Disclaimer: KABHI KHUSHI KABHIE GHAM has more drama per minute than I have ever seen in my life, and that is saying something since we just had my sister’s wedding.
The plot revolves around the Raichand family - who are filthy rich and literally live in a castle.
We have Daddy Raichand- the epitome of an entitled and patriarchal Indian man. I mean honestly, the movie never reveals what he actually does for a living (I may have missed it) but he does ride in a chopper. Then there is his wife Nandini- the adarsh bahu, and their two sons Rahul and Rohan.
The film begins at Rohan’s boarding school, where he scores a winning six and then boasts about it to his dad, sliding in a comment about his good looks. I mean I would disagree but Hrithik Roshan is gorgeous as hell.
Now, Rohan goes to Haridwar to meet his (seemingly immortal) Dadi and Naani, and there he ‘accidentally’ overhears both of them spilling all the deep, dark family secrets. Seeing no other choice, they begin telling him the whole story, starting with that his brother Rahul was actually adopted.
We travel back 10 years where we see the Raichand house, I’m sorry, Raichand castle, all decorated for Diwali. Nandini’s spidey senses spring to life when she ‘feels’ Rahul has arrived. (I loved the scene with the dhol beats) The small scenes in between make them appear to be a normal family with the boys bantering, the mother laughing and their father being a… well a stuck-up dick sometimes.
Kajol, aka Anjali’s entry is as vibrant as her personality. She is seen dancing with a group of strangers in the middle of Chandni Chowk. At the same time, Rahul, who came to see Daijaan, sees her and its love at first site. There’s the high-pitched meet-cute and then the romance number that went on to become wildly popular- ‘suraj hua madham’. While the song itself is amazing, watching it is just plain uncomfortable with SRK continuously sniffing Kajol’s neck.
While the love birds are flitting between desert and snow, Daddy Raichand decides that Naina (Rani Mukherjee) will be Raichand family’s bahu. At this point I became sure that he wanted to marry Naina more than his son.
However, his deeply ingrained parampara and partishtha are shattered when Rahul returns home having married Anjali after the death of her father. He basically calls his son’s wife scum and kicks them out.
Back to the present, Rohan, now knowing the entire story, vows to bring his family back together. He lies to his father about another bout of parampara to get an MBA and jets off to London to find his brother.
Rahul is now living happily with his little family. He has his wife, his kid, Daijaan and then finally Pooja, who deserves a mention of her own.
The character is so iconic in so many ways. Pooja aka Poo, is the bomb girl whose confidence we are all basically dying for in our introverted and anxiety ridden states. She goes to college and meets Rohan, initially unable to recognize him, given that ‘Laddoo’ lost all his weight and turned into a handsome hunk. There is a whole song following which he recites the ‘chandu ke chacha’ twister and she realises who it is.
In order to get close to his brother, Rohan consorts with Pooja and comes to live with Rahul’s family under a different identity. Now, I agree Rohan transformed from a heavy kid to this muscly hunk, but who the fuck doesn’t recognize their own brother? Anyway, Rohan bonds with the family, and simultaneously flirts around with Pooja, which we all know will end up with them getting married. We have the ‘bole chudiyan’ song which I don’t think anyone could hate on.
The family eventually ends up finding out who he really is- Daijaan by his inability to tie his shoes and his brother by a short, nostalgic speech. Rahul encourages his brother to go back home, but Rohan, intent on uniting his family, sets us a not-so-clever ruse, and gets his parents to visit him in London. He asks them to meet up at a mall, where once again Nandini’s spidey senses jump around Rahul’s presence.
While the family unites, Raichand Sr. is adamant on his parampara, his larger-than-life ego and worldly izzat, and smacks the shit out of his younger son too. But Rahul returns home when Daadi passes away, and together the three men cremate her. Raichand Sr. has an emotional reunion with his lost son, and begs for his forgiveness.
In the end, the family reunites and the celebration comes in the form of Rohan and Pooja’s wedding and the subsequent happy ending.
Honestly, the ensemble cast and their excellent performances made this film the commercially successful masterpiece that it is. Combine that with the background score and the gorgeous sets, and you can almost ignore the underlying feeling of Anjali and Pooja being high on cocaine. The only toxic character in the movie, in my opinion was Daddy Raichand, and even he redeems himself by the end.
The movie is a whole ass vibe. And if you haven’t watched it yet then
*clears throat* *drum rolls*
What are you waiting for? Christmas?
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