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MOHABBATEIN ("Love Stories") (2000)
Written and Directed By Aditya Chopra
Music: Jatin-Lalit Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Jugal Hansraj, Uday Chopra, Jimmy Shergill, Shamita Shetty, Kim Sharma, Preeti Jhangiani, Anupam Kher, Archana Puran Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Helen Running Time: 218 Minutes
CineRating: 7 out of 10
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If you're the type of person who believes that all African-Americans can play basketball and that all Asians are masters at martial arts, then Mohabbatein is likely the film that could convince you that all Indians are world-class dancers. Despite an excessively drawn-out storyline that's as bland as tap water, Aditya Chopra's film (a long-awaited follow-up to his Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge [1995], one of the most popular Indian romances of all time) features the kind of epic-scale song-and-dance numbers that have, justifiably, made Bollywood one of the current rages among film geeks and scholars here and abroad. With a legion of dancers shaking their expertly-choreographed booties in sync to Jatin-Lalit's buoyant score, Mohabbatein transcends its generic plotting through the sheer bravura of its hip-swaying, toe-tapping spectacle.
At the prestigious all-male Gurukul college, stoic headmaster Narayan Shankar (Amitabh Bachchan) has an unwritten rule that forbids any student under his supervision from falling in love. This goes back to several years before, when Narayan's beloved daughter Megha (Aishwarya Rai) became romantically involved with a student, only to commit suicide after her vindictive father expelled the lovestruck Romeo. Megha thought her act of desperation would force her father to rethink his cold-hearted approach to life, but in reality the opposite has come true. Enter the flamboyant Raj Aryan (Shahrukh Khan), a big-hearted, violin-playing idealist who shows up on the school grounds one day handing out flowers; he convinces Narayan to take a chance on hiring him as a music teacher. Later, Raj discovers that his fledgling music class includes three students -- Sameer, Karan and Vicky (Jugal Hansraj, Jimmy Shergill and Uday Chopra) -- who are all caught in the throes of blossoming romance with girls from outside the school grounds. He encourages the boys to follow their hearts, much to the consternation of Narayan.
The plot of Mohabbatein is essentially Dead Poet's Society meets Footloose (just substitute "love ban" for "rock and roll ban"), with nary a twist or turn that hasn't been seen a hundred times before. The movie undermines its one major twist early on by revealing that Raj has heavenly-sent visions of his dear-departed lover. Still, the film manages to slowly grow on you, and not simply because of its brilliant song-and-dance numbers, but because, like Moulin Rouge, its filmmaker seems to truly believe in his creaky platitudes about the redemptive power of love. Combined with the film's visual lushness and grand scale, the banal storyline has just enough emotional heft to carry you from one song to the next.
As the intimidating headmaster, Amitabh Bachchan's talents are largely wasted here, with his performance consisting of essentially two character traits: a stoic stare and a stoic glare. Shahrukh Khan is allowed a much freer rein to cut loose with a full-bodied performance, yet, while he remains an agile and likable performer (as well as an enthusiastic dancer), he falls back on his familiar mannerisms a bit too often. Part of this is Chopra's fault, whose conception of the two characters is done in rather broad strokes with Narayan symbolizing "the past" and "intolerance" while Raj represents "change" and "unconditional love" -- but with neither fleshed out enough to suggest a compellingly believable human character. Still, it's a treat to see these two icons from different generations share the screen for the first time, just as it is to savor the all-too-brief appearances of the ravishing Aishwarya Rai, whose small role in the film was a well-kept secret prior to its theatrical release.
In contrast to the big-names who provide Mohabbatein with its star power, Chopra cast a bunch of relative unknowns (and, in one case, just a plain old relative) to portray the youthful couples whose romantic entanglements form the movie's central storyline. To a degree, it works -- with the newcomers' fresh-faced enthusiasm making up for their lack of well-honed screen presence. The muscle-bound Uday Chopra (the director's brother) fulfills the film's standard beefcake role, while Jugal Hansraj and Jimmy Shergill are both appealing if rather interchangable as the less dynamic elements of the male trio. In the femme roles, the buff and spunky Shamita Shetty is a muscular match for Uday, while Kim Sharma sends the film's "cute" factor into hyperdrive with her coy performance as the winsome Sanjana. She's like Sandra Bullock but with sex appeal. Perhaps the most impressive of the newcomers is Preeti Jhangiani, who manages to be engaging in a rather contrived role as a young woman who must carry on the facade that her husband is still alive in order to placate the man's delusional father (played with typical bug-eyed zeal by Amrish Puri).
If the performances in Mohabbatein are by and large strictly ordinary, the song-and-dance numbers -- all of which have been filmed and edited with an impressive fluidity -- more than rise to the occasion. The first number, "Chalte Chalte," is actually a rather modest piece that's used primarily to move the story along rather than to floor the viewer. With "Soni Soni," however, Mohabbatein shoots into the stratosphere. Ace dance choreographer Farah Khan (Dil Se) stages a spectacular dance-off between playfully bickering squads of men and women amidst billowing clouds of rainbow-colored powder. As you watch these dancers romping and stomping their way through a town square in perfect unison, it almost makes you wish that the sequence would never end -- and, in true Bollywood fashion, it almost never does. "Aankhein Khuli" opts for more contemporary American-style music and choreography, but is no less impressive in its scope; as a bonus, it features Bollywood legend "Helen" doing a surprise dance number with Shahrukh, who seems just as flabbergasted as those of us watching. After the nice, lyric-less "Rhythms of Mohabbatein," which features the three couples each at separate locations showing off different styles of Bollywood dancing, we eventually come to the showstopping finale, "Pairon Mein Bandhan," which will certainly bring down the house...if it hasn't already collapsed around you.
Yash Raj's double disc release of Mohabbatein sports a soft but acceptable looking anamorphic transfer presented in the film's original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The deleted scenes on the second disc do not feature subtitles, but the optional director's commentary for these snippets is in English.
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DVD Specs:
Yash Raj 2-DVD SET
All Regions
Removable English, French, Malay, Spanish, Arabic Subs (songs included)
Interviews: Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Yash Chopra
Deleted Scenes with Optional Director's Commentary
The Making of Mohabbatein
Photo Gallery
Theatrical Trailer
TV Promos
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