कुछ कुछ होता है
Dir. Karan Johar
When I sat down to watch Kuch kuch hota hai ("something happens"), although I had seen nearly 100 Indian films, I was a Karan Johar virgin. "K-Jo," as the filmmaker Johar is sometimes called - both affectionately and contemptuously - is a polarizing figure among fans of Hindi films, westerners and Indians alike. Sure, he has created a number of massive hits. But some dismiss his work as candyfloss - emotionally manipulative, saccharine fluff, embodying the worst stereotypes of Hindi movies. Others adore his work in spite of - or perhaps because of - the very characteristics that engender those criticisms.
There was no particular reason that I'd missed the K-Jo boat; I hadn't deliberately avoided his films. For a while I was under a self-imposed moratorium on Shah Rukh Khan (who stars in every one of Johar's films), but if a friend had invited to me to watch one of Johar's movies I would not have refused. I just never got around to it. When I decided it was time to take the plunge, I chose Kuch kuch hota hai, because it is the beloved favorite of several people who I think are really, really smart. What I found in Kuch kuch hota hai is a film that is cheesy, sentimental, and manipulative - mostly, in all the right ways.
Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) and Anjali (Kajol) are college students, best friends, and friendly rivals. The tomboyish Anjali is forever challenging Rahul to games of pick-up basketball - and winning - while Rahul, for his part, teases her mercilessly. Enter Tina (Rani Mukherjee), the glamorous foreign-educated daughter of the school's principal (Anupam Kher). She brings out the gentleman buried beneath Rahul's rough-and-tumble, boys-will-be-boys exterior. Inevitably, they fall in love, leaving poor Anjali out in the cold, as she realizes that she is in love with Rahul as well.
We know from the film's opening sequence - the college story is told in flashback - that Tina died shortly after giving birth to a daughter, whom she instructed Rahul to name Anjali after their college friend. On her deathbed Tina wrote eight letters to be given to little Anjali on each of her first eight birthdays. Now eight years old, little Anjali receives the final letter, setting forth her mother's dying wish: that Rahul be reunited with the elder Anjali. Little Anjali hatches a scheme to fulfill Tina's request, with her spunky grandmother (Farida Jalal) as her partner-in-crime. The conspirators have their work cut out for them; while it doesn't take much for Rahul to realize what he could have had in grown-up Anjali, in the meantime she has become engaged to a gentle sweet fellow named Aman (Salman Khan).
The story may not sound like much, and its resolution holds no surprises, but in one aspect the film's message is a bit refreshing: rather than supporting the romantic but depressing notion that there is just one perfect match, one true love, for everyone, Kuch kuch hota hai acknowledges that even romantic love can come in different forms. In the world of Kuch kuch hota hai, losing one's true love does not doom one to never have true love again. Rahul recites the old saw a couple of times, insisting that love is a once-in-a-lifetime venture - but he's proven gloriously wrong.
The bloom comes off this rose somewhat, though, when it is considered that the mature Anjali has shed her track suits and tomboyish ways for a sari and a job as an instructor of Indian classical dance. Rahul never noticed her until she transformed into a girl who couldn't beat him at basketball. Well, it isn't just that she can't beat him. It's that she doesn't think to change out of her sari before hitting the court. It's as if Anjali can be only one thing at a time, either a rough-and-tumble free spirit, or a seedhi-saadhi prim and proper lady. There's no room for multiple facets, for shifting as circumstances warrant. That's a pretty damn depressing and restrictive idea.
For me - as Shah Rukh Khan's smarminess is not my cup of tea - Kuch kuch hota hai is not more than a solid timepass. Still, I appreciate some of what sets it apart. There is something pleasingly escapist in its view of college - a place for basketball, track meets, cheerleaders, and dance competitions, but not much in the way of classes or studying. There's also a comically bumbling principal and an overly flirtatious sexy teacher (who even gets her own leering sound-effect every time she takes the screen). While it seems that every stop is pulled out in achieving the apex of melodramatic bombast - ominous thunderclaps to signal significant moments, swelling music playing out the characters emotions, glorious and lush wedding preparations, even divine intervention when needed - somehow, the film maintains a sense of humor, a tone of self-awareness. It's over the top, but it's over the top with a wink at the audience. Combine that with the sweetness of the story, and the result is that it's very easy to play along.
(For a terrific analysis of Kuch kuch hota hai through the lens of postmodern theory, have a look at Meredith's post on the board she runs, the BollyWHAT? forum.)