Mujhse Dosti Karoge

Okay I tend to award the stars based on how much I like watching the film, not on how artistically brilliant it is. Artistically speaking, this movie earns a respectable 3.5 here. It's not meant to be great art al la Guzaarish (English Subtitles) it's a very good romantic dramady. As someone who doesn't really go for the romantic comedy genre much, it's a good thing Hindi "love stories" must have grand scope and big emotions. I find here in the West we shy away from big emotion in favor of sexual chemistry. Maybe that's why most rom-coms don't do it for me. A Hindi "love story" leaves me more emotionally fulfilled.In an era where your "friends" can un-friend you and a relationship status is defined on a Facebook page; where emotional bonds are formed via Twitter, message boards, and email, the true concept of friendship and even love is changing faster than I can keep up with! I'm not even 30 yet and I despair that absolutely no effort is required to make a "friend" anymore. And self-sacrifice, well that word and idea is increasingly considered more evil than profanity. So imagine my delight at a story where Friendship isn't defined by the click of a mouse, and love goes far beyond what happiness it brings the individual!The story is simple, Boy (Raj) loves girl (Tina), Girl (Tina) is a bit of a flake, Girl's best friend (Pooja) is completely enthralled with boy, Boy being a boy with a pesky Y chromosome is completely oblivious to Girl's BFF (Pooja). Add a computer, a lot of miles, and the fact that you can be anyone on the Net and you've got a ready-made mess. This is the place where I admit to feeling that neither Tina (Girl) or Pooja, (Girl's BFF) really deserve Raj. Okay I acknowledge they're both great girls in spite of the flakiness and insecurities they both possess, but they both put the poor guys through the ringer! Of course, without all that we wouldn't have a Hrithik Roshan movie, and who wants that? All I'm saying is that the situation proves my mom right, there's no such thing as a white lie!I don't want to spoil anyone so I'm not doing a deep and profound review this time, it's not a deep or profound flick. I will however give you my impressions the highs and mediums (there are no real lows). First up production: The Director is competent in his job, telling a sweet story and coaxing engaging performances from his cast. Unlike a movie such as Dhoom 2: Bollywood Movie where it's hard to create likeable characters out of very little substance, or a movie like Lakshya- A Film By Farahan Akhtar ( 2 DVD Set with Special Booklet) where there is tons of substance and the Director and actors have a tough job doing justice to the script, Mujhse Dosti Karoge is squarely in the middle ground, there's nothing particularly challenging or for that matter special about it. It's just a lot of fun.Aesthetically, I wasn't all that impressed. This wasn't a prestige picture like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham so I didn't expect the same scale of lavishness, (although the Khanna's, Raj's family, are almost as rich as the Richand's) but I couldn't help but feel as if the costumes were more suited to 1992 rather than 2002, and the makeup detracts rather than enhances the exquisite beauty of the leading ladies. Oh, and I have to agree with my mom when she said, "What idiot decided to put suits with shoulder pads on Hrithik? That man's shoulders don't need help!" NO THEY DO NOT! The sets are nothing to write home about either, I liked Pooja's guest room in London, but otherwise everything felt 'average.' The exterior shots make up for this 'averageness' though. I have to say that right now, I regard Indian cinematographers as the leading experts in location shooting! They know how to get the maximum beauty of whatever place they're in, London, Mumbai, Switzerland, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Punjab, it doesn't matter!Dances and Songs, All pretty darn good, but again nothing mind blowing. Mr. Roshan does a fantastic job as always, (they don't call him 'The God of Dance in India for nothing) here he taps into his Moonwalk and his inner Elvis as well as the usual Bollywood dance fare. It really doesn't matter what kind of choreography you give the man, from Bollywood to ballet he can do anything! Unfortunately, Kareena Kapoor (now Kapoor-Khan) his main dance partner doesn't hold up as well as she later does in K3G, this is disappointing as her character wins her hometown youth festival every year for dancing. Rani Mukerji whom I consider a better dancer is forced to be the wallflower in comparison for character's sake. The soundtrack is fun if made up entirely of songs from past 'Superhit Love Stories' my favorite are "Oh My Darling" and "Jaane Dil Mein" with a special fondness for "Kaho Na Pyar Hai" because it's a great homage to the Hero's debut.Performances, Okay I am *not* going to rave about Mr. Roshan this time! My mom reads these reviews and says I exaggerate. Now, I don't agree because I didn't say anything a lot of critics who get *paid* to do this haven't said about his talent or looks for that matter. I will say that although I usually liken his acting style to Paul Newman's, in this film he goes into Montgomery Clift's naïve sensitivity, and Laurence Olivier's Heathcliff territory here! Like I said the girls really put Raj through it, and he's such a great guy too! My favorite scene is his speech about love while bashing the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of a cricket ball. Between you and me, I think he might have been a little bored. You can't tell, but this is the fluff and easy dancing that he could do sleepwalking.Now I must pen a small ode to the much maligned acting talents of Uday Chopra! It's NOT FAIR! Okay watching Dhoom Bollywood DVD With English Subtitles and Dhoom 2: Bollywood Movie may convince people that he's only capable of over-the-top cartoonish characters but NOTHING is farther from the truth! Mr. Chopra is a very intelligent and talented man, he's written, directed, and acted in many worthwhile projects! See Pyaar Impossible and I defy you not to tear up and root for his character! He also writes comics BTW and runs his own company for it. It's sad that his acting abilities are so ignored in India that he's only doing Ali Akbar until the Dhoom Franchise finishes, then he'll stay behind the camera. His role as the sweet and supportive Rohan Varna in this film provides Hrithik Roshan (real life BFF's) some badly needed support. He's not at all over-the-top or cartoonish and by the end of the flick you hope that he's blessed with every happiness because Rohan richly deserves that and more.Rani Mukerji is one of Bollywood's top actresses, she's worked with the three big Khans, and Prince Saif Ali-Khan as well, she's done major art films like Sanjay Leela Bhansali's BLACK - Amitabh Bachchan / Rani Mukherjee / Hindi Film / Bollywood MovieVideo CD Set and worked with the entire Bachchan clan as well, I don't think she's capable of giving a bad performance in a film and it doesn't matter if the movie itself is rotten! That said, I don't think she liked her part. For a woman who (in every other role I've seen her in) creates massive sparks she never quite catches fire. Added to the fact that her leading man can create chemistry with even the most frozen of actresses Kites (yes I mean Barbra Mori) and it's slightly disappointing that as a couple they never get beyond 'very good.' Normally, I'd chalk this up to my major Aishwarya Rai bias, but on a chemistry level I'd say for pure sparkage, Kareena Kapoor generates more heat. This is despite the fact that I believe Miss Mukerji is more beautiful! Pooja is the shy introverted type of girl not unlike myself, but there's a different between restraint and the feeling that the actor isn't completely engaged. I can't say why I feel this way, I just know I've seen Miss Mukerji do better. One of my favorites is Ta Ra Rum Pum (2 Disc Set) her character is similar in lots of ways to Pooja but it works better here.Ironically, Kareena Kapoor has recently become the bride of the leading man of Ta Ra Rum Pum, Saif Ali Khan. I can't help but wonder what if he'd played Raj instead of Mr. Roshan. I can say I'd still rate this five stars as the Prince of the Khans is every bit as likable and talented as the Shashensha of Bollywood, but the dancing wouldn't have been as good! As for his lovely future Begum (wife) I have to say while she isn't the best dancer, and she rates number four on my top-ten Bollywood actresses list, I definitely admire her. She got off to a pretty rough start in films, watching her debut in Refugee (2000) (Hindi Film / Bollywood Movie / Indian Cinema DVD) is PAINFUL not the least of which is due to it being a rotten movie all around. But if there's one thing Ms. Kapoor-Khan doesn't lack it's ego and determination. It took a lot of time, thankless roles, and guts, but this is the film where we really start seeing her hit her stride. She takes these archetypes of the so-called 'modern Indian glamour girl' infuses them with warmth, humor, and heart, and despite the shallowness and flakiness makes the viewer love them. She perfects this skill in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and has now moved on to many varied and much more challenging roles. At the end of this film she grabs the heart and squeezes it painfully tight. I have a feeling she'll shortly show the world yet another facet of what she can do!Bottom line, you really don't have to be a fan of any of the actors to love this film. If you like me you sometimes lament that 'friending' and 'defriending' are now common verbs. If you long to see someone agree that true friendship and love requires more than a mouse click and no effort, then you'll love this!PS. Yes India like the rest of the world has jumped on the social media bandwagon, and yes they did a version of this movie using Facebook. Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge BUT while hysterical and sweet, it's just not as wonderful as the real thing.

As a young boy, Raj moves with his family to London. He asks his crush, Tina, to write to him. She says she will, but as she has no interest in so doing, their mutual friend Pooja writes to him instead, and in Tina's name, for fifteen years. After these fifteen years, Raj (Hrithik Roshan) returns to India, halfway in love with the writer of the letters. When Tina (Kareena Kapoor) turns out tobe so beautiful and bubbly, Raj is certain that he loves her, not realizing that Pooja (Rani Mukherjee), who loves him, is the letter writer and the one he truly loves.The plot is standard Bollywood fare, but is good nonetheless. The chemistry between Roshan and Mukherjee is excellent--so good it's palpable at times. The loves songs were good, and the group choreography pleasant to watch. Kapoor's costumes, while fitting for her character, were so skimpy as to be almost painful to see. This film works it way up to a tremendous ending, but instead it ties up too nicely and quickly. This keeps it from being an exceptional movie, but it is overall good entertainment.August 2020: After rewatching this, I have to up the rating to five stars. Yes, it wraps up quickly, but it is effective, nonetheless, and a truly greet movie.

... Indians ever go to a wedding and actually see the intended couple get married. Anyway, there are 2 really good song and dance numbers, maybe 3 depending on your taste, and some other good songs too. The "Medley" is quite wonderful and almost worth the price of the movie by itself. There are 14 lovely dancers in black dresses dancing with Uday Chopra in one dance that are quite stunning. I wish the focus was a little clearer on these dancers rather than favoring the stars so much. But still quite nice.There are a lot of really nice scenes, especially the spin-the-bottle scene and the scene at the end when everyting gets resolved in a clever way - sending me to Wikipedia to try and understand the significance of what happened. If you like all the actors in this move you will love it. If you liked Jab We Met you will like this movie or vise versa. Kareena, Rani and Uday are suberb and Hrithick is excellent despite a little over-acting in a couple of scenes. This movie is an easy 5 for me in the context of why I watch Hindi films.

I loved Hrithik Roshan and Rani Mukerji's jodi. The way they portrayed their characters was really worth praising. Rani and Hrithik's intense love story is something that I really enjoyed. I really wish to see them on screen again. However, I thought Kareena Kapoor was overacting, jumping, and too loud for no actual reason and her choice of clothes was over the top. But, I guess that's how they wanted to portray her to match the character. The ending I thought was too unbelievable and not at all realistic. Everything was wrapped up too easily in the last five minutes or so. But, overall, this movie is one of my favorites. I could watch it anytime I am in the mood for some rom-com.

Love these movies, especially when they have my favorite actresses, and actors in it. I know Bollywood is so sappy but the culture is great. When you have a musical, a great love story, tear-jerking ending, and an amazing cast, the end result is a wonderful movie that you can enjoy watching over and over again. The love story for pooja and raj is so heart wrenchingly sad. Also, props to the music in here. There were so many medleys mashups that contained the best of the best songs in bollywood. Very entertaining and so fun to watch. The storyline for this movie was also genius too; because who doesn't root for the lead man to go with the quiet girl and not the beautiful one? I would definitely order this again if I ever lose or break my own copy.