the song makes me want to jump up, dance, rejoice and cry, all at once. The dancing on that song is spectacular and the filming is equal. But Dil Chahta Hai is pretty corny at times- a little too corny- and forgive me, but even though it's a more male-to-male friendly culture, there are some parts that seemed SOOOO homosexual. But its good qualities are hard to ignore. Now comes my 3rd Hindi film experience with Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. I have to tell you... this movie manages to include TV SOAP OPERA, DRAMA, COMEDY, MYSTERY, ACTION, MUSICAL, 60s BEACH PARTY MOVIE (Remember Annette and Frankie?) EPIC (due to length) and of course FOREIGN FILM. Where they would place this film at a Blockbuster Video store is anyone's guess. I can't even figure out what I feel for this film. What do I tell you? Maybe I should tell you that I rolled over and laughed out loud more than once, and more than I have in a long time at a movie (Last time I laughed like that was in the Japanese "Spirited Away" and before that, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye.") Maybe I should tell you that I was in disgusted awe of all the blatant product placements that are shoved against the screen for more than a few moments (Coca Cola, Nokia, and countless others)? The movie is embarrassing to watch? The cinematography and directing are a cross between a really terrible television program (e.g. Baywatch) and Moulin Rouge. If you are trying to read the English subtitles, you know that there is something missing- that they are not well translated. You feel like you are watching a really cheesy commercial for about 3 hours (When the gigantic coke signs appeared at the end of the film, while the main actor is singing and dancing on stage like an overgrown Backstreet Boy, I swore the film finally made sense- it was a 3 hour Coke commercial!) The movie is extremely cheery though. It is colorful- and the scenery on the island is gorgeous. There was so much of that wonderful scenery too, and so I appreciated some things that I know I'll never get to see in an American film. But how does one explain a movie where a guy poops in his pants and it falls out (unseen) on the floor, where Santa Claus appears like a madman on a cruise ship, where the main character dies and you think its the end of the movie but then it says "INTERMISSION," where the last third of the movie is full of action sequences that completely destroy everything that came before- where the plot makes absolutely no sense and you know that the writer and director had to tack on an extra hour of nonsense to meet the 3 Hour Quota for Indian films. Where a grown man dreams of being a Backstreet Boy and sings a tune that will get stuck in your head since it's repeated through the whole film. I don't know what to make of this movie. Its ridiculous; its badly acted. Badly directed. It's terribly written. It wants to copy American films, but doesnt know which one to copy, so it copies every single one- but is so bizarre that it is nothing like anything in American cinema. And yet I want to watch it again because I can't believe I saw what I saw.

mikhail080 After reading about Hrithik Roshan, Bollywood's hottest movie star in GQ magazine, I was truly amazed at his popularity in his native India. I later watched the dvd release of KNPH, Hrithik Roshan's first hit movie. Directed by his father, this spirited romp is actually a made-to-order showcase for his handsome and talented son. Suffice to say that this film would have been very average, save for Hrithik Roshan who carries the entire production on his able shoulders. His charm and intense style are certainly enough to catch the interest of most any movie-goer.Much of the movie is devoted to loving shots of Hrithik in various poses, and I'm certain that the female audiences in Mumbai were swooning in the crowded aisles each time he sang and danced. Much of what occurs on screen looks like a Hindi pop music video made for even pre-teenage audiences. A good comparison would be to the old movies of Elvis Presley! This may have had a bit more realism and action than those, but the entire proceedings focus on Hrithik's singing, dancing, and posing in a way that glamorizes him to that extent. It's obvious that multi-talented Hrithik Roshan could make it big in the U.S. if he so desires. That's the one thing that I will certainly remember out of this somewhat shallow, but lighthearted and colorful movie.