Dev Saran [Shahrukh Khan], a successful football player, is married to Rhea [Preity Zinta], his college friend and a hard-working woman who has a high-flying job with a fashion-magazine company. They have a son named Arjun. Reserved schoolteacher Maya [Rani Mukherjee] is about to marry her childhood friend Rishi Talwar [Abhishek Bachchan]. Samarjit a.k.a "Sexy Sam" [Amitabh Bachchan] is Rishis dad, a wealthy, bachelor, and Kamaljit [Kirron Kher] is the cheerful, peppy mother to Dev. Dev happens to meet Maya right before her wedding, and despite being strangers, they connect instantly. The connection between the two remains a glowing spark that re-ignites when they meet four years later. Only minutes after meeting Maya, Dev, who had signed a contract for $5 million to play professional football, is hit by a car- an accident that leaves him crippled and ends his football career. Rhea becomes wealthy and successful and begins earning money for the family, leaving Dev embittered at his own failure and angry that he cannot support his family. When Maya meets Dev the next time, he is bitter - his failed career and failing marriage are festering wounds to which his wife Rheas professional success acts as rubbing salt. In the Talwar home, things are no better; Maya still does not feel any romantic love for Rishi and is guilty for her inability to have children. thumb Dev and Maya realize that their situations are similar and decide to help each other repair their breaking marriages. Things do not work quite as expected however, and they become more and more drawn to each other. At the same time, Rishi and Rhea are working to keep their marriages afloat and are willing to see hope in even the smallest, most innocuous signs from their spouses. However, their efforts are insignificant in the face of Maya and Devs intense unhappiness in their marriages and their growing feelings for each other. Dev and Maya give in to a dreamy, coffee-drenched romance and realize they have fallen in love. However, due to a series of misunderstandings, Rhea and Rishi think that their spouses really love them and start to believe that they can make their marriages work. But after an incident in which the two of them fake feelings for their spouses in order to make each other jealous, Dev and Maya start to feel like they are cheating on each other with their own spouses. This realization brings them to a dramatic point of no return, and they end up sleeping together. Shortly afterward, they are caught in an embrace outside the train station by Sam and Kamaljit. Sam, having lived the good life for a long time, ultimately has to bear the punishment of all his excesses. He has a fatal heart attack and as he lies on his death bed, he gives Maya some unconventional advice: he tells her to leave his son Rishi since neither of them are happy in their marriage. thumb Things come to a head and Dev and Maya decide to leave each other and return to their spouses. But this reunion will not be without honesty, as they come clean and confess their extramarital affair. Both Rishi and Rhea decide that enough is enough and end the marriages. However, Maya and Dev each assume that the other has patched things up with their spouse; they speak on the phone and lie to each other, saying that all is well in their marriages. Three years later, Rishi goes to meet Maya and invites her to his wedding. There, Rhea sees Maya for the first time in three years and realizes that Maya and Rishi were not together as she thought. The news that Dev is still alone, combined with some prodding from Rishi and Rhea, convinces Maya to run after Dev. Dev is about to catch a train to Canada when he sees Maya. He hides from her because he had told Maya earlier that he was happy with Rhea and he thinks that she is happily married to Rishi. However, Maya finds him in his seat and he uses the emergency brakes to get out to meet her. Realising how alone the two of them have been, Dev proposes to Maya and she accepts.

See also

* List of highest-grossing Bollywood films * List of films set in New York City

Production

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was directed and written by Karan Johar who collaborated with Shibani Bathija to write the actual screenplay, and Niranjan Iyengar produced the dialogue. Produced by Dharma Productions, the soundtrack to the film was performed by the musical trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar. Farah Khan was brought in to organize the choreographical aspects of the film, with costume designer Manish Malhotra, production designer Sharmishta Roy and MAC cosmetics all playing a role in production. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is set in New York City, while many of the scenes were filmed nearby in East Hartford and New Haven in Connecticut. The soccer game scene was filmed at Rentschler Field, the home of the UConn Huskies football team. In several scenes, a light UConn can be seen on the field. The majority of the Grand Central Station scenes were actually filmed at New Havens Union Station and Philadelphias 30th Street Station. It was filmed over a 90 day shooting period in the USA but a few scenes were shot on 4 large sets in Mumbais studios. Like previous Karan Johar movies [Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kal Ho Na Ho], Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna has a four-word title that starts with K. The screenplay was co-written with Shibani Bathija. Kajol was initially offered the role of Maya Talwar. When she refused, the role was passed on to her cousin Rani Mukerji, who was supposed to play Preity Zintas part. However, Kajol made a guest appearance in the song "Rock N Roll Soniye." Ritesh Deshmukh also had a guest appearance in the film, but his scene was cut during the editing process.

Release

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, with a multi-star cast, premiered on 12 August 2006 and saw a record opening at many of the cities in India and the film generated Rs 60 crore [Rs 600 million] in the first week itself. However in India interest rapidly waned after the first week, falling alarmingly from the second week . Currently, it is Johars lowest-grossing film according to net collections, even if unadjusted for inflation. However, whilst the commercial success of the film was shortly lived at a domestic level, it was a major success in the overseas market. The film emerged to become the highest grosser worldwide for an Indian film, opening in at least 1,200 screens worldwide and surpassing Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghams five year old record. The film opened strongly in the United States and the United Kingdom with first weekend grosses of $1.3 million in the U.S. [from 64 prints] and $1.4 million [£750,000] in the U.K respectively In total Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna collected $3,275,444 USD in United States [as of 25 September 2006] while in UK it netted over $8,000,000. In the US, one factor contributing to its success was the fact it debuted in 64 theatres, unusually high for a Bollywood film in cities with lower Indian populations such as Miami, Tampa, and Raleigh as well. According to the Internet Movie Database [IMDb], the Motion Picture Association of America [MPAA] originally gave the film an R rating because of language and some sexual content. It was re-rated PG-13 on appeal.

Soundtrack

The music of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was launched in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2006 and was officially released in India on 16 June 2006 along with a grand music launch at the IIFA Awards function in Dubai.

Track #	Song	Singer[s]	Duration	Picturised on
1	Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna	Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik	8.03	Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan
2	Mitwa	Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, Caralisa	6.22	Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji
3	Wheres The Party Tonight	Shaan, Vasundhara Das, Loy Mendonsa, Shankar Mahadevan	6.18	Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, John Abraham.
4	Tumhi Dekho Naa	Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik	5.47	Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji
5	Mitwa Revisited	Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, Caralisa	5.32	[Remixed version of Mitwa]
6	Rock N Roll Soniye	Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, Mahalaxmi Iyer	5.41	Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Kajol
7	Farewell Trance	Shweta Pandit, Caralisa	5.44	[Instrumental with vocals]

Critical reception

= On its release the film received generally mixed reviews. Film critic Taran Adarsh described the subject matter of the film as a delicate one which could have easily been disastrous, and praised the way in which director Karans boldly constructed the film, citing it has his finest work to date. Adarsh approved in particular of the script and the devices the director incorporated to contrast emotions between scenes, remarking that, "the screenplay balances the two extremes; light moments and dollops of emotions with amazing ease". The individual cast performances were also praised by Adarsh, who commented on the effectiveness of the casting and the interaction of the actors. Derek Elley of Variety also praised the diversity of emotions displayed by the cast, remarking that, "scripter Shibani Bathija never lets her characters inhabit a secure emotional place for very long, and impediments to happiness come from their own weaknesses rather than social constraints or plot-generated misunderstandings". Elley noted Amitabh Bacchans performance as an ageing lothario and praised Preity Zinta as "stepping far beyond her makeup". thumb Critics such as Rachel Fernandes of Bollywoodmantra.com also praised the soundness of the script and the cinematography of the film and the way in which Anil Mehta took full advantage of the location in New York City and uses the skyscrapers and parks in various points in the film to accommodate the changing emotional balance in the dialogue. Fernandes described the music and the choreography in the film as refreshing but criticised the length of the film and certain scenes which she believed were not very convincing to the audience. She highlighted the scene where Shahrukh and Rani meet each other after their initial meeting in particular, commenting that, "theres too much of weird drama of the black beast which doesn''t quite fit in". Raja Sen of rediff.com was particularly critical of the film, also expressing dissatisfaction with the length of the film. Sen, after viewing the film, remarked, "I feel older. A showing of Karan Johars mammoth 22-reel Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna has left me unbelievably exhausted. I walked out of the hall feeling my cheeks for stubble, wondering if my clothes are suddenly dated and my hairs grey. Ive lost a sizeable chunk of my life, and you will too". Unlike other critics he identified flaws in the script and criticized the strength of characters in the film saying "The characters are cardboard, the setting is glitzy, the songs are tiresome, and the story oscillates between high melodrama and slapstick hilarity, going nowhere. Rarely has a weak script relied so completely on pretty people with big names to carry every line through". In the United States the film received a number of generally positive reviews. Critics such as Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times emphasised the larger than life nature of the film, remarking that, "It is full of big Bollywood stars and outsized everything: the rainstorms are a little rainier than real life; the wind machines are cranked up an extra notch; the close-ups get closer and linger longer than usual; the coincidences that drive the plot are a little more numerous and unlikely than normal screenwriting allows". He praised the humor in the script and the directors comic timing in certain scenes such as the childrens soccer match, the bed store, and at the opera.

Awards

= Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna received a number of awards and a high number of nominations. At the Filmfare Awards in 2007, Abhishek Bachchan won the Best Supporting Actor award. The film was nominated for 10 other awards, including Filmfare Best Film Award, Best Director [Karan Johar], Best Actor [Shahrukh Khan], Best Actress [Rani Mukerji], Best Supporting Actor [Amitabh Bachchan], Best Supporting Actress [Preity Zinta], Best Music Director [Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy], Best Lyrics [Javed Akhtar for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"] Best Male Playback [Sonu Nigam for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"] and Best Female Playback [Alka Yagnik for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"] At the Global Indian Film Awards in 2006, the film won two awards, with Abhishek Bachchan garnering an award for Best Supporting Actor and Alka Yagnik winning Best Female Playback for the song "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna". The film was nominated for 9 other awards including Best Film, Best Actor [Shahrukh Khan], Best Actress [Rani Mukerji], Best Supporting Actor [Amitabh Bachchan], Best Supporting Actress [Preity Zinta], Best Music Director [Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy] Best Male Playback [Shafqat Amanat Ali for "Mitwa" and Sonu Nigam for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"] and Best Choreographer [Farah Khan for "Wheres The Party Tonight"] At the IIFA Awards in 2007, Rani Mukerji won the IIFA Best Actress Award. The film was nominated for 8 other awards including Best Movie, Best Director [Karan Johar], Best Actor [Shahrukh Khan], Best Supporting Actor [Abhishek Bachchan], Best Music Director [Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy], Best Lyricist [Javed Akhtar for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"], Best Male Playback [Sonu Nigam for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"] and Best Female Playback [Alka Yagnik for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"] At the Stardust Awards in 2007, Abhishek Bachchan won a further award for Best Supporting Actor and the film was nominated for four other awards including the Stardust Dream Director Award [Karan Johar], Star of the Year - Male [Shahrukh Khan], Star of the Year - Female [Rani Mukerji] and Preity Zinta receiving a Best Supporting Actress nomination. Zinta won the award in this category at the AIFA Awards, with Abhishek Bachan scooping another award for Best Supporting Actor and Javed Akhtar winning the award for Best Lyricist for Mitwa. At the Star Screen Awards in 2007, Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukerji won the Star Screen Award Jodi No. 1 whilst Amitabh Bachchan received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor