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It was a disappointing month of September for me in the field of movie watching. I received several movies from zip.ca and had to return them unwatched simply because I did not have time (that, and my husband was badgering me to return them so he could get movies while I was in Vegas). I had to return Mr. Bachchan's Don (which I was extremely excited to watch and compare to Shah Rukh's version), Chupke Chupke, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. and Kabhi Kabhie. If any of those are worth rerenting, let me know.

Anyway, when I got home I received Mujhse Dosti Karogi and was thrilled I actually had time to watch it. And, what could be better than coming home to Hrithik, Rani and Kareena? Under the Chopra banner, we see first time director, Kunal Kohli, take us on a filmi-medley of various love triangle stories all culminating into a movie I still didn't mind watching. Simply put, Raj (Hrithik), Tina (Kareena) and Pooja (Rani) are childhood friends, thick as thieves if we are to believe the narrative. Raj leaves the country with his parents and continues to correspond with Pooja via email, though he thinks he is talking to Tina (who he was quite fond of when he was young). Why on earth Pooja would have started this farce is beyond me, but then we wouldn't have had a movie. 15 years later, everyone is grown up. Pooja loves Raj, but when she learns that he is coming back, she begs the superficial and snobby Tina to pretend that it was in fact she that wrote the emails all along. So, Raj loves Tina, Pooja loves Raj and Tina loves herself.


The first half of the movie goes along without many memorable moments. I wanted to cry out over and over again, however, that Raj needed to get his eyes checked - who in their right mind would look at Rani and think she was in any way inferior to Kareena? The best moment was right before interval when Raj realizes where he heart truly lies. It was definitely worthy of a high five! Anyway, somewhere along the way Tina, in what I can only assume is out of boredom, decides she loves Raj too. What ensues is the very typical sacrifice over love drama that has you ripping your hair out. I think we all know how this is going to end.


So, like I said earlier, this movie does indeed have an all-star cast. Though Hrithik doesn't show me anymore than I have already seen in terms of character portrayal, my sister and I were both witness for the first time to Hrithik's extra appendage. I don't know why or how I didn't stumble upon this before, and not like it makes any difference to his acting or the fact that he's always smoking hot, but the discovery took us by surprise and I put in some of his other films just to verify. Little did I know that this is common fact. A couple of times I had to comment on how large his nostrils seemed (a byproduct of emotional acting), but overall, Hrithik's portrayal of Raj was just okay. Certainly not in the same realm as what I felt for him in Koi...Mil Gaya or Dhoom, but okay nonetheless.


Kareena's Tina almost seemed an extension of her Pooja character from K3G - selfish and self-centered with some redeemable qualities near the end. I have never been a huge fan of Bebo, but maybe I just haven't found the right movie that will do it for me (though I really didn't mind her at all in Jab We Met). For a film that stars three leads, it was surprising to me to see how much Kareena's role seemed to be very much in the background. As for Uday, his short lived role was too short for me. However, I liked seeing him in a more serious romantic kind of role rather than the caricature I've seen in some of his other films.


The shining star for me in this one belongs to Rani Mukherjee for a wonderful portrayal of the woman who would sacrifice everything for the sake of friendship. She has by far the most meatiest role and displays great emotions in every frame. Even though her character demands that she look torn and hurt for most of the film, her expressions are never fake or overdone. While discussing character development, I have to say two things further. I found it kind of funny that Rani plays a character named Pooja and Kareena plays a character named Tina (when each of them played a character with the opposite name in the movies K3G and KKHH). Also, one of the film's biggest flaws lies in the development of this group of 3 friends as a whole unit. They were supposed to be very close when they were growing up, yet you don't feel a sense of camaraderie between anyone except Raj and Pooja.


First time musical director Rahul Sharma, in what is really his only stint in filmi music, delivers a mixed bag. Andekhi Anjaani and Jaane Dil Mein definitely sound like they fit into a Chopra film, but Lata sounds way too old to be picturized on Rani. Even though it is sung beautifully, for me it just doesn't fit. Saanwali Si Ek Ladki gives us a chance to see Hrithik in his dancing glory. One of the movie's nicest surprises is the FANTASTIC 18 song-medley (mostly older songs, though I did catch a little DDJL, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai). It was definitely fun to watch.



Overall a good time pass film.
Coming up soon...
Monsoon Wedding