Column | How ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Haiʼ described a brand new era for Bollywood

Twenty-five years ago, on Oct. sixteen, 1998, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" become launched.

In his autobiography, author-director Karan Johar recounts the story of him pitching what would in the end turn into "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" to megastar Shah Rukh Khan. 

Compelled with the aid of a picture of a father and a daughter living together after the newbornʼs mother died in childbirth, Johar narrates a scene early on within the movie. The daughter is at a speech competition the place she ought to make a one-minute-long impromptu presentation about a subject drawn at random. 

Yet upon drawing the observe "mom," she is taken aback, stammering and stumbling. it's then when the daddy comes up and, in front of the group, tells the daughter what a mother should still be and how he's making an attempt to be that for her. 

Khan, teary-eyed, has the same opinion to do the film. And at that second, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" become born. 

in lots of methods, that scene Johar remembers is emblematic of the movie as an entire; blunt and melodramatic in construction — but even so, it's difficult to not be overcome with the aid of the wave of palpable feelings that bind it together.  

looking again on the movie 25 years later, those sentiments ring even more true. at the time of its release in 1998, the movie was undoubtedly a phenomenon. notwithstanding within the decades when you consider that, its legacy has most effective grown cementing itself no longer handiest as a cultural fixture, however as a totemic work of customary Bollywood filmmaking. 

The film opens with Tina Malhotra (Rani Mukherji) on her deathbed. With inner bleeding as a result of complications all through childbirth, she writes eight letters for her daughter to receive to her each yr on her birthday. asserting goodbye to her husband Rahul Khanna (Shah Rukh Khan), she asks Rahul to identify their daughter Anjali. 

Flashing forward eight years, Anjali (Sana Saaed) is ready to turn eight years ancient. She finds that, for her eighth letter, her mother tells the story of how she met Rahul in college and Rahul's relationship with Anjali Sharma (Kajol).

The movie then cuts to their school days. Anjali and Rahul are optimal chums, playful yet close. When Tina, the daughter of the principal, arrives, Rahul finds himself slowly falling in love along with her, to the ache of Anjali, who secretly loves Rahul. 

When Rahul ultimately decides to declare his love for Tina, Anjali decides to go away the faculty and both of them lose contact. Tina and Rahul get married, although Tina feels a moderate be apologetic about as she feels she could have interfered between Anjali and Rahul. 

As such, she ends her letter with a simple desire. locate Anjali and reunite Rahul along with her such that Rahul can once again be satisfied. though Anjali is engaged to Aman (Salman Khan), the daughter sneaks off to a summer season camp the place Anjali Sharma is counseling in the hopes Rahul will come and the two can recognize their love for every different. 

The movie would sooner or later launch Mukherji into stardom. In casting the movie, the role of Tina changed into the toughest to fill. Mukherji, coming off of a movie with celebrity Aamir Khan, changed into nonetheless fantastically unknown. however Aditya Chopra, who Johar worked with in making 1995's sensation "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge," cautioned her for the half and she or he went on to embody the role find it irresistible changed into made for her. 

There became a real exhilaration in seeing Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol reunite on screen. Coming off of the aforementioned "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge," their friendship with Johar on that film's set lead the way for them to in the end megastar during this debut characteristic. 

although not the center of attention of this retrospective, it's hard to overstate simply how plenty of a genuine cultural stream "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" turned into upon its unlock. And in tremendous part "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" exists in dialog with that film. 

actually, centering the forged on Khan and Kajol once again lent the movie a right away credit score inside the changing panorama of Bollywood movie, even though the inherent distinctiveness in Johar's vision in distinction to Chopra's make the two films an enchanting pair that, in lots of approaches, described the language of mainstream Bollywood filmmaking of the early 2000s. 

The performances are pretty much as good as one could are expecting from the star forged. an awful lot of the movie's romantic performances relaxation on Kajol, and she or he does a beautiful job enjoying the contrast between a young lady with a broken heart and someone caught between her feelings and her responsibility. 

Khan, for his half, brings all the wiry allure and beaming emotion that made him might be the biggest Bollywood big name of all time. His portrayal of the young Rahul, frequently abrasive and worsening in his singular focal point to exude this "too cool for school" power, has acquired improved consideration in contemporary years due to questions regarding if the performance sends a bad message to younger men.

consideration on this area grew to be colossal ample that Johar himself noted that he does not desire Rahul to be perceived as a role mannequin.

besides the fact that children, it may also be argued that the film is aware of Rahul's contradictions, and that a large part of his adventure is gaining the maturity vital to reject these fallacies that as soon as drove his movements. in spite of this, the manner the film techniques this idea is on the expense of its female characters. 

it's additionally value bringing up how so an awful lot of this era of Bollywood filmmaking became inherently constructed upon foundations of regressive gender stereotypes. To this present day, there persists a dominance of masculinity that promotes male-established views whereas except or diluting the female side of these studies.

Nothing in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" is small. each and every camera movememt, each musical cue, every speak and every expression are all performed to absolutely the most they may very well be. now and then it will also be onerous, specially given the movie's towering 185-minute runtime. 

Yet it exudes a definite self assurance as well. self assurance is perfectly mirrored within the film's iconic gazebo sequence during which Rahul and Anjali, drenched from the pouring rain, locate refuge in a gazebo. Rahul offers Anjali a dance to which Anjali responds that there is no song. In very nearly a manifestation of the inner feelings of the characters, Rahul conjures up the movie's main theme, to which the pair dance. 

virtually wholly wordless, the brief sequence conveys so a whole lot through the circulate of the character's bodies paired against Johar's fluid digital camera. many years of love, longing, loss, grief and lust build to a melodic explosion as the characters, seemingly for the primary time, acknowledge simply how a good deal they love every different. youngsters, the second is cut brief, as Anjali realizes her commitment to Aman. 

The sequence is remarkable, reiterating why Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol make such a compelling cinematic pair while also serving as a singularly virtuosic moment for Johar. among the many iconic moments produced by using their collaborations, this one is certainly one of the most remembered. 

"Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" also serves as a turning factor in its portrayal of an increasingly globalized India. St. Xavier's school, the place a whole lot of the movie's first half takes vicinity, is visually defined as an integration of  Western design into traditionally Indian aesthetics. 

The characters all put on shiny, fundamental, bubblegum neon outfits whereas the units exude this basically storybook attraction largely rooted in how it feels like an amalgamation of a historically Hollywood faculty set inside an Indian atmosphere. 

This makes for a film that's especially of its era, notwithstanding every design alternative in the end underscores the hyperpop energy that flows through a good deal of the film's first half. Johar specifically notes how tons the characterization of the faculty setting became inspired by "The Archies," and it's hard now not to look that have an impact on baked into every body.

The distinct appear of the movie additionally adds to that affect. Lights are sometimes blown out and glowing and the diversity of color offers it this pulpy look that feels as if you are gazing some type of serial or comedian come to existence. 

This elevated center of attention on a greater globalized tradition can also also be a explanation why the movie connects so smartly for Indian audiences across the globe. Johar has turn into one of the most relevant filmmakers for the Indian diaspora with so many of his later works each as a director and producer fitting touchstones for a brand new technology of Indian audiences who had been born and raised remote places. 

The aesthetics of the film are paired nicely with the film's soundtrack. An indisputable album, it is quite perhaps one of the vital optimum among Johar's filmography. Composed via Jatin-Lalit, each and every track on the album is brimming with power and melody. 

an awful lot like lots of Johar's early albums, every song overstays its welcome ever so a bit with Johar's makes an attempt to weave narrative and ancillary personality moments into the material of the vocals, best making them suppose extra stretched out than they need to be. 

The title track, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai," is a tune within the complete Bollywood gold standard. Shot in Scotland, the visible language of the song is defined by sweeping helicopter photographs, characters dancing around in ornate scenery and emotive movement. against backgrounds of castles, green hills and blue skies, the vocals think augmented through the inherent grandeur of the surroundings. 

additional songs similar to "Yeh Ladka Hai Deewana" and "Ladki Badi Anjaani Hai" present an up-beat if familiarly breezy vibe while depicting Anjali and Rahul's relationship at two tiers of their existence — most desirable friends in college and reconnecting essentially a decade later. 

however, it's "Koi Mil Gaya," a music that plays upon Tina's arrival at St. Xavier's, that is the most desirable in the film. A burst of energy, the music's electric powered mix of dance, lighting, digital camera-work, guitar and movement make for an experience that is so propulsive whereas also displaying a crucial aspect for Rahul as he turns into closer to Tina at the price of his relationship to Anjali. 

As a love story, the movie works in spades. it is actually designed as such, and nevertheless is still one of the most available and interesting of Khan and Kajol's careers. 

Khan's role as a father makes this film particularly resonate so deeply so decades later. That special relationship between mother or father and child would go on to turn into the defining thematic throughline of Johar's complete filmography. right here, these emotions appear to be effervescent so strongly, with the dynamic between Rahul and his daughter serving as each the narrative and emotional spine of the complete film. 

The concept that the father is resulted in his personal happiness because of his daughter with both of them reaching an emotional catharsis along the style, continues to be well-known and powerful. 

It's why, regarding Johar's autobiography once more, i was so struck studying Johar's father's response to seeing the movie for the first time. "My father simply broke down," Johar stated. "We had by no means seen him like this, weeping like a child."

"It's the top of the line film on the earth," Johar's father spoke of. "My son has made the most efficient movie on the planet."

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