Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
(Translation: "never say goodbye")
2006
5/5 stars

This is the story of two broken marriages.  Dev (Shah Rukh Khan) and Rhea (Preity Zinta) were college sweethearts, but after an accident leaves him embittered, Dev becomes an emotionally cruel husband and father.  Maya (Rani Mukerji) and Rishi (Abhishek Bachchan) grew up together, but though Rishi is thoroughly in love with her, Maya has emotional reservations about their relationship.  Dev and Maya meet through an accident and strike up an unlikely friendship; they each encourage the other to fix their marriage.  Then the unexpected happens, and brings heartbreak for all involved.

This tear-jerking drama is a surprisingly outstanding movie, despite it's unhappy story line and average music.  The plot is  compelling and engrossing, as well as being tight and believable, and the characters well developed.  The acting from the four principals is fantastic, with realistic emotions and reactions.  While the topic is not one I "like", I have to say that this was a stellar movie.

(Dev and Rhea's son is played by Ahsaas Channa, Rhea's boss is played by Arjun Rampal, Dev's mother is played by Kirron Kher, and Rishi's father is played by Bachchan's real life father, Amitabh Bachchan. John Abraham and Kajol both make cameo appearances. )

Loveyatri

Loveyatri: the Journey of Love
2018
3/5 stars

Susu (Aayush Sharma) is a failing college student with nothing but Garba on his mind.  During Navaratri, he meets and falls in love with Michelle (Warina Hussain), a rich NRI from London, who is top in her university class.  Despite the gulf between them, Susu pursues Michelle, but is warned off by her father (Ronit Roy).  Michelle returns home after having a disagreeable scene with Susu who, encouraged by his uncle (Ram Kapoor), tries to find a way to reach London to apologize and declare his love.

The plot of this insipid romantic-drama is unrealistic and predictable.  This is the debut movie for both principle actors, and neither is impressive.  Hussain is too unsure of herself-- nearly shy-- to be a leading lady.  While Sharma isn't a bad actor, a hero needs to be either charismatic or handsome, and preferably both.  Sadly, he is neither.  (What is with that horrible brushed-back hair style?!)  He also suffered at the hands of the make-up artists, with thick cosmetics that are extremely obvious.  The supporting cast gave good performances, however.  The music and choreography are average, though the Garba scenes are lovely.  I wavered between giving this two or three stars, but since I didn't enjoy it, but didn't actively dislike it, I'll rate it three.

Hussain and Sharma

Dhoom

Dhoom
(translates as "Blast")
2004
3/5 stars

After a series of clever, successful robberies by a motorcycle gang, Assistant Commissioner of Police Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) takes the case personal, and with the help of a minor crook Ali (Uday Chopra) attempts to catch them in the act. John Abraham plays Kabir, the mastermind behind the thefts, with Esha Deol as Sheena, Ali's love interest, and Rimi Sen portraying Sweety, Jai's wife.

This action/adventure film is not an outstanding one.  There is no surprise to the plot, it drags in spots (the last ten minutes felt like it lasted three times as long), and is, at times, rather inane.  The music and choreography were unremarkable.  As there was no depth to the plot, the actors only presented average performances. Despite all that, this popular film was rather fun, and I would consider watching the other two in the series.

This movie is available on Amazon Prime.