Review of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Introduction

There are many Indian films that touch the heart of the audience like this film. Among them are, Silsila (1981), Kabhi Kabhie (1979), Sholay (1975), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) to name but a few.

This film, which was made on many of the clichés seen in Indian cinema, has added something new to it, good motivational story telling. Characters in this film are normal people, not superhuman beings who posses the power to do things their way at any time. Here the characters are vulnerable as well as confident. The persona of Rahul, acted brilliantly by Shahrukh Khan, is shown as a very confident person but many scenes in this film shows us that he too has vulnerability which is sometimes hidden from the world with a false front.

This applies to many characters in this film. It is this that helps us to explain why the story makes sense. We feel for these characters because most of us have experienced the emotions they experience. Examples are losing out in love, marrying someone you don`t love, losing someone close to you, raising a child on your own, not knowing how to express your feelings to another person and more.

This is all down to Karen Johar who has looked at this plot with great detail that many of us wouldn`t recognise because we only have three hours to watch the film in. But every time I see this film I experience something new, this is how elaborate the screenplay is. Though it is elaborate it is not confusing like Hum Saath Saath Hain as the film dwells on four main characters, with sub-characters that support them.

The film has a couple of weak points like the sub-plot involving Anupam Kher and Archana Puran Singh flirting with each other, but this can be overlooked as it is kept short and too brief to remember. The story can`t justify why this sub-plot is there, it could have been edited out, but I feel that it was there for comic relief. Many enjoyed this sub-plot but I wasn`t one of them. The art direction was also quite exaggerated at times, thanks to Sharmistra Roy who seems to have a fascination with bold graffiti.

The film does have many special moments that people love however. Mine were when Rahul helps his daughter in a "just a minute" like contest explaining what a mother is. This is an E.T. moment when tears just have to come out.

Also with the help of great cinematography and a timeless musical score, the film is a wonderful debut from director Karan Johar who has achieved much fame around the world as a result. The pressure is now on him to deliver a high-scale plot with every film he makes, but for me I love the simplicity seen in his work, which makes the movie a classic that all generations will love.

Video

Well, after the poor DVD of Dil To Pagal Hain, which was released back in 1998, Yash Raj Films Home Entertainment (YRHE) had to redeem itself with a product that could overturn its reputation for low quality, seen by DVDphiles like myself. Now it has a chance with this title, a massive blockbuster that is one of the highest grossing Indian movies outside of India. Sadly it is another lost cause as I look into the DVD more deeply…

The picture quality is quite bad on this disc, even though it improves on their previous DVD, Dil To Pagal Hain. The picture could have been improved by processing this film from a DLT source with an anamorphically enhanced transfer giving us more resolution and better quality. The picture is too soft at times and grainy and this gives poor picture information, which is blurred and incoherent.

I suspect this was due to the low transfer bit rate that this film had. It`s rated between 2.5Mbit/sec and 5Mbit/sec. With a film, which had a running time of over three hours and a further hour of supplements, it is understandable why the picture was just so bad. It would have benefited us if the supplements were presented on a second disc, so that the main feature would retain good picture information. But then the original source used was in a poor state.

Because of the low transfer bit rate we tend to see lots of compression artefacts in the background. Colour fidelity is also very weak and very unnatural, as skins tones seemed quite off key. The film is framed at the correct aspect ratio giving us 100% of the picture without any cropping. Yet much wear and tear is detected as was edge enhancement.

Audio

While the visual aspect of the main feature was somewhat awful, the audio side is quite impressive. Presented in its original Dolby Digital Hindi 5.1 soundtrack it remains quite elaborate with a 360-degree soundfield, and has nice ambience during the quieter scenes. Sound effects are constantly heard in the surround and front channels and make quite an impact with the ears. LFE channel kicks in during the songs and are balanced just right.

Features

The optional English subtitles have some problems with its timing which is either too slow or too fast. The supplements that you get are great despite them affecting the main feature. The fact that we actually get supplements with an Indian film is something very rare. Ask loyal fans of this format, and they will agree with me.

I enjoyed most of the supplements that consisted of TV spots, the original theatrical trailer, and the making of feature. These give you an insight into how the film was marketed in a very low key method, but came to be the highest grossing film of 1998.

The deleted scenes and the interviews are other supplements, which will be watched more closely and are special in that it`s the first Indian DVD to ever present such extra features.

Karen Johar`s explanation before each deleted scene were very technical and very informative into how he and others behind this had shoot had edited the film. It`s a shame he could not do a commentary track, as I know he would be very elaborate and talkative on his making of this film. The 12-page booklet you get with the DVD was also very informative.

The conversation of the director with Shahrukh Khan and Kajol was not as good as it could be because it was low on content and detail and was rather more about the three of them enjoying the making of this film. The award clips I found unimportant, as the booklet already told us about all the awards.

Conclusion

I loved this film and if you do to then this DVD is worth having, but if you`re a DVD enthusiast striving for quality, then avoid this disc as it`s poor on quality. It might even enrage you at times with the fact that this company doesn`t seem bothered to bring us DVD using its full capabilities as an interactive and quality present medium.