Movie Review : Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna / KANK / Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Posted By Supremus || Posted at 12am on 8/2/06 || Tags: Bollywood, Reviews, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, KANK

Update: Aug 21 2006 — More reviews added at the end.

Allright people, the initial reviews are flowing in already, at least from the media side. With 2 days still to go, we are already seeing reviews, from where else? But Indiafm.

Media Bol

Taran adarsh has praised the movie to the skies and calls it a Karan Johar genius:

On the whole, KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA is an outstanding film from the writing, performance and execution point of view. It has style, substance, it takes challenges and doesn’t follow formulas

In KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA, the actors get a chance to shine and no one shines brighter than Shah Rukh Khan. Let’s just state one thing here: This is SRK’s finest work after D.D.L.J.

It would be unfair to describe either Abhishek Bachchan or Preity Zinta’s performances as ‘lesser’. Abhishek is brilliant, especially when he gets serious towards the end.

Rani is remarkable yet again. In fact, if you consider BLACK to be her most memorable performance so far, then watch her in KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA. This surpasses her work in BLACK or VEER-ZAARA and PAHELI

– OK Taran Adarsh, you didnt have to be that obvious that you’ve been paid to say this! :)

Raja Sen from Rediff has trashed this movie in his rediff review of KANK. Close to four hours?! WTF?!

As does the film. Despite the bad handling, the pained acting, fractured narrative and twisty plot, there are moments where you grin. Moments where Khan pulls off some (ad-lib?) panache, where a line actually comes off as funny, where things work. But, in a film dragging close to four hours and making you feel each minute, we deserve way more smiles per hour. And, for all the hype about Bollywood heading into a ‘bold’ direction, KANK ends up being a lot of oversight with barely any insight. No motivations are explained, no headway made. Couples on the verge of marriage would do well not to head into the theatre. You may be dumped for the choice of flick

Blogger Bol

Cine-reviewer does an indepth analysis of the movie and gives it 4/5:

The movie is technically quite a Marvel on the INDIAN screen. No fights, no silly looking stunts, no super-heroes. A movie based on relationships, love and above all the importance of PEOPLE.

The movie should do quite well because of its mammoth Star-cast and remarkable individual perfomances. Some portions may not go well with the audience.

The guy next door thinks the magic of Karan Johar is missing from his earlier movies in KANK (like KJ had any!):

How was it ? Hmm, tough to say. It had all the things you expect in a Karan Johar movie - Big Canvas, Charismatic SRK, Gorgeous Rani , Stunning visuals , Nice songs, Special Apperance from …. You know who, A bit of light moments, A Few passionate ones. But it didnt have the one big effect KJ’s earlier 2 movies had, the effect for which I think they made what KJ is today - It didnt make me (or anyone else) cry…

Hirenshah has gone on a philosphical tangent about this movie and its theme of extra marita affairs. A very interesting review of Kabhi Alvida indeed:

This movie is similar to “Silsila” that came twenty years ago which featured Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan.He had an affair with Rekha in the movie( only?)

Though everybody has acted very well, the movie is over melodramatic in certain phases like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gum.

What? a Karan Johar movie without Kadva Chauth? Spidey think so:

What makes KANK worth looking forward to is seeing how Karan Johar, who usually manages to fit all of ‘Indian culture’ from the moon-gazing Karwa Chauth to the glitzy marriages into his movies, tackles this ’sensitive’ theme with his favorite ladies in tow.

Shubradeep has a great review (amongst the best so far) on Kabi alvida na kehna:

Shahrukh Khan, as Dev, uses his gaunt, tired look to portray the angst of Dev, who feels completely let down and helpless, but tries to stay in control. He does overdo his tortured personality bit in couple of scenes, but is generally credible as the restless tormented soul. Rani Mukherjee, as Maya, looks homely all through the movie and that juxtaposes her failings and improprieties well

The songs, especially the rambunctious party numbers, are a drag. Not all of them help the story line and they don’t strike a chord in the first go; worse, they introduce that element of fantasy in what otherwise is a very credible movie. The finish of the movie is slick and good

Printed Sepia thinks Karan Johar should stick to family melodramas rather than such hatke films:

Karan johar is better off as a brand ambassador of glycerine products.
P.S: I am a big AB BABY fan. I saw his bare chest in antar mahal. And in KANK i saw his long hairy bare legs. OOh.. One good reason to watch KANK. DHOOM-2 trailer is being shown.

Funenclave rates the movie average, and says its NOT worth spending 150 Rs on. Do you agree?

Overall, it is a below average movie, not worth spending 150bux on it. Although the roles played by each person are quite ok according to their character, but the storyline makes the movie fall down flat. Only saviours are Amitabh Bacchand and Kiron Kher, who add the comedy touch to the movie.

Sudhar Kamat does a brilliant review, comparing KANK (Kabhi alvida na kehna) and Closer:

KANK, unlike Closer, is not about morality, it’s about vulnerability.

In Closer, infidelity is wrong. In KANK, it’s human.

Closer does not forgive cheaters. KANK is more kind.

Closer is so dark, real. KANK sugarcoats it, makes it distant.

August 21 Update

Greatbong celebrates his two years of writing, by giving us a review on Kabi Alvida. And he says it best:

There are other smaller issues—for a director who prides himself on originality and opposes the Hindi film industry from being referred to as “Bollywood”, KJo sure does copy sorry internalize many sequences from other movies

In conclusion, despite having its moments (few and far between) and despite holding some amount of promise, “Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna” totally fails to be anything more…

Keep a watch more reviews to follow.

OVERALL RATING SO FAR - MIXED! People are not liking this movie I think.

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