Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Reviews

• Starring Rani Mukherjee, the most beautiful actress ever!

  
  By ACVFTS9X2MKJ8 on 2003-12-24
  This is probably my favorite Indian DVD. It's got the most enjoyable story you could ever watch on film. I'm glad to see that Amazon is starting to provide Bollywood films. I knew after "Lagaan", "Monsoon Wedding", and "Bend it Like Beckham" came out, people are going to want to see more Indian films.

  This is a story about Rahul and Anjali, a boy and a girl who were best of friends back in college. This movie opens with a woman named Tina who is dying from a complicated birth. She asks her husband Rahul, while before she dies, to name their new daughter Anjali, and she also gives the grandmother 8 letters that she wrote to give to the newborn daughter, one letter for each year of the daughter's birthday. It is on Anjali's eighth birthday that she received the eighth letter written by her long gone dead mother. In this eighth letter, Anjali's mother Tina explained how she came into her father's life back in college and they fell in love. This love complicated a friendship between her father Rahul, and his best friend at college, a tomboy girl named Anjali. So Anjali left the college so that Tina and Rahul could be together. What little Anjali's mother wants her daughter to do is find the first Anjali and bring her back together with her father so that he will find happiness once again with his original best friend from college. This movie is a roller coaster of emotions. You will laugh and you will cry. In fact, you will probably cry twice within the first 15 minutes, but yet, you will laugh and be so engrossed into this film that you will wish you were there. It would be nice if this film had about 4 less songs because it does get a bit too musical sometimes, but the song videos do all look really colorful and classy.

  This movie stars Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, and Rani Mukherjee. You will love all three of these Indian stars right away. These three stars also star together in another Bollywood film that I recommend called "Kabhi Khushi Khabhie Gham". This film is also from the director Karan Johar. To download pictures of these stars and stills from these movies, go to www.IndiaFM.com . To find out other movies these stars are in, go to Amazon's www.IMDb.com .
  
  

• The Movie that Revolutionised Modern Indian Film

  
  By A37PV5GMP2ILJC on 2003-08-08
  In my part of the world, Indian movies are a part of our common culture. Having said that, I must admit that I was never a great fan of the genre, until this movie was released.

  Kuch Kuch Hota Hai has a story line that is improbable but believable, and it will make you laugh, cry, sing and dance. It follows to a point the standard formula for Indian movies, with music and dancing punctuating the story, but everything is modernised and fresh. However, even though it is set in modern times, it never forgets traditional Indian values.

  Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerjee give the performances of their lives in this story, which tells of the true love of three friends from their teenage years to adulthood. Handsome, muscular Salman Khan makes a powerful but brief appearance.

  Unlike other movies of the genre, it doesn't have the formulaic "rich girl meets poor boy and falls in love" (or vice versa) story line, nor does it have the villians plotting to steal land or money, or committing murder for personal gain. This is simply a very sweet story, with love, tragedy and comedy mixed together in a blender with great music and dancing.

  If you only see one Indian movie, make it this one.

  If you want more, good recommendations are "Ghulam", "Raja Hindustani", "Dil to Pagal Hai", "Pardes", "Duplicate", "Border", "Dil Se" and "Lagaan", all of which I was inspired to watch after seeing Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
  
  

• Beginner's Guide to Bollywood

  
  By AWXXUOYG8Q8M3 on 2006-04-08
  In February 2005, National Geographic did a feature and one of the headlines said, "Shah Rukh Khan is God." Check out these movies, and you will have to agree. First: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. (Something Happens in My Heart.) There are really two movies here. There is the first part, which is at best cute and and it's worst--I'm talking about the dance in the gym scene here--downright embarrassing. But hang in there. Things are going to get much, much better.
  
  If you have never seen a Bollywood film before, be prepared for the ride of your life. If you give this film even half a chance, you are going to experience the full range of emotions with these characters. Now, there is no way that this craziness could all come together if Kajol, Rani, and of course, Shah Rukh Khan, were not such excellent actors. If you look at the date this film was made, you will see that Kajol and Rani (real-life cousins, btw) were both quite young, and they are surprisingly good. SRK displays his range here, from goofy student to mature widower. Farida Jalal, who plays his mother, is excellent too. The little girl who plays his daughter is amazing. It can't be easy to play your first major role with the world's most popular actor.
  
  There are a couple of reasons to take this film seriously. In the first place, we non-Desis need to start learning about Indian culture. There is a lot here that is exaggerated for the sake of making a point, and if you approach it with an open mind you are going to learn a lot. Second, millions of fans of the world's most prolific movie culture will tell you this is their favorite movie. The second part is brilliant, surreal, and amazing.
  
  If you start with this one, go back for Dilwale Dulhania dela Jayenge. DDLJ is probably the most popular film ever made. It's ten years old, and is still in its first continuous run. With good reason: it is breathtaking. Listen to the music and you will see how cleverly it refers back to certain themes and scenes in KKHH. It's brilliant. Next, you MUST see Kabhi Kushie Khabie Gham. Here SRK is nearing the height of his powers. It will knock you out; you will have seen the progress of SRK and Kajol as actors, and at the same time seen a certain maturing of the films themselves. Kajol is an astonishing beauty of prodigious talent, but what is more, the chemistry between she and SRK is legendary. There are no comparisons in western films. Most earlier SRK films are simply awful; he usually played the thug. It is when he started this series with Kajol that he began to be taken seriously as a leading man, and no one has ever done it better.
  
  A few years ago Kajol married Ajay Devgan and dropped out of show business to start her family. This is pretty much traditional in the Indian film industry. SRK's next leading lady was Rani Mukherjee; she is beyond amazing. Don't miss Chalte Chalte!!
  
  Something sure happened in my heart when I discovered these amazing films. I am totally hooked!
  
  

• Amazing! Wonderful! Fantastic!

  
  By A3UKIS8H195DO4 on 2003-09-04
  This movie was my introduction to Indian film, and let me tell you, it hooked me right off the bat. The wind machine, the flagrant advertising, the 80s-reminiscent acid washed jeans, and the large scarves stole my heart away. And if that sort of thing doesn't interest you, an amazing cast, fun music and dance numbers, and a beautiful story should make this a must-see for everyone. To sum it up, I loved it.
  
  

• Beautiful, "Parent Trap-esque" Movie! WONDERFUL!!

  
  By A14A4YYKPLYY26 on 2006-07-11
  Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, is a WONDERFUL and cute Bollywood movie! It is now one of my top favorites!
  
  Even though my parents are from India, my brother and I didn't watch many Hindi/Bollywood movies growing up. At home, my family either spoke English or Konkani (a dialect of Hindi) so with the exception of the sporadic Hindi classes we took as children, we did not have much experience with Hindi.
  
  As a result, we did not watch many Bollywood movies until recently. I can count on one hand, with a couple of extra fingers, maybe two hands at the most, the number of Hindi movies I saw as a child.
  
  Because we understand very little (just a few random words, phrases, etc.)of Hindi, and subtitles, were not available on the VHS tapes, we had to rely on our mom for translation of the dialogue. Though I'm sure she tried her best, what would inevitably happen is that while she was translating one segment of conversation, she would miss the next one, so there would be huge gaps in the translation, and often essential dialogue would deliberately (if she didn't want to translate something, thinking we weren't old enough to hear it)or accidently left out.So we had to figure out the story from the pictures and inconsistent, and incomplete translations. As a result, we didn't watch many Bollywood movies growing up.
  
  But since I started watching Hindi movies on DVD (with available English subtitles) I've been REALLY enjoying it! I LOVE BOLLYWOOD movies!
  
  Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is one of the several Hindi movies that I have seen and enjoyed immensely on DVD recently.
  
  Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (or KKHH, or K2H2) is a BEAUTIFUL movie that stars Shahrukh Khan, Kajol (of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge fame) and Rani Mukherji (of Veer-Zaara) as well as a special guest appearance by Salman Khan (of Hum Aapke Hain Koun)
  
  SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
  
  In this touching and "Parent Trap-esque" movie, ladies man Rahul Khanna (Shahrukh Khan) and tomboy Anjali Sharma (Kajol) are friends at St. Xavier's College. They are best friends, always playing basketball together, and teasing and joking with each other. There is also a deep love between the two that has not been expressed.
  
  Enter Tina Malhotra, the daughter of the Principal (Dean), and a transfer student from Oxford University in London, who is coming home to complete her final year of college at her father's school.
  
  Principal Malhotra asks Anjali to "look after" Tina, and "take her under her wing", and while doing so, Rahul comes along, and Tina, Anjali and Rahul all become good friends.
  
  But then Rahul and Tina start seeing each other privately and soon they fall in love.
  
  Meanwhile, Anjali realizes that she is in love with Rahul, and decides to tell him how she feels. Anjali is about to delare her love, when Rahul confesses that he is in love with Tina.
  
  Anjali is devastated when she realizes Rahul loves Tina, and not her, and that her love for him can never be expressed. She is so heartbroken that she immediately decides to drop out of college and go back home.
  
  Rahul and Tina, rush to the train station to try to stop Anjali from leaving. But when Rahul learns that Anjali was planning to leave without telling him, and never come back he gets upset, and storms off. While the train starts up, Anjali throws her dupatta (scarf) to Tina, signaling to her that she is starting a new life with Rahul.
  
  Meanwhile, as train is pulling out of the station, Rahul has a change of heart, and is able to say a final goodbye to Anjali.
  
  After Anjali drops out, and leaves town, she "disappears". She goes her own separate way, and doesn't write, call, or have any further contact with Rahul or Tina.
  
  Meanwhile, Rahul and Tina get married, and Tina becomes pregnant. Unfortunately, Tina develops complications during her pregnancy, and she dies soon after giving birth to a baby girl. Before dying, she makes Rahul promise to name their daughter, "Anjali", and she leaves 8 separate letters with her mother-in-law (Farida Jalal of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge), to be given to Anjali, one for each birthday (from age 1 to age 8)
  
  So now nine years have passed and little Anjali who is living in Mumbai (Bombay) with her father and grandmother, is celebrating her 8th birthday. As in the years before, she has a special letter waiting for her from her late mother, Tina.
  
  However, this particular letter is different from the others in one crucial aspect.
  
  In this letter, Tina tells her daughter about the relationship/friendship between herself, Rahul and Anjali, and how she fell in love with Rahul. She writes of the unrequited love between Anjali and Rahul, and how she feels that she came between them.
  
  Tina tells her daughter that her father is all alone, and she asks her daughter, Anjali to find Anjali Sharma and reunite her with Rahul.
  
  However, at the same time that Anjali Khanna (little Anjali)and her grandma are beginning their search for Rahul's college friend, Anjali Sharma (big Anjali) has become engaged, and is planning her wedding to Aman Mehra (guest star Salman Khan)
  
  But through a twist of fate (influenced by a cute/sweet scene of little Anjali carrying out a fervent Muslim prayer) and due to a problem with Anjali & Aman's horoscopes (which in Hindu custom are often a major factor when planning any event) all plans for the wedding are postponed for several months - until December at the earliest.
  
  In the meantime, big Anjali takes a job teaching music and dance at a summer camp in Simla.
  
  In a series of twists, little Anjali finds out about big Anjali's job. So she and her grandma join this same summer camp, with the intention of luring Rahul there so that he will come face-to-face with big Anjali.
  
  Little Anjali and her grandma concoct a "Parent Trap-esque" scheme to reunite the two former friends, set them up and rekindle the previously unexpressed love and passion between them.
  
  What transpires is a cute, beautiful and touching display of the real meaning of caring about another person, and true love.
  
  I think anyone who enjoys the "Bollywood style" of movies will enjoy this GREAT movie! The music and accompanying songs are beautiful, the casting is practically perfect, and the storyline and plot is very touching and suitable and appropriate for all ages, from young kids, to the elderly! It is a family-friendly, Indian version of "The Parent Trap"!
  
  Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a WONDERFUL movie, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who likes/loves Hindi movies.
  
  5 STARS!! Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is AWESOME!!!!
  
  
  
  
  
• Great Movie
  By A2Z4H7K5ZSS5UL on 2003-08-01
  While it shows the directors tendencies to copy the American apparel and styles, it also shows the innocent and wonderful qualities of the Indian culture. While best for the viewer untainted by this day and age's mind-numbing and repulsive media, it can move even the most rock-hearted audience, even if not visibly. It's powerful story and songs combined with the experienced and beautiful acting on behalf of Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani makes for a wonderful movie, one which audiences of all ages and genders will cherish.
  
  
• Love is a friendship between 2 friends
  By A3K34XYFMYAD1Z on 2004-07-03
  Okay growing up where I'm living at, I can't escape the possibility of watching Bollywood films. But the thing is, I have never been into all this Bollywood movies stuff, exception of that Snakes goddess/gods storyline since that's the only one that fancies me ever since I was a kid.
  
  But one day, KKHH cames to my life and everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, is talking about it. About the love story of the century. It's like "Move over Romeo & Juliet & Titanic! This is way better than you!" sort of stuff. Everybody went repetitively into cenimas and teathers just to watch this movie, each time bringing a fresh box of tissues with them.
  
  Yet, the curiousity never hit me, until one of our local tv stations decides to air it on tv. OMG! I'm hooked! It is as good as they all said it is.
  
  The movie began with Rahol (ShahRukh Khan) standing infront of the burning fire which was cremating the body of his beloved wife Tina (Rani Mukherjee) after she died of childbirth, leaving him and his mother (Farida Jalal) to raised his daughter named Anjali (Sana Saeed) all by themselves. Anjali was raised a happy child until one day, a competition opened a yearning in her heart for a mother's love.
  
  On her 8th birthday, her wish came through as she read the prewritten letters written by her birth mother before her death where she could only open one letter per birthday. In this particular letter her mother retell a story of a very close knitted friendship between her father and another woman named Anjali Khanna (Kajol).
  
  Back in the days when Rahol & Anjali was still studying in St Xavier's College, they were as peas in a cod. Anjali was a tomboy fits in very well within Rahol's group of male friends. and Rahol however was the Romeo of St. Xavier's College where every girl just die wanting to be with him. Anjali just rolled her eyes and did whatever to tease Rahol, ruining his fraternizing schemes with the college girls.
  
  Then one day, the principal's daughter, Tina, transferred from England to study for her last year in the same school. and in an instance, Tina and Anjali became really good friends with of course, Rahol never losing touch trying to fraternized with Tina. Anjali fell in love with Rahol and much to her dismay, and how her heart cracked into pieces when she knew Rahol was in love only with Tina. Worse, Rahol was practicing how he proclaimed how much he love Tina with Anjali, where at first Anjali thought was for her. Anjali couldn't take anymore one day and just quit school.
  
  It was at the train scene, where Tina realized Anjali was deeply in love with Rahol and she would stepping away. She also saw how much Rahol loved her as well, but he just didn't realized it, even though how hurt he was when the train was moving along.
  
  Back to the letter, little Anjali was crying, touched by the tale her mother had written out for her. Agreeing with her mother request, Little Anjali does whatever she could to reunite her father with his first love. Even though if it meant Summer Camp.
  
  Anjali Khanna, however, was getting ready for her engagement with Aman (Salman Khan) in her side of the world. They were set to marry each other soon.
  
  Regardless knowing the engagement was set, little Anjali does whatever she could to rekindle the love between her father and Anjali Khanna.
  
  
• Awesome, Awesome movie!!!
  By AL1266DU4G0XA on 2003-09-16
  This movie is fantastic. I saw this one after i saw Khabbi Khushi Khabbi Gham, this was my second Hindi film and I loved is soooooo much. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Any movies with them together is just great. They are such wonderful actors. Karan Johar directs & Writes, so it has to be good, I recomend this movie to anyone who wants to see a really great film. The movie focus around Raoul & Anjali, thier best frinds who fall in love...... Watch it, its awesome...
  
  
• Get the Tissues... and the Tomatoes.
  By A2VRHRASHK32CE on 2005-09-03
  KKHH: 6/10 for some great scenes, but it sends the wrong message. For a much better film, check out Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
  
  ---
  
  Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a mixed bag. Horribly, horribly mixed. On the one hand, this movie has the potential to be a real tear-jerker, but on the other the film's insistence on instilling "good moral values" to the target audience suffocates the story. Karan Johar has made some blockbusters, but mostly by sucking up to the "family and faith" ideal. While it worked just fine in K3G, in KKHH, he takes this to a whole separate stratosphere of irrationality. If American films capitalized on "the American dream" in films post 9-11, consider Karan Johar the Indian equalivalent.
  
  In short:
  KKHH revolves around the unrequited love Anjali Sharma (Kajol) has for Rahul Khanna (Shah Rukh Khan). Anjali and Rahul are best friends, and -- to Rahul -- that is the extent of the relationship. Rahul instead falls in love with Tina (Rani Mukherji) and the two of them marry. Dying from pregnancy complications, Tina asks Rahul that their daughter be named "Anjali" out of guilt/respect for his "best college friend." The second half of the story revolves around the daughter Anjali trying to re-unite the elder Anjali and Rahul, fulfilling Tina's wish for Anjali's love to be requited.
  
  
  Notice how it gets just a TAD convoluted? The "fairy tale" unnecessarily complicates itself. Not wanting to be controversial, we don't have Rahul leaving Tina, or Tina just dying -- we have this altruistic, angel-on-a-cloud Tina, who's final request is to hook up her husband with his college friend, because she felt bad. Or because "they had a love bond I couldn't share." Whatever. Like I said: it spins into another realm of ridiculousness. In Karan Johar's world, we have precocious children who are reading letters from the age of 1 (yes... 1 letter each birthday, and little Anjali receives the 8th on her 8th birthday), patriotic grannies, sexy Western desi girls that are good prayer-reciting "Hindustanis" at heart, and altrustic wives who are more than happy to have their child fix up their husbands with other women.
  
  Secondly, the movie goes to great lengths to show Anjali Sharma as the "girl next door" -- a down-to-earth, affable tomboy who doesn't work effortlessly to court boys or be the wilting flower like her other peers. But in the latter half of the film, Anjali becomes like all other good Indian girls -- she has long hair, wears cosmetics, adornes herself with plenty of jewelry, wears nothing but silk saris, is college educated (but with no job), and is (gasp!) getting married.
  
  Karan Johar strikes again!
  
  If the movie wanted to be a real fairy tale about "love is friendship" and give hope to those of us who have suffered from unrequited love (as we all have), don't make the dead wife a saint, don't gut your heroine of all personality, and please give the man some consequence for his actions. Rahul never liked Anjali throughout the entire film until he saw her in a silk sari with long hair and (of course) engaged to the hunky Aman (Salman Khan), and suddenly he changes his mind about that "plucky tomboy Anjali" and gets what he now wants. That's just gross.
  
  The film's best scenes are of Anjali and her heartbreak, but it is intercut with this camp and sexism that neuters the film. It should have been about re-uniting Anjali and Rahul, with Rahul realizing he didn't appreciate what he had until after a (failed) marriage, and Anjali realizing that she ultimately WAS the shining star BECAUSE she was different. Instead, the film taught me the lucky, charismatic college slacker can bag TWO hot women with almost no effort, and that you'll never get your true love unless the ghost of his gorgeous wife approves and you become like all the other fish in the Indian Ocean.
  
  Bah!
  
  ---
  Notes:
  
  1. Songs are okay -- not the best. "Yeh Ladka Hai Deewana" is the best, IMO, with "Koi Mil Gaya" and "Saajanji Ghar Aaye" rounding it up. The others are quite flat.
  
  2. Kajol and Rani are great in their roles. SRK is SRK, as always. Salman Khan is underused, and Farida Jalal is the "GO INDIAN VALUES" character (surprise).
  
  3. I want to go to that college. It was like Saved by the Bell, there was apparently no work to do, you talk about Romeo and Juliet, and you can still have a great job and house afterward. Look at Rahul.
  
  
• Kucch Kucch Hota Hai?
  By A1WUVAKJBYP61G on 2004-05-09
  This is a really dumb movie. A woman decides to die to concieve a child that would find her widower husband a long lost friend (on her 7th birthday) despite the fact that the husband obviously loved his wife more. So we have a little 7 year old brat in a country of 1 billion people, assuming that the long lost friend hasn't turned into a raving alcoholic or already gotten hitched, that's gotta find this person she's never met or heard talked about and somehow sneak into her life and then sneak her father into the same area and then hook them both up.... Why the hell couldn't the mom have just adopted when she knew pregnancy complications would result in her death? I dunno, in a country with loads of orphans I can't see any harm in taking one in... It would be contributing to society and sparing us from watching this pathetic movie. Way to go mum!
  
  
• Magnificent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  By A2ZOED1XWMTKXF on 2004-06-29
  Karen Johars first flim makes him aforce to be reckon with in the industury. Great proformence all around Shahrukh Khan at his finest. A must see!
  
  
• A Dumb Corny Over Rated Film
  By A18MBO1U4DPY20 on 2005-05-01
  The first half of this movie was good but the second half was over whiny. The director tried to make it look thunderous by bringing in Salman Khan in the stupidest role he's ever done. SRK like always is good in this film but his character is confused between being a good boy, a stud or a forgetful father. However that's one of the more understandable things.The kind of tinge of sweet satisfying yet irritating bollywood drama this film tries to create irritates me. Kajol's character is just plain stupid and the much desirable change in her is quite not forthcoming.
  
  Rani Mukherji is the strength of the film.There are a lot of irritating kids in this film.There was not scene in the second half where I felt the characters were crying in a justified way. IT's time Bollywood realises Farida Jalaal is a horrid actress.
  
  Strong Points,1st half , the college scenes,Rani Mukherji's charm
  
  Weak Points are Galore. It has a hard to believe over enthusiastic storyline. It's made in a way to achieve box office success. Now that would have been justified had I liked the film. It fails to deliver a valid tag line. The music is just horrible so the dance sequences don't matter.The college life displayed in this film is stupidly exaggerated to be approved by audiences abroad.
  
  This film tried to be a Dil To Paagal Hai with a difference. The better looking female actor is killed and the uglier one is made pretty in a few years. I'm not a difficult person to please but the nonsense live on this film makes me go irate.
  
  Anyhow,watch this only if you're over excited about seeing Salman Khan's 6 minute frog role.
  
  
• Love, Loss And Restoration ~ A Bollywood Tradition
  By A141HP4LYPWMSR on 2007-02-15
  Note: Hindi with English subtitles.
  
  `Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' is a wildly popular Bollywood film from '98 starring three of the most adored Hindi stars in the business, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukherjee. It also includes a small but important part played by the equally popular Salman Khan.
  
  Synopsis: There carefree college friends; Rahul (SR Khan), Anjali (Kajol) and Tina (Rani) unintentionally find themselves in a highly emotional love triangle. When Rahul and Tina become engaged Anjali leaves school and returns home never telling Rahul about her true feelings. When tragedy strikes in the marriage Rahul is left as a single parent to a young girl. Will fate arrange a chance meeting between Rahul and Anjali and if it does will romance spark where it wasn't before?
  
  This comedy/romance contains almost all of the usually expected Bollywood gimmicks and situations overtly structured to pull on the viewers emotional heartstrings. Also like the majority of Hindi films it has a lot of interspersed silliness and slapstick moments that this genre of cinema has long been known for. While I'm becoming more and more accustomed to this wacky aspect of Indian film, for me it tends to damage the overall emotional affect of the film. That fact is made more clearly in this film than most, especially by the one-on-one basketball sequence between Shah Rukh and Kajol.
  
  However all that aside. The music is infectious, Shah Rukh is at the top of his game, the girls are beautiful and there's no denying the wonderful talent and chemistry between these three superstars. Surprisingly, my favorite part of the film is the wedding dance at the end performed by Salman Khan. It's magnificient and worth the price of the DVD just for that one dance number.
  
  
• Rani or Kajol...who's more beautiful?
  By on 2005-04-12
  I would like to first say that the translation of this title into English is "Something is Happening", and indeed something does in this sweet movie that drove me, and every other viewer I know, to tears.
  
  The entire film is done in a few flashbacks. In the first flashback, a dying, stunningly batiful Rani Mukherjee hands over a small baby to her husband, asking her to name the baby Anjali, and giving him 8 letters, one for each of the child's birthdays.
  
  Flash forward. Young 8-year-old Anjali is reading her letter. Flash back, back to when her mother, Tina (rani), was a teenager at college, with her dad, Rahul (Shah Rukh. "and...Anjali"(kajol). Rahul + Anjali are best friends, but the arrival of Tina sends Rahul head over heels for her, while Anjali's heart is broken.She leaves college in a dramatic train scene.
  
  Flash forward to young Anjali reading the letter, and vowing to unite Rahul with his long lost best friend. Aw how cute! Highly impobable but cute. She manages to, depite Anjali's being engaged to Aman (Salman Khan, in his prime). The two are re-united and marry. Aman's a good sport about it, taking big Anjali to Rahul and making dead Tina happy and everyone else too.
  
  This was my introduction to Bolllywood and I was hooked. And I love Rani, and Kajol and SRK and Karan Johar and the whole genre.
  
  But...
  who s prettier Rani or Kajol?
  
  
• Bollywood's Best
  By on 2005-05-10
  (...) Because as everyone may know people in Pakistan/India hate all b movies! Mujse Dosti Karoge, Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham, Devdas, Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, Lagaan, Raja Hindustani, Main Hoon Na, Kyun Ho Ga Na, Veer Zaara, Kaal etc etc. But it's not what they think that counts. It's mostly North America & England.
  
  Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a very sweet romantic movie. It's a promise that you will cry more than 5 times during this movie. For someone who doesn't even like love stories (like SRK for instance, and my 19yr old brother) everyone will enjoy this movie despite how much they can't stand love movies.
  
  One of Bollywood's most memorable movies ever! Shahrukh Khan looked very good, Kajol looked cool at first and later looked stunning! Rani looked fabulous, also!
  
  The music and video's in this movie are the best of the best! The songs have a very catchy beat the lyrics are easy to memorize and not easy to forget! The dance's are very different and awesome.
  
  This movie is still being talked about, after all this time! Everyone loves it and I grantee (sp?) that you will too! Get this movie and regret nothing! Also I recommend you also buy the movies I listed above. Enjoy!
  
  (...)
  
  
• Foreign Movie Buff
  By A33QPQWAB7348M on 2006-06-02
  As a Puerto Rican and Colombian decendant, I love to watch foreign movies and one of my favorites is "KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI". I had to get it for myself. I seen this movie years ago when a coworker of mine lend me the movie on VHS tape. Now I wanted to get a copy of my own and I was glad to find it here. This movie made me laugh and cry. I watched it already 6 times since the dvd arrived by mail from India. How awesome is that?! My family is taking turns to watch the movie at home and would you believe my cranky 15 year-old nephew loved the movie. I'am looking forward to see more movies with the same actors. Oh! by the way! That actor Salman Khan is hot!
  
  
• Transcendent. A standout Bollywood tragicomic romance
  By A36DJJ4Q8WSWFM on 2006-11-27
  I really can't describe the plot of this movie with more detail than previous reviewers have done & I also don't have the understanding of Bollywood cinema to put Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in context of that tradition, so I just want to add a review that I really enjoyed watching this movie.
  I've read the reviews that say the first half of the film is a caricatured bright-colored facsimile of college life, but in my opinion the first half builds the foundation for the story arc; both sides of this story are different in tone & that adds complexity to the storyline. Regardless of the color schemes & costuming choices the first half develops the characters & their relationships, & fills in the backstory. And unlike some Bollywood musicals, the song & dance numbers advance the plot, something I'm used to seeing in American musicals.
  The second half is a sea change with more lilting melodic songs & echoed chords from the earlier songs that add complexity to the storyline, something else I enjoyed in 1940s & 50s American musicals & don't see in contemporary American movies. The bubbliness & youthful openness of the lead actors change, but also draws on the remembrance of their earlier relationship, as the actors become more subtly romantic & yearning in the second part of the movie. So in other words, if you're watching K2H2 for the first time, don't judge it by the first...forty minutes.
  Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol are standouts in their parts & make the story better than it otherwise would have been. Sparks fly from this strong pairing. It's fun to see the juxtaposition of their characters from the first & second half making the movie one that's fun to watch over again. I disliked most of the comic secondary characters, but enjoyed the editing that placed different scenes next to each other in an effective way. I appreciated that the plot pacing was fairly quick too, except for at the end.
  I admit I do like the makeover movies: Pretty Woman, etc., so that element also had something to do with how much I enjoyed this movie. I also usually enjoy flashback chapters for the historical depth it can add to a storyline, so high marks from me on that element too.
  Hollywood hasn't made many movies lately that interest me, so thanks Bollywood. I'm more than happy to give you my money instead. Other Bollywood movies I've enjoyed are Lagaan & the fusion movies Bride & Prejudice & Monsoon Wedding.
  
  
• Best film
  By on 2006-01-29
  This is a very nice film. It tells about a love that was broken by another love. Rani and Kajol make good actresses for this movie. Sharukh makes a very nice actor for this movie. The songs in the movie are very nice. I reccomend you seeing this.
  
  
• So....yes, I'd recommend it.
  By A2AZF47MSI6DIQ on 2006-05-12
  This wasn't immediately one of my favorite Bollywood flicks. I love Kajol and SRK together. But it was a little too 90's for me at first. (The clothes, people the clothes! Doesn't it make you laugh to think , we actually used to wear stuff like that? And yes, I realize in a few years, I'll probably be saying that about what I'm wearing now.) Anyway, the first half was a little hard for me, though it has some wonderful scenes. I like when SRK sneaks into Rani's bedroom, and when SRK and Kajol wish on a star together. And when SRK a.k.a. Rahul tells Kajol a.k.a. Anjali that he loves Rani a.k.a. Tina, well done! (Was that a little confusing to anyone else? And I wrote it!) But at the same time, I was rooting a bit too much for Anjali, and not enough for Tina that it made it hard to be even a little happy when they got together. Know what I mean? But I can understand, how Tina would want for Rahul to be happy when she was gone, and especially with Anjali whom she knew he already loved. I just wish she would have had the courage to tell him no before they got married and she died. And then he could have realized 'how wrong he was and discovered his true love for Ajali' like 8 years earlier. And we wouldn't have had to break poor Aman's heart too. And don't you think that Aman and Tina would have been a good pair? But too bad, she died. In the end I was very glad that Anjali got who she wanted the whole time, but yeah, I just sort of wanted to slap Rahul for being a little too spoilt.(I really hated the snapping scene.) He didn't really deserve what he got. But, the songs were great. Dancing was great. Especially the engagement dance. Hello, athletic! The little pavilion scene was very touching. I loved Anjali. This was the first real Bollywood movie that my little sister saw and she loved it. I probably would have liked it more if I hadn't seen DDLJ first, which seemed on the whole more complete to me. Still, good movie. Worth the time it takes to watch it, and that's saying something, as you well know if you've ever watched a Bollywood movie.
  
  
• "Love is friendship."
  By A2HVL790PBWYTU on 2008-04-04
  As wonderful as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (2DISC SET) is, I like this one even more. Shahrukh Khan and Kajol are the most popular romantic film couple Bollywood has seen in some time, and in 1998's KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, their fourth of five movies together (so far), their crackling chemistry is once again on vivid display. Whereas DDLJ portrays these two as basically college kids who fall in love, KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI moves them beyond their college years, and into adulthood and its burdens and responsibilities. As such, their romance here, when it finally blossoms, vibrates with a deeper resonance, a richer flavor. KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI is one of those rare forays into romantic escapism which actually renders you vulnerable, leaves you with a catch in the throat and a moist irritation in the eye. Hell, you might even start yearning (and these are just a guy's reactions; women are guaranteed to melt and bawl themselves silly).
  
  This one begins with a tragedy, with a beautiful young mother, Tina (Rani Mukerji), suffering fatal complications after giving birth to her baby daughter. As her life bleeds away, she writes eight letters and asks that a letter be doled out for each of her daughter's first eight birthdays. Her last request is for her husband, Rahul (Shahrukh Khan), to name their baby Anjali.
  
  Eight years later now. Rahul is a thriving businessman and a doting father. His daughter, Anjali, has just turned eight years old. Anjali dreams of becoming a famous VJ like Neelam, although she wants to be like her mother more. And because this is her eighth birthday, she receives the last of her mother's letters. In this final one, Tina at last tells her daughter the bittersweet story of her father and of Anjali's namesake, Anjali Sharma (Kajol).
  
  Tina reveals that, back in college, Rahul had been very popular and prone to chasing girls. Anjali Sharma was a feisty, tomboyish girl who relished schooling Rahul in basketball. Rahul and Anjali were best friends. But, then, the dynamics changed forever when Tina came to their college. Rahul began to ardently pursue Tina, even as Anjali suddenly realized that she was in love with Rahul. But even as Anjali came to tell Rahul of her feelings, it was already too late. A devastated Anjali decided to leave college, but not before Tina came to know of her feelings for Rahul.
  
  Now, in this eighth letter, Tina confesses that she feared she had broken up a remarkable friendship. She tells her daughter that her dream is for Rahul and Anjali to be reunited, in the hope that they may become more than friends.
  
  Naturally, this is easier said than done. Little Anjali has her work cut out for her, first with locating the vanished Anjali and then figuring out what to do when it's discovered that Anjali Sharma is very soon about to be married.
  
  Yup, it's that old tale again, done so many, many times before - the friends who turn into lovers. And, yet, here, the romance is developed so well, the love story unfolds so beautifully - the unrequited stuff, the anguished longing, the miracle of a second chance - that your emotional buttons can't help but be pushed. KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI will settle in your gut and linger in your soul, if there's even a smidgen of the romantic in you.
  
  I rank KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI right up there with DDLJ, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, and Namastey London DVD as one of the most unabashedly romantic Bollywood movies I've ever seen. KOFFEE WITH KARAN's Karan Johar wrote and directed this sentimental tearjerker, and, for a first time director, he did well enough that the film destroyed its competition at various Indian film award ceremonies.
  
  A paragraph now about Kajol. You can tout your Rani Mukerji or your Preity Zinta as currently the best actress in Bollywood. But I'll trump you with one name: Kajol. Kajol is THE actress of her generation. Films like DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE, Fanaa (2 Disc Set), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, and this one will certainly attest to this. In an interview, Shahrukh was quoted as saying that Kajol could make love to a cow on screen and make it look like chemistry. Yeah, she's that good. She's one of the most natural, most honest performers out there, simply with not a false move in her repertoire.
  
  And she really does have an uncommon chemistry with Shahrukh Khan, which allows them to effortlessly navigate from comedy to drama, from slapstick to tears. There are three highlight moments which tower over all the other highlight moments. There's the wrenching scene of Anjali about to declare her feelings to Rahul, and then Rahul unwittingly destroying her, which then leads directly to the song, so full of ache, "Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayee." There's Rahul and Anjali's soul-rending farewell as Anjali departs on her train. And, on a more hopeful theme, there is their charmingly awkward first encounter eight years later, as possibilities are kindled and dormant hearts reawaken.
  
  Shahrukh turns in a very good performance, sometimes hammy, sometimes heartbreaking. For me, his best moments come up at the train scene with Kajol. I don't count Shahrukh as my favorite Bollywood actor as yet, but he's climbing up steadily on my list (Main Hoon Na is one of my favorite films). And, anytime he's partnered with Kajol, definitely save me a seat. Rani Mukerji also shows off her skills, lovely and sophisticated in her role of Tina. She was still fairly new to the game when this film was made, but, boy, she oozed talent. The little girl (don't know her name) is also very good, but thankfully not too cute or precocious (often a kiss of death). She and Shahrukh have some good scenes together, the most memorable being the sequence with her on stage in a school contest. Oh, and Salman Khan is actually pretty decent here (even garnering the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actor).
  
  Doesn't often happen to me, in watching Bollywood, but the scenes leading to the Intermission actually left me with a sharp, gleeful twinge of anticipation. I just couldn't wait for Anjali's transformation from gawky tomboy to a very beautiful, very poised, and very feminine woman. An hour and a half into the film, and only halfway thru, and it's even still getting better. This is about as perfect as Bollywood can get.
  
  

• Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
• Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...
• Kuch Naa Kaho
• Chalte Chalte
• Devdas (2 Disc Set)