Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra, Shamita Shetty, Jugal Hansraj, Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani, Kim Sharma, Amrish Puri, Anupam Kher, Shefali Chaya (special appearance) and Archana Puran Singh.
Producer : Yash Chopra
Director : Aditya Chopra
Music by: Jatin-Lalit
Ratings: **** (Very Good)
Special comments:
Power-packed performances by Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, Manomohan Singh's magical camera work and deft Chopra touch make Mohabbatein memorable. The film is long, lush and too much in love with love to light up the theatres as a much-hyped Diwali release. Narayan Shankar (Amitabh Bachchan), is the stern disciplinarian head of Gurukul High School, an elite public school in London. A stickler for tradition and manic about rules and regulations, Gurukul is a gloomy mansion and not the best of grooming grounds for teenagers despite its name and fame worldwide.
One day three energetic young men burst into the dark corridors of Narayan Shankar's domain, full of love, laughter and life. It doesn't take much time for Vicky (Uday Chopra), the brawny playboy to lose his heart to a rich, raging miss, Ishika (Shamita Shetty). The shy and smiling Sameer (Jugal Hansraj) is already besotted by his childhood buddy, the bubbly Sanjana (Kim Sharma). And Karan (Jimmy Sher Gill), the third of the trio, also is struck by Cupid's arrow when he gets to know better a demure war widow, Kiran (Preeti Jhangiani). It's time for music, masti and magic but there's a grim-faced Narayan Shankar to contend with first.
The principal is convinced that love is a frivolous waste of time till a maverick music teacher, Raj Aryan (Shah Rukh Khan) sweeps into the draughty corridors of the Gurukul strumming his violin. He encourages the young ones to follow their wayward hearts and when Narayan Shankar steps into their path Raj goes into a flashback to remind him of his doe-eyed daughter Megha (Aishwariya Rai who flits in and out of the screen and disappears in a flash) who committed suicide when her dad expelled the man of her dreams from his Gurukul. It's surprising that it took Naryan Shankar ages to recognize that student as Raj Aryan. Despite losing the love of his life Raj is convinced that love is what makes life worth living and that is the lesson Naryan Shankar must learn too.
Mohabbatein is like a too-rich-chocolate cake that looks oh-so-tempting, is lip-smackingly yummy but difficult to digest after a while. One wishes that Aditya Chopra had stuck to the uncomplicated sweetness that made Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge so palatable or else made the thriller he set out to before getting caught in his love epic. Mohabbatein is just too much mush to be magical.
Amitabh Bachchan at last had a role with a little meat and he sinks his teeth into it with gusto combines character and charisma to come up with a real winner. Shah Rukh Khan also shines in the role of Raj Aryan. Again the glasses are a distraction but they don't detract from his performance and as the gentle musician who has the courage to stand up to the omnipotent head, Shah Rukh comes up with a performance that not surprisingly gets him rave reviews. These two actors pack in a lot of punch into their performances. Their confrontation scenes leave you hungering for more. It's amazing how well Shah Rukh Khan despite his cardigans and violin has stood up to the awesome power of the Big B. There's no doubt that he's one of those few actors who can match the Bachchan when it comes to histrionics and one is left wishing that Aditya Chopra realized this and let these two dynamites blast their way through the film instead of letting the bachcha pack take over.
Uday, Jimmy and Jugal along with their lady loves may be an enthusiastic and energetic bunch but they needed a firmer hand to guide them and a tauter script to reign them in. Uday is all muscles and not much else. Shamita fails to sizzle despite her shakes. Jugal still looks masoom and Kim should have kept her mouth shut. It's only Jimmy Shergil who manages to make an impression with his quiet intensity as does Preeti.
Anupam Kher's capers are more crude than comic. Amrish Puri seems like an add-on and Shefali must have realized belatedly that Mohabbatein will never be another Satya for her. Helen in a special appearance takes us back to her glorious golden days.
Jatin-Lalit's score is a pale shadow of DDLJ and it takes Lata Mangeshkar to make Humko humi se churalo hummable.
Mohabbatein is a lavishly mounted film. It has a lot of gloss and tons of glamour but suffers the effects of a clichéd storyline and an overdose of love. Wish Adi Chopra had realized that love is good… but in little doses.
