all of u who gave it low ratings, what is wrong with u? it is simply a story about the reality within a society, it is the truth, these things are happening every day yet we run away from the truth.

brilliant film, brilliant scenes, gr8 dialogues, fantastic acting and fabulous direction. im not an overkeen fan but i appreciate good cinema and this is brilliant cinema, bitter yet leaves an impact

shahrukh is wonderful. those who think that he went over the top, well it was his character! the only downfall of the movies is probably amitabh bachchan who did some overacting!

recommended to all who love international and hard hitting cinema!

Dear Karan,

When one goes for your movie, by now he knows what to expect. There are emotions and more emotions coming his way, vibrant and colourful songs with skimpy clad foreign models… good songs though, especially the title track… and the final tsunami of emotion to leave the handkerchief without a square dry inch. Those have been your success mantra till date, but please Karan, give us a break from your regular bandwagon at public expense.

Here's a story of Dev (Shah Rukh) and Maya (Rani Mukherjee). The movie starts out with these two strangers meeting on a bench where the would-be bride Maya is biding her time before tying the knot with childhood pal Rishi (Abhishek). Follows next is a dialogue where Dev raises a question: 'What if a person fell in love after marriage?' After uttering this portent line around which the movie revolves, our promising footballer, married to an ambitious Rhea (Preiti Zinta) is still on the high of getting his team to the next round on a penalty kick and being offered a $5 million contract, till he meets with an accident outside the bride's house. Sure comes across as a promising start. But the rest simply leaves an unfinished taste in the mouth.

The plot thickens as we cut across to the scenario after 4 years… Dev, the frustrated husband with a permanent limp living off his wife's earnings due to his accident injury; Maya a cold turkey in a marriage with Rishi that has borne neither kids nor mental and emotional satisfaction at her end.

So when Dev and Maya meet again, an extra marital affair is on the cards with Amitabh Bachchan as playboy Sam dropping in between scenes to add a shot of adrenaline to dull proceedings and remind the audience of his presence in the script as Dad for Rishi and foster Dad for Maya.

The movie drags on then for its entire runtime of close to three and half hours. However on the positive side the movie showcases: 1)The director's courage to deal with a theme on an extra marital affair for a traditional mindset back home. 2)Good performances by Amitabh, Rani, Preity, Kiron Kher (playing Mom for Dev), and Abhishek who thrives in his role of a faithful and caring husband. He sure has earned his award for 'Best Supporting Actor.' Purely for the performances extracted, this movie gets a 6 out of 10 from me. 3)Handling with flair the emotive moments. 4)Catchy musical numbers especially the title track that should make for good listening while driving down in your car.

Alas, the negatives outweigh the positives, them namely being:

1)A plot that tastes like gum after losing its flavour in the first 20 minutes but one is forced to chew on it for the next 3 hours. 2)Shahrukh who is the main actor but gets on the viewers nerve with an extra effort at his end which an actor of his talent does not require. 3)We could do without your clichés: including your lucky mascot Kajol for a 10 sec cameo. That has become quite commonplace. Now you add insult to injury by giving a cameo to John Abraham and Arjun Rampal. -Getting Amitabh again to lie down on the hospital bed in a critical condition; -Making Abhishek wear the famous lapel coat worn by his dad Amitabh for the movie Silsila and trying to titillate an educated movie audience of the 80s. -Your camera focus which should start showing something else besides Rani's eyes, Preiti's dimples and exhibiting your preference for mini skirts, chiffon saris and miniscule cholis. 4)Please Karan … Give us a break! Why do you have to include these phirang models dressed to the bare minimum in all your dance and party songs? We Indians are not that starved after the adequate doses you and your ilk have fed us over the past. 5)How hypocritical to portray Amitabh as a flamboyant playboy and then have him deliver a speech on the virtues of a good marriage and his love for his expired wife. 6)Making a movie that caters more for an urban educated class that visits the multiplexes but would leave the masses at towns and villages with a movie that is hard to identify with.

Well Karan, perhaps you are under the impression that you can use all your usual ingredients and come up with a winner. You sure do deserve credit for coming up once again with a theme that is different for Indian cinema since you talk of falling in love after marriage.

But why give it a 'Tea Break Treatment' while shooting for 'Koffee with Karan.'

Yours faithfully, A Disappointed Fan.

On the very outset, whether it be all the publicity, interviews, to some degree even the music (mitwaa in particular), we have been well informed that this film is a love story about 2 people which is set outside the realms of their own marriages & this in itself is a daring stride on the producers part.

How so? You might ask. Well, partially it burns down to films being a HUGE part of people's lives in the Indian culture. If this is your first experience of Bollywood I should probably point out that in the Indian film industry we have lagged behind the rest of the world, for one reason only that I can put a finger on, and it has nothing to do with the song-and-dance as many may suggest, but it is the fact that they have been aimed specifically at the Indian audience for decades. Perhaps it shouldn't be, but it is considered a benchmark within Indians even to the extent of it being used as a tool by the elder generation to give guidance & set morals in their children, almost like the way many of us from early childhood are taught about God & religion.

Easily done, as the people of India are surrounded by our films far more than they are here in the UK, it is almost frowned upon if you haven't seen the latest Bollywood blockbuster on the weekend of its release. The people are more in touch with the latest & greatest in films than they are in the politics of the country, in fact politics probably comes 3rd place after Films & Cricket. An example is probably if you asked a kid who the Prime Minister of the country was they are less likely to know than who Shah Rukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan is.

Plot Summary: KANK narrates the story of two families. There are the Sarans: Dev, his wife Rhea, their son Arjun - played by Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and child artiste Ahsaas Channa respectively, & there are the Talwars: Rishi, his wife Maya & his father Samarjit (though after watching the film you're more likely to remember him as Sexy Sam) - played by Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherji & Dr. Amitabh Bachchan respectively. Both marriages are steadily moving forward but clearly unstable from the very moment we meet the characters. Dev & Maya's paths cross and they find friends in each other when they realise & find a little comfort in sharing thoughts with each other as they are both in the same situation of weak on the verge of breaking marriages. Through many a cup of coffee** and conversation regarding their respective marriages, they find themselves falling for each other. The crux of the story is how the two & their families deal with this (once they admit it to themselves & each other). A simple story, a concept far from novel you might think, & not wrongly, but as the case always is with Karan Johar films (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham & Kal Ho Naa Ho), its the way he portrays the characters, the way the plots & subplots & climax are unveiled upon the silver screen that makes the film far more than the on paper, simple, straight out of life stories.

Music: The 60's theme "Rock n Roll, Soniye", The EuroVision-like "Where's the party tonight?", or typical mushy variety "Tumhi Dekho Na" the choreography of Farah Khan deserves all the praise it gets as it simply can't be faulted. The above songs I found do take a little getting used to & can sound a tad cheesy but you can't help but tap your feet to them by the end.

A notch above the rest however are definitely the songs "Mitwaa" which actually does convince you that these two (SRK & Rani) are slowly falling for each other, and the title song "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" is simply beautiful, pleasant on the ears & conveys the pain of separation & the time that passes through the change in seasons superbly.

Overall Impressions: A top notch film from the writing, performance and execution point of view. It is stylish, has substance, has kept the conventional modes of entertainment value for the typical audience in mind (Light hearted moments, Song-n-Dance, Lavish costumes, A-list actors) but at the same time has daringly broken the conventions in content, handling a sensitive subject with élan & total dignity, which will certainly earn it a lot of respect points. The screenplay balances the two extremes of sweet light moments and sour showers of emotion with a familiar breeze. The relationship between the couples or even those between the parents and children are handled with respect. If there are moments that move you to tears, there are ample moments that bring a smile to your face too. The film is quite talky, but in a smart way. You never feel that the characters are talking to hear their own words or to fill up screen time. Definitely worth a watch for the overall sweet-n-sour flavour you get from a typical chick flick. From the people that do them best, you can't really go wrong, with a sharp twist, a hidden message passed subtly through the first line in the theatrical trailer and the final line in the film: "The foundation of a marriage should be an unconditional love for your partner & nothing else, for if the foundation is flawed then relationships break"