16. A movie you used to love but now hate
Kal Ho Naa Ho. By far. Easily. (I'm sorry.)
The first time I saw KHNH, I fell in love with Saif, and the songs so much I kind of forgot any problems I had with the plot. This was early days for me as an Indian cinema aficionado, so I was easily swept off my feet by an entertaining film that just gave you everything from big emotions to funny comedy, good songs to glamorous sets.
And then I rewatched it. And rewatched. And rewatched it. And with each rewatch, the manipulativeness of Shahrukh's character on the second half, the ridiculousness of the plot overall, all of these problems added to each other until it was to the point where I could no longer enjoy the things I used to enjoy so much on the first watch.
Perhaps my mistake was rewatching it in the first place, but then, when you really enjoy a film on the first watch, you don't tend to think the experience will turn sour on the second.
4 comments:
You're not alone! This happened to me with this film, too. Actually, this happened to me a lot with films from the early-mid 2000s before I got REALLY into Bollywood. I re-watched "Fanaa" recently and it was just NOT the film I remembered loving...
Funny how things change... as we are less distracted by the whistles and bells, the true film shines through.
Veracious, I'm clearly outvoted on this one, but for me KHNH has gotten stronger with each re-watch.
I'd point to the scene where Rohit turns his declaration of devotion to Naina into a joke because he's afraid of being hurt, and the parallel scene where Aman turns his declaration of devotion to Naina into a joke because he's afraid of hurting her, as examples of how well-written, well-structured and well-performed this movie is. I think it's far and away the best work of Preity, Saif, and director Nikhil Advani.
So I can't share your feeling that re-watching diminishes this movie (I've rewatched it more times than I care to admit). On the other hand, I'm someone who has an inexplicable affection for Dil Hai Tumhaara. So take my opinion for whatever you think it's worth.
Excellent series so far—I'm looking forward to your future installments!
FG - I think Fanaa's still quite good in my books, but you're right, a lot of films just don't stand rewatches or tests of time. Sometimes I feel like I've changed, not the film - other times, it's definitely just the fact on the first watch, you don't notice some things, and on the second watch, problems become more apparent..
Pessimissimo - Well, there we go, how much minds can differ. You see perfectly executed parallel scenes of acting, writing and story-telling. I see mediocre script with annoying characters annoyingly withholding information from another. :)
This is one of the reasons why I don't re-watch many films... I used to LOVE this one too, and I haven't seen it for quite a few years.
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