Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham… (transl. Sometimes happiness, sometimes sadness), also known by the initials K3G, is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language family drama film written and directed by Karan Johar and produced by Yash Johar under his banner Dharma Productions. The film stars an ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, and Kareena Kapoor, with Rani Mukerji in an extended guest appearance. It tells the story of an Indian multimillionaire family, which faces troubles and misunderstandings over their adopted son's marriage to a girl belonging to a lower socio-economic group than them. The film score was composed by Babloo Chakravarty with the music composed by Jatin–Lalit, Sandesh Shandilya, and Aadesh Shrivastava, and lyrics written by Sameer and Anil Pandey.
Development began in 1998, soon after the release of Johar's debut film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). Principal photography began on 16 October 2000 in Mumbai and continued in London and Egypt. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... was promoted with the tag-line "It's All About Loving Your Parents". Initially scheduled for the Diwali festivities of 2001, the film was eventually released in India, the United Kingdom and North America on 14 December 2001.
Produced on a budget of ₹300–400 million ($6.36–8.48 million), making it the most expensive Indian film at that point, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... emerged as a major commercial blockbuster, both domestically and internationally, with a lifetime gross of ₹1.36 billion ($29 million) at the worldwide box office becoming the highest grossing Indian films. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the cinematography, costume design, soundtrack, performances (with particular praise for Kajol and Jaya Bachchan), emotional sequences and themes, with some of them criticizing toward the lengthy run time. Internationally, it was the highest-grossing Indian film ever, until Johar's next directorial Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... won several awards at popular award ceremonies the following year, including five Filmfare Awards and seven IIFA Awards. The film is now considered an all time classic in Indian cinema.
Yashvardhan "Yash" Raichand is a rich businessman, living in Delhi with his wife Nandini, his two sons, Rahul and Rohan and his mother and mother-in-law, Lajwanti and Harbans. The elder son, Rahul is adopted whilst Rohan is their biological son. As a result, Rahul feels indebted to his parents when he finds out (at the age of eight) about his adoption. As an adult, Rahul falls in love with Anjali Sharma, a girl belonging to a lower social standing than him, against the wishes of Yash, who wants him to marry Naina Kapoor. Naina who loved Rahul one-sidedly backs out after knowing Rahul's feelings for Anjali. Rahul initially deecides to break-up but marries Anjali after her father's death, following which Yash disowns Rahul as his son. Disheartened, Rahul leaves for London with Anjali. Nandini sends Sayeeda, Rahul and Rohan's nanny, after Rahul to take care of him. Meanwhile, Rohan is sent to a boarding school, as per family tradition.
Ten years later, a grown-up Rohan finds out the truth about why Rahul left. He asks his parents to let him go to London to pursue MBA as part of family tradition; but he does so in order to conspire with Anjali's sister, Pooja to bring his brother and sister-in-law back home. Meanwhile Rahul and Anjali have a son Krish in this period. As a part of their plan Pooja informs Rahul that Rohan is her friend's cousin "Yash" who has shifted from India to London to pursue his studies and needs a place to stay. Rahul reluctantly agrees to let him live with them as he feels connected aroud him. Amidst this Rohan and Pooja, the childhood best-friends fall for each other. When Rahul eventually finds out about Rohan's true identity, Rohan begs of him to return home. Rahul refuses, as he believes that Yash does not love him. Pooja, however, believes that Rahul will go back home, so she encourages Rohan to invite his parents over to London and arrange for them to meet Rahul. Once in London, Nandini and Rahul share a happy reunion. But Rahul refuses to talk to his father. Meanwhile, Yash finds out about the conspiracy and is furious with Rohan. He and Nandini, however, return to India due to the sudden death of Lajwanti.
Rahul, who also joins Yash and Rohan during the funeral service, agrees to return home for once to make Nandini happy and Anjali be welcomed as the daughter-in-law by her, on the insistence of Rohan and Pooja. Once there, Yash expresses his guilt for disowning his elder son, and adds that Rahul was foolish enough for believing that his father did not love him. The film ends with an elaborate wedding ceremony of Rohan and Pooja, in which the entire family participates.
After the success of Karan's directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), he began work on a story dealing with the concept of "generations". The idea initially revolved around two daughters-in-law. However, on the advice of his cousin, filmmaker Aditya Chopra, who thought that the male characters would be too weak, Karan decided to tweak the story-line to make it the story of two brothers.
The inspiration behind Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... came from Yash Chopra's Kabhi Kabhie (1976). On being inspired by the classic, Karan quoted, "What appealed to me was the fact that the love story stretched out across generations. It began with youth and went on as the people grew older. You could say that Kabhi Kabhie is the starting point for my new film, that I am inspired by it. But the film, I am sure, will be very different. It will look different, feel different." Similarly, Karan added an extra "e" to the second Kabhi in the title of his film, due to numerological reasons. In an interview with The Times of India, Karan dispelled comparisons with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and said that while his debut film was "frothy and bubble-gummish", this one was "more classy and sophisticated". He added that there would be "plenty of drama" in this film too, but handled more maturely.
Before principal photography could begin, Karan and the contracted costume designers (Manish Malhotra, Shabina Khan and Rocky S) shopped in several locations of the US, London, Milan, and New Delhi to get the right look for each of the cast members. Additionally, Karan had only one expectation from the contracted actors; to "look good and do their job". He did not organise any rehearsals for them, except for a scene involving a climatic encounter between Amitabh Bachchan and Roshan. Additional production people hired included choreographer Farah Khan, production designer Sharmishta Roy and cinematographer Kiran Deohans.
The first schedule of the film began in Mumbai on 16 October 2000, with the picturisation of the song "Bole Chudiyan" involving Roshan, Kapoor, Khan and Kajol. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan joined the schedule on 20 October. Due to the immense stress caused by the presence of these actors, Karan fainted on the sets. However, he continued directing the rest of the song while lying in bed. For the first half of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..., the production design team led by Sharmishtha Roy, recreated Chandni Chowk in a studio at Film City of Mumbai. In order to lend authenticity, the team took several pictures of the original area and also shopped in the various alleys of Chandni Chowk. Roy later won the Filmfare Award for Best Art Direction for her work in the film. The inside of a palatial mansion was developed from scratch in the same studio to double as the home of the Raichand family. In order to lend authenticity to the house of the multi-multimillionaires, several expensive paintings were hung from the walls. A total of 18–19 elaborate sets were constructed by Roy, as Karan wanted the look of the film to be "larger-than-life".
The second half of the film was shot in the city of London. Karan chose to set the film there due to his fondness for the city. He added, "I could have based my plot in New York City or anywhere else. But London is kind of close to my heart. I like to weave my films around London." Shooting locations include the Millennium Stadium, Bluewater in Kent, Blenheim Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and the banks of River Thames. The outdoor scenes of the Raichand family mansion were shot at Waddesdon Manor. The crew faced enormous difficulties while filming an emotional scene between Jaya Bachchan and Khan at the Bluewater Complex, as a massive crowd had gathered there to watch them at work. The situation, eventually, got worse and the complex officials asked them to wrap up the shoot within two hours. Another song sequence ("Suraj Hua Maddham") involving Khan and Kajol was shot with the backdrop of the Pyramids of Giza in the city of Cairo in Egypt. Due to the lighting conditions, the crew could shoot only between 7 and 9 am. As a result, the song took several days to film. In addition, Kajol suffered from a minor injury while filming for the song, as she had experienced a bad fall.
British journalist, Fuad Omar, wrote extensively about the filming of the film in the United Kingdom, covering much of the shoot in a series of online articles and for regional press. Many of these were reprinted in an unedited format in his book, Bollywood: An Insider's Guide.
Film critics and academics have analysed Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... in several ways. In the book, Encyclopedia of Religion and Film, Eric Mazur described several "mythological subtexts" in the film. While mentioning the opening scene of the film, which features the Raichand family worshipping "Hindu deities during the annual Diwali holiday", he explained that the scene allowed the Hindu audiences to participate in the darshan along with the characters.
Author Rajani Mazumdar compared Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... to Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) and added that the film dealt with themes of family and moral values through a "spectacular stage that moves across global locations". She further stated that the buildup to the story was juxtaposed with the backdrop of two contrasting places – the Raichand home and the interiors of Chandni Chowk. While the Raichand house is described as "expensive, almost like a museum", Chandni Chowk is shown as a world of crowds, chaos and festivities. She also made a note of the use of frontal camera angles in order to ensure that the "spectators eye travels throughout the interior expanse".
Writer Sangita Gopal analysed the "intensification of the aesthetic effects of Hindi cinema" in the narrative scheme of the film. During the confrontation scene between Yash and Rahul Raichand, a "thundering background score" coupled with "360° panning shots" were used to build up melodrama. She added that while such scenes simply began by reprising previous face-offs in several melodramatic Hindi films (such as Mohabbatein (2000)), they gradually shifted "to a more realist register as the framework moves from a sociology to a psychology of the family". Mazur mentioned the use of "dream sequences" in the film as a means of escapism. He referred to the song "Suraj Hua Maddham" as an extradiegetic sequence that allowed Rahul and Anjali to be physically intimate "in ways that they could not in the real world of the film." He added that the characters conveyed a plethora of emotions not through extensive dialogue but through the exchange of glances, which were demonstrated by extreme close-ups on their eyes.
Writing for the book Movie Blockbusters, Andrew Willis commented that the film was specifically written to appeal to the Indian diaspora. He explained that the film was aimed at invoking nostalgia among the large section of NRI's in Canada, United Kingdom and North America. In the second half of the film, Rahul and Anjali move to London, where they enjoy an affluent lifestyle, among several non-Indian neighbours and friends. However, there is a perpetual dissatisfaction among them, especially Anjali, in living away from home. Additionally, she dresses up in a traditional sari and performs the duties of a loyal housemaker. She also frets about her son and younger sister being "too influenced" by Western culture. The film, thus tries to form an emotional connection with the expatriate Indian audiences.
According to Eckstein, several sequences convey a "culturally conservative" and "idealistic image" of India, while maintaining that the diaspora living in Britain lead a life of "involuntary exile". Western ideology is equated with economic success, with emphasis on Western consumerism such as Starbucks and Burger King. Creekmur believes that Rohan was the only character in the film who could navigate multiple cultural spaces with ease. He seems totally at ease both at his ancestral home in India and in London. Though the tag-line for the film was "It's all about loving your parents", Creekmur was skeptical and suggested "the film seems to actually admonish stern fathers to trust and love their children – mothers, aunties, and grandmothers, of course, love their children unconditionally even while respecting the idiotic wishes of vain patriarchs."
The music of the film was composed by Jatin–Lalit, Sandesh Shandilya and Aadesh Shrivastava. The lyrics were provided by Sameer, except for "Suraj Hua Maddham" which was penned by Anil Pandey. A total of 11 tracks are present in the album, which was released by Sony Music on 26 October 2001. The film's score has been composed by Babloo Chakravarty.
Initially scheduled for a theatrical release during the Diwali celebrations of 2001, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... released a month later on 14 December 2001. Due to the long duration of the film, theatres screened three shows daily, instead of four. Additionally, due to a massive rush in advance bookings, several theatres increased their ticket prices.
The use of "Jana Gana Mana" by Rabindranath Tagore during the film was met with criticism from a certain section of the audiences, and politicians of the Bharatiya Janata Party, for being "out-of-context" and "insulting the national pride". Subsequently, a writ was issued against Dharma Productions in the Allahabad High Court by a petitioner based in Uttar Pradesh. However, the court did not entertain the complainant's petition.
In India, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... met with mixed reviews from critics. It received praise for its visual richness and the performances of the cast, but criticism towards the lengthy run time, the script strength and inconsistencies. Khalid Mohamed of The Times of India applauded the film in a five-star review: "K3G is the complete commercial banquet delivered with fabulous finesse by Karan Johar. So, go indulge yourself. Cry your heart out and surprisingly, you'll feel life's finally alive and kicking in Mumbai's dream world." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4.5 out of 5 stars. He praised the emotional sequences, as well as the choreography, production design, costumes, and cinematography. He added that Karan Johar was the real star, for creating many memorable sequences. Rakesh Budhu of Planet Bollywood gave the film 8 out of 10 stars, saying "Dharma Productions has kept its promise in giving us a lovable film to remember in coming times." He pointed out several flaws in the script, but added that the positive aspects of the film managed to outweigh the negative ones. He quoted, "K3G is one heck of an entertainer and was worth the wait". In the film review section of his book Bollywood: An Insider's Guide, Fuad Omar showered overwhelming praise on the film and called it a "masterpiece from the first frame to the last". In summary he said, "Overall Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... is without a doubt the most enthralling, entertaining, emotional and complete vision and definition of Hindi cinema I have ever seen. It is simply the perfect Hindi film."
Contrary to the positive reviews, Anjum N., writing for Rediff, said that despite an extraordinary cast and a big budget, "Karan Johar disappoints." He praised Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan's performance and noted Roshan for holding his own against the veteran actors. However, in summary he called the film "a bad remix of Mohabbatein and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai". Writing for The Hindu, Ziya Us Salam praised Kajol's performance and Karan's ability to "keep the viewer occupied". She commented, "Watch Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... not because of the hype which preceded its release but because in these meagre times not many have come up with better fare. The film at least partially redeems the hope surrounding it. Again, just like its name. Some joy, some disappointment." Namrata Joshi of Outlook gave a mixed review and said that while the film "makes you laugh and cry alternately", the shenanigans were nevertheless "fake and affected" and "monochromatic despite the profusion of colours".
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.8/10. Shamaila Khan of BBC gave the film 9 out of 10 stars and praised the performances of Khan, Kajol and Kapoor. She summed up by saying, "(K3G is) a well made film, with some magical moments (hilarious and weepy) and possibly the world's best looking family!" Derek Elley of Variety said that it "is a highly enjoyable, often dazzlingly staged vehicle dragged down by a sluggish final half-hour". He also praised the cinematography, and the picturisation of the song, "Say Shava Shava".
Upon release, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... broke all opening records. The film opened to around ₹70 million net collections in its first weekend in India, with the first week total at around ₹140 million. The domestic opening week collections were 70% higher than the previous record and never before had opening records been eclipsed by such large margins. It also set new records for the second and third weeks, by collecting ₹105 million and ₹80 million respectively. The film went on to become the second highest grosser of 2001 domestically, netting ₹550 million in India, and earning "Blockbuster" status.
The film was released in around 125 prints in the overseas markets, grossing a total of $8.9 million at the end of its theatrical run. It performed very well in the United Kingdom, with a gross of $689,000 in its opening weekend. It thus debuted at the third position at the British box-office. The total earnings of the film reached over $3.2 million in the UK. The film also had the biggest opening ever for a Bollywood film in North America, with a gross of $1.1 million in 73 screens. However, according to a report by Rediff, the numbers were so high that the official reporting agency did not believe it, and asked for evidence that could not be furnished until after the reporting deadline had passed. If reported on time, the film would have opened at the number 10 spot in the North American box-office. However, according to figures from Box Office Mojo, the film debuted at the 32nd place at the American box office during the week of 4 January 2002. It eventually gathered a total of $2.9 million there. Additionally, in 2003, the film became the first from India to be given a theatrical release in Germany.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... earned a worldwide gross of ₹1.36 billion (US$29 million). It was the highest-grossing film ever in the overseas market, surpassing Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, which was the top grosser of the year. Its record of being the highest grosser in the overseas was broken only by Johar's next directorial, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). When adjusted for inflation, the film is still among the highest grossers ever worldwide.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... received a leading 16 nominations at the 47th Filmfare Awards, ultimately winning five awards. In an interview with Filmfare, Karan Johar said that he was not dejected to have not won many awards at the ceremony, as he felt that Lagaan was "a classic" and deserved to win.
The film won seven awards at the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA), and some at the Zee Cine Awards and Screen Awards ceremonies, among others. At the 13th annual Valenciennes International Film Festival, the film won five major awards, including three Best Film awards and Best Actress for Kajol.
Prior to the film's release, the film's music rights, overseas distribution rights and telecast rights were reportedly sold for ₹350 million ($7.42 million). This reportedly includes ₹250 million for the overseas rights sold to Sony.
During the production and filming process, a book entitled The Making of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... was written by Niranjan Iyengar. It features materials and interviews concerning the producer, director, cinematographer, art director, cast and crew that Iyengar gathered over an 18-month period during the production of the film. The book was released a few days prior to the theatrical release of the film.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... has been released on VHS and DVD (one and two disc version) formats, beginning in 2002, and in the Blu-ray format beginning in 2010. The two disc DVD version of the film contains a 45-minute documentary entitled The Making of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... along with deleted scenes, a theatrical trailer, and several television promos.