Film: Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Oh my, this was good. I'm going to quickly get the technicals out of the way first though.

KANK has been beautifully shot and directed by Johar. I don't have many qualms with the script either; it was a bit disconnected and forced at times, but not often enough to be a problem. The laughs are universally funny, but the film does get a bit risque at times - or at least that's what my friend thought when she had to leave the screen for a particular scene (her mum was with us, bless).

The acting was wonderful too. Shahrukh Khan (looking old), Preity Zinta (swoon), Rani Mukherjee and Abhishek Bachchan (swoo.. erm, nevermind) all did their roles justice, with Mukherjee clearly the weakest of the four. Amitabh played a superbly promiscuous father to his real life son's character and added much to the film. EDIT: Reading back I didn't really say how impressive I thought Abhishek was. I've been rating him for a while, but his efforts in this film kinda prove he's no longer living off his dad's legend status. I'll even say that he's one of my favourite actors (and if not, the most favourite) in Bollywood at the moment.

Music: admittedly I did kinda slate the soundtrack around a month ago when I first heard it, but sitting in a context it's now much better. Tumhi Dekho Naa is still good with the title track now joining in its melancholy. Where's The Party Tonight, Rock N Roll Soniye and Mitwa are just poptastic.

What about the film as a whole though? Well, tackling a very real concept, KANK always had an excellent starting premise. It doesn't cop out either, and manages to deal with infidelity with respect and class and without being patronising or judgmental (although I do have some reservations about the ending).

There are no morals to learn here and no lectures dished about what is good or bad. No blame is dished out and there are no bad guys. In fact, like the tagline suggests it really is a film about relationships rather than any specific extra marital affair.

The subject matter was always going to be ambitious and risky but the film handles it with apparent ease resulting in a bit of a dual personality - KANK ends up being both real and a fairy tale at the same time.

So yes, KANK is classic Bollywood magic. In fact, it's the best example of Bollywood I've seen since KHNH, and in my mind lies with all the modern greats. It manages to provide all the highs the lows we demand from the genre without pretentiously trying to be something its not.

Not to be missed. And no, I didn't cry this time.