When we reached teenage in India , reading Archie comics was the light hearted fun before the women got all teary eyed reading Mills and Boons. While nobody was as inspirational in my life as Jughead Jones , the Archie comics was the depiction of the love triangle between Archie , best buddy girl next door Betty and the aspirationally hot Veronica. While love triangles have been a story theme in Indian movies since the 50s with Dev Anand even pulling off Teen Deviya ( the quadrilateral), it takes a lot of conviction to pull off a movie where the director wanted the sets and cast to look like the Archie comics version on screen right till the look of Prof. Weatherbee.
With Kuch Kuch Hota Hai , Karan Johar the son of veteran producer Yash Johar and former assistant to Aditya Chopra, achieved candy floss history. Coming from a 'I hate gareebi' view in life and inspired by the Yash Chopra style of romantic filmmaking where everything appeared picture perfect, he took it one level higher and became the candy floss merchant like none other. A college in England was made to look like an Indian college , a fort in England became someones' home and actors in their 30s were made to look like college kids. Soon a Karan Johar movie became the epitome of escapist fare driven by some family values.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai features in my list of scenes to depict heartbreak. Heartbreaks in college environments need to be shown both maturely to signal the emotional depth but also the timing is important , because its really a moment , and it necessarily doesnt have to be a moment where the woman sees the man kissing another woman. I feel this scene stands out to show that Karan Johar despite all his sugary sweetness of coatings, is an emotional filmmaker and that explains the phenomenal success he has enjoyed.
Kajol playing the tomboy , listens to advice and tries to say her dil ki baat to Shahrukh. Watch Kajol's eyes in the scene. The addition of 'shit' here and there makes Shahrukh look cool.
With Kuch Kuch Hota Hai , Karan Johar the son of veteran producer Yash Johar and former assistant to Aditya Chopra, achieved candy floss history. Coming from a 'I hate gareebi' view in life and inspired by the Yash Chopra style of romantic filmmaking where everything appeared picture perfect, he took it one level higher and became the candy floss merchant like none other. A college in England was made to look like an Indian college , a fort in England became someones' home and actors in their 30s were made to look like college kids. Soon a Karan Johar movie became the epitome of escapist fare driven by some family values.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai features in my list of scenes to depict heartbreak. Heartbreaks in college environments need to be shown both maturely to signal the emotional depth but also the timing is important , because its really a moment , and it necessarily doesnt have to be a moment where the woman sees the man kissing another woman. I feel this scene stands out to show that Karan Johar despite all his sugary sweetness of coatings, is an emotional filmmaker and that explains the phenomenal success he has enjoyed.
Kajol playing the tomboy , listens to advice and tries to say her dil ki baat to Shahrukh. Watch Kajol's eyes in the scene. The addition of 'shit' here and there makes Shahrukh look cool.
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