This will most likely be the first in a series. This post was originally going to be a set of one-line bullet point confessions by me of my unpopular opinions about several different movies, but once I got started on one movie, I couldn't stop. Man, this article wrote itself! Stay tuned for more!
Confession: I didn't really like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) all that much. I really want to have liked it, I do, I do! But my delicate fashion sensibilities* were overwhelmed by the shockingly loud and brightly colored early-nineties style, name-brand type outfits, and subsequently I couldn't pay much attention to the plot. First of all, the clothing was way too reminiscent of the clothing worn by everyone during my own high school years [shudder] (. . . but much, much more garish). 
This cover doesn't actually come close to portraying the full extent of it.
Secondly, it wasn't just the clothing that tickled my shallow-bone, but also the sets. It's supposed to take place at a college, not a high school. It didn't look like any college I'd ever seen or been to. I just kept getting the (loud, garish) high school vibe. Again, distracting.
While I was looking for pictures to illustrate my post, I came upon this slide show article from ABC News entitled "The Biggest Movie Star You've Never Heard of" (i.e. Shah Rukh Khan). ABC describes Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as "Archie Comics come to Bollywood," which pretty much sums up the look of it, anyways. I mean, I know why director Karan Johar did it--because he was trying to drag Hindi films into a more modern era with the American designer duds and all, but oh, Karan! Too much!
I don't even know who that girl is. It looks like . . . Preity? She's not in the movie.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was one of the first Hindi films I saw after becoming a Bollywood convert. Maybe I would like it better if I saw it again now, a year later. I could ignore the shockingly bad clothing and the sets and just focus on the plot (I will like it! I will like it!). Or at least try my darndest.
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*If you knew me, you'd probably laugh at this.
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"If you knew me, you'd probably laugh at this."
ReplyDeleteI did! I was thinking: but the bright pink! You are not a beige gal. But then I saw, oh, the Tommy Hilfiger, and the spandex bike shorts. Yikes!
That's Rani in the last screencap. But maybe you were just joking? ;-) Meredith over at BollyWHAT has a different perspective on KKHH: postmodernism. Here's her post on the film, if you're interested: http://www.bollywhat-forum.com/index.php?topic=89.msg114166#msg114166
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw KKHH I just thought it was okay. Now it's one of my favorites but I'm a year into my Bwood obsession. LOL
No, I seriously couldn't tell. I knew it had to be either Rani or Kajol, but it didn't look like either of them--it just looked weird.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. Maybe it will help me get over my aversion so when I watch it again eventually, I can reevaluate it. As I said before, I really *want* to like it and I know there's no real reason I shouldn't; that's why I feel so embarrassed to admit I don't like it(yet).