I rewatched Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and...

watching it at 5 years old wasn't a good idea.

Hey everyone! I’m trying out something new with a ‘Rewatch Series’ where I rewatch movies from my childhood and view them with adult eyes. I hope you enjoy this first edition.

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There’s a story my older sister loves to tell. When I was about 5 or 6 years old, she walked into the parlour and found me alone, crying my eyes out as Kal Ho Naa Ho played on the TV. When it comes to films and books, it doesn’t take much for my eyes to fill with tears. For anyone familiar with Bollywood films, you’d know that Kal Ho Naa Ho is the one where Shah Rukh Khan’s character dies (apologies for the spoiler). And that’s what made everything worse for 5/6-year-old me because, at that time, Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) was the love of my life.

I haven’t watched Kal Ho Naa Ho since that time, but I clearly remember the scene where he died. It was a party and everyone was dancing. Suddenly, everything played out in slow motion and no one noticed as he fell to the floor, clutching his chest as his heart gave up on him. It’s etched in my memory and hearing the opening tune and lyrics of the song, Kal Ho Naa Ho, takes me back and brings tears to my eyes. Music is such a powerful thing.

I started watching Bollywood films too young — the same way I watched Twilight and Vampire Diaries too young — but when I spotted SRK, I unabashedly claimed him as mine. I’m unsure what exactly caught little Fatima’s eye, but I assume it’s because he was always the lead and the charisma SRK exudes is undeniable.

When I think of Bollywood, I think of my childhood infatuation with SRK, being wholly captivated by the plots of the films which were always so dramatic and gisting my friend in Primary 2 about them.

Bollywood films phased out of my life as I got older and Disney occupied most of my media consumption. But I remember watching 3 Idiots and Like Stars on Earth — which was a lovely movie I should rewatch — as a teenager.

And although their films can be lengthy and the singing and dancing can get a bit too long or be completely unnecessary, I appreciate their stories.

K3G

The 2001 film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G), which means ‘sometimes happiness and sometimes sorrow’, was one of the movies I remember watching as a child. It had SRK which means it was high on my list. Recently, I decided to rewatch it to view it with adult eyes.

For the Bollywood film novices, K3G is known as one of the classics for a couple of reasons. First, it was a movie that brought together six Bollywood mega stars from three generations: Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan (the top couple of the 90s), the former love of my life, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor. These are easily recognisable names in the Bollywood scene and it was such a big deal then. The movie became a blockbuster that broke the box office records and it was also one of the most expensive movies of the time which showed in the production quality as well as the outfits, music and choreography. A lot of work was put into it.

From L-R: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, and Hrithik Roshan

Plot

The ‘tagline’ of the family drama is ‘It’s all about loving your parents’. Filial affection and duty are major themes in this movie, almost scarily so, and it kind of revolves around it.

Meet the Raichands, an affluent family that lives in an unbelievable castle-type edifice. Amitabh Bachchan plays Yash, the domineering but ‘loving’ patriarch of the family and his wife, Jaya Bachchan plays Yash’s wife, Nandini, the caring and demure spouse. Yash and Nandini have two sons: Rahul, played by SRK, and Rohan, whose older self is played by Hrithik Roshan.

When Rahul returns to India from England after completing his MBA, his mother is elated to have him back — she literally senses it when his feet touch the ground — and his father is ready to incorporate him into the family business. But that’s not the only plan Yash has for Rahul.

Enter Naina, Rahul’s beautiful childhood friend who Yash loves so much, a bit too much if you ask me. Yash believes she will make the perfect daughter-in-law and also believes that the choice of a spouse for Rahul is up to him and not Rahul.

Unbeknownst to Yash, Rahul meets Anjali, played by Kajol. Anjali is the niece of the family’s nanny, Daijaan, and a girl from Chandni Chowk, the poorer part of town. After minimal encounters, Rahul falls in love with Anjali. Obviously, Yash is vehemently against this relationship and when Rahul goes against his orders and marries Anjali, he disowns Rahul, bringing up the fact that he isn’t his ‘blood’ because he was adopted.

Rahul, Anjali, Daijaan, and Pooja — Anjali’s little sister played by Kareena Kapoor, move to London. The movie begins ten years later when Rohan finds out the reason his older brother left home and the entire story of the forbidden marriage. Rohan then goes on a self-imposed journey to find Rahul and his family and bring them back home, mending the broken family.

Rohan goes to London and somehow ends up in the same university as Pooja, who is now known as Poo and speaks a lot more English, and he reveals his identity and tells her his plan. Poo convinces Rahul to allow Rohan to live with them, saying he’s her friend’s brother. Rohan starts executing his plan with very little tact and I’m sure you know how it goes.

What I liked

Bollywood films tend to be lengthy, K3G was a good 3 hours and 29 minutes, but I love how dramatic they can be and this wasn’t an exception. The story itself was captivating because there was so much on the line — Rahul and Anjali’s love vs filial duty. Another thing I liked and found so hilarious was the thunder sound effects they included in certain scenes like when a character said something that shouldn’t have been said or when there was already so much tension in the room and what the character says or does escalates it.

There’s a lot of singing—that’s another Bollywood trademark—and it can get a bit annoying. But as someone who isn’t a fan of musicals (aside from High School Musical and Camp Rock, haha) and hates it when they’re having a conversation and then burst into song, I appreciated that they didn’t do that in the movie. The singing and dancing is more like a planned performance and most times, you see it coming.

While the music and dance numbers can get tiring because of how often they occur (they were not less than 7 performances) and how long they last, I had to forward through some of them, I have to shout out my top three numbers that I watched from start to finish and actually enjoyed:

1. Say “Shava Shava”: This was the second performance and my favourite. It occurs during Yash’s and Anjali’s father’s birthday — they are birthday mates. This particular number went back and forth between the two families, juxtaposing each family’s economic and social standing. Yash’s birthday bash was extravagant: the venue was elegant, the men were decked in suits and the women wore expensive saris. While Anjali’s father’s party was smaller and more colourful with all the guests wearing modest traditional Indian outfits. Even the way they danced was different with the dancing at Anjali’s father’s party being more vigorous and energetic. At Yash’s party, they were doing rich people’s dance.

2. Bole Chudiyan: This was much later in the film and Pooja sang this song for Rohan. The song was beautiful even with how high pitched they always make the women’s voices, the dancing was hypnotic and Pooja’s outfit>>>

3. Yeh Ladka Hai Allah: This was performed by Rahul and Anjali when they basically hijacked Anjali’s cousin’s wedding.

A comment on YT that says exactly what I was saying about this song

Although I had to skip through this because of how long it was, Suraj Hua Maddham was such a beautiful song and I loved Sonu Nigam’s voice. However, 5-year-old me definitely should not have been watching SRK and Kajol caress and fondle each other 💀

Lastly, I can’t deny that the acting in K3G is well done. You feel the emotions through the screen. They cried so much — way too much, literally in about 25 different scenes. I counted — and that triggered my tear ducts.

Things that made me go hmm…

Although K3G is a popular Bollywood film and I’ve said all I’ve said about it so far, if we’re being realistic about the ideas and attitudes it promotes and normalises, it does a really shitty job.

First, the fat-shaming. Little Rohan is a chubby little last born and they make multiple references to his weight. There’s a scene where his grandmother seized the snack in his hand and made a gesture that African aunties do — she puffed her cheeks and raised her arms — a wordless reference to his weight, and walks away with the confiscated item. His older brother Rahul constantly calls him ‘fatty’ as he complains that their mother is filling Rohan up with food. When Rahul leaves, one of his last words to little Rohan is ‘lose some weight’ with a light-hearted smile on his face. It’s not surprising that chubby little Rohan grows up to become Hrithik Roshan with his long legs, strong jawline and toned muscles as a sort of redemption.

Then I can’t forget to mention how 10 years later in London, Rahul constantly complains about how little clothes Pooja wears. You know, as the patriarch of the family, he has to make sure the women dress modestly :\. I love that Pooja never gave in to his demands, but down the line, as she spends more time with Rohan, we see her becoming more ‘modest’ as if all she needed was the right man to ‘tame her’. 

Rohan and Rahul making a 'funny joke' about Pooja

Now, let’s look at Yash, Amitabh Bachchan’s character. There’s so much to say about him. He claims to love his son, but all it took for him to cut Rahul off was marrying a woman he didn’t approve of. So much for unconditional love. I can’t get over how he treated his wife, Nandini. Anytime she tried to have a conversation with him where she voiced her opposing views on an issue — like when Yash basically said children are too dumb to choose their spouse themselves (I’m paraphrasing) and Nandini tried to tell him times had changed and children should make their choice themselves — he dismissed her and silenced her with a ‘Bas!’ which is Hindi for Enough/ stop. He always said to her, ‘I said it, didn’t I? That’s it.’ You can imagine my joy when after 10 years, she finally spoke her mind and when he tried to reply, she did the same to him. Bas!

Nandini giving him a taste of his own medicine and Yash's stunned face

I found the loyalty and respect for parents exaggerated. When they performed Say “Shava Shava” at Yash’s birthday party, Rahul sings to his parents (well, lip-syncs): May my last breath be at your feet, May my love for you surpass that of the lord and may I die at your feet. Weird. Even when Yash’s stubbornness led him to disown and estrange his son for 10 years, when they finally meet again, Yash says to Rahul, ‘Did I have to call you back? Am I not the elder?’ Like that fact absolves him of everything and Rahul, the child, was responsible for everything that happened. They made the title of parent or elder seem so reverential and unassailable. Like they aren’t humans capable of mistakes.

These were some of the major things that made me go hmm. Of course other things like the size of the Raichand house which is basically a castle and even Rahul and Anjali’s home in London were both questionable and there are way more things I can’t recall now.

The Raichand Home 😭

My verdict:

Although realistically, I wouldn’t necessarily tag it as a ‘great!’ movie or go around preaching the gospel of K3G, I will definitely be rewatching. Aside from the nostalgia, which I can’t deny plays a huge role — it’s comforting to watch it and remember childhood days — K3G is captivating enough to get lost in and the cringe levels are both sufficient and bearable. I also have to admit that I like some of the music and dance numbers.

Have you watched K3G before? What are your thoughts? If you haven’t, will you check K3G out? (It’s on Netflix) Do you have any Bollywood faves? Reply to this email or comment to let me know your thoughts :)