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25 years of 'Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai': A sensational debut

Director: Rakesh Roshan Starcast: Hrithik Roshan, (Introducing) Ameesha Patel, Tanaz Currim, Mohnish Behl, Dalip Tahil, Ashish Vidyarthi, ...


Director: Rakesh Roshan

Starcast: Hrithik Roshan, (Introducing) Ameesha Patel, Tanaz Currim, Mohnish Behl, Dalip Tahil, Ashish Vidyarthi, Vrajesh Hirjee and Anupam Kher

Music: Rajesh Roshan

It was the year 2000, the dawn of the new millennium, ushering in new hopes and aspirations in every quarter of society. The Hindi film industry was no different. It was the year when the son of the biggest superstar of India was going to be launched along with the female member of the most prolific film family and sister of one of the topmost female stars of the 90s.  Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor. However, another star actor turned director’s son was also going to be launched along with an actress with a strong political lineage sidelined by the media. But then came the trailer of the film, and the handsome light-eyed son of Rakesh Roshan became the talk of the town. And when the film was released, he became an overnight sensation along with the pretty heroine who was a gold medalist in Economics. The pair was Hrithik Roshan and Ameesha Patel and the film was Kaho Na…Pyaar Hai.

Storyline:

Rohit (Hrithik Roshan) is an aspiring singer working part-time at an automobile showroom owned by Malik (Dalip Tahil). He is bringing up his little brother Amit facing a lot of hardships. A chance meeting with Sonia (Ameesha Patel) through his work changes his life forever. Sonia is the daughter of the super-rich Saxena (Anupam Kher ) who is friends with Malik. Rohit and Sonia keep on bumping into each other and soon develop feelings for each other. At the insistence of Sonia, Malik’s son Atul invites Rohit and his friend Tony to join them on a cruise ship. At night, in a drunken stupor, they fall into a lifeboat which brings them to a deserted island. They discover love for each other on the island and decide to spend some more time there. But they are rescued by Saxena shortly who is not exactly happy with their budding love initially but Rohit wins his heart when he says he is determined to achieve success in life. Sonia and Atul plan a concert for him.

However, on the evening of his debut performance, Rohit accidentally watches the murder of the police commissioner by Malik along with two policemen Shinde and Kadam (Mohnish Behl and Ashish Vidyarthi). Both of them chase down Rohit and push him and his bike off a high bridge. Rohit drowns to his death since he didn’t know swimming. Sonia is crestfallen after she hears the news, and is promptly sent to New Zealand at her uncle’s place to get over the trauma. There she comes across Raj, who looks quite a lot like Rohit. Raj is her cousin Nita’s (Tanaz Currim) friend and was born and brought up in New Zealand. He falls head over heels in love with Sonia and comes to know of his close resemblance to Rohit. Raj follows Sonia to India and is rejected by her as she is still in love with Rohit. A dejected Raj decides to go back when he is shot by Shinde in his arm. Raj realizes the attack was not on him exactly, it was actually an attack on Rohit, which makes him conclude that Rohit was murdered and it was not an accident. Raj decides to help Sonia in tracing the killers of Rohit. The rest of the film pans out like a thriller with great music and an action-packed climax.

Direction and other Technical Departments:

Rakesh Roshan was almost always a director with a Midas touch. He took familiar concepts or other films and added his own touch or Indianized the foreign/regional sources beautifully. In this case, the core concept was taken from Kasme Vaade (1978) and the Kannada film Ratha Sapthami (1986).  His films had a common trope in most of their storylines. In the first half, the main protagonist faces harassment either due to his/her looks (Khoon Bhari Maang), mental framework (Koi Mil Gaya), or innocence (Kishen Kanhaiya), and in the second half, he/she comes back or is reincarnated (Karan Arjun) in a bolder, aggressive avatar to avenge. KNPH is no different. Credit goes to senior Roshan to handle both halves with equal finesse. The film was technically very strong and full credits go to the scriptwriters Ravi Kapoor and Honey Irani, cinematographer Kabir Lal for capturing the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand, and Krabi and editor Sanjay Verma for its even pace and tautness in thrilling sequences.

Performances:

The film was a Hrithik Roshan launchpad. And, Hrithik proved that he is the “Lambi Race ka Ghoda”. He danced like a dream, fought like a seasoned action star, and most importantly gave a distinct body language, and facial expressions to each of the characters in such a way that audiences felt that Raj and Rohit were two different individuals altogether. Ameesha looked innocent and coy and gave a credible performance, especially in the second half of the film. Ashish Vidyarthi was superb as the corrupt cop so was Mohnish Behl. Vrajesh Hirjee was superb, especially in the first half. Tanaz Currim and Rajesh Tandon as Atul were quite good in their roles. Abhishek Sharma as Amit and Farida Jalal were very effective. However, Dalip Tahil with his visibly fake Punjabi Jatt accent, and Anupam Kher were disappointing.

Music:

A romantic film needs to have good music and it must be said that Rajesh Roshan gave his best for his nephew. All the songs were superhits with modern arrangements and the Rajesh Roshan stamp of percussions and lovely antaras. The title song sung by the ever-dependable Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik was extremely catchy and quickly climbed up the charts in no time. Pyar Ki Kashti Mein is a folksy number and was well-picturized. Chand sitare sung by Kumar Sanu was a soft melodious song with exemplary lyrics by Saawan Kumar Tak (Pehnake Taaj Jawani ka Hanske Laut Gaya Bachpan). Dil ne Dil ko Pukara had some brilliant interludes and a lovely rendition by Babul Supriyo. Jaaneman Jaaneman was a playful number sung amazingly well by the veteran Asha Bhosle. However, it was Lucky Ali, who sang the best numbers in the film. Ek Pal ka Jeena is still remembered for Lucky’s unusual vocals and of course, the fluidity with which Hrithik grooved to this number. Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, a personal favourite was filmed in the pristine locales of New Zealand, sung exceedingly well by Lucky with Hrithik and Ameesha looking like a dream. The arrangements and recording quality of this song were top-notch. The songs had brilliant lyrics by the formidable trio of Ibrahim Ashq, Vijay Akela, Saawan Kumar Tak.

It’s been 25 years since the release of this musical blockbuster, yet it looks so fresh on the big screen as is evident by the dancing, grooving young crowd to its songs and dances and young girls still gaping at the Greek God Hrithik when it re-released on the big screen. Kaha Naa… iss film se ab bhi pyaar hai !!

-        - Ayushmaan Mitra

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