fajrdrako | Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...

The movie I saw last night was Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.... I loved it - partly because it was so refreshingly unlike movies being made in the west today, so different in its values, so humanistic in its orientation, so colourful, and so unabashedly sentimental. Besides, the singing and dancing was fun.

I particularly liked the gorgeous Amitabh Bachchan, who played the father.

For all of its three and half hours, the story is simple: Rahul, the favourite son of a wealthy Indian man, falls in love with his nanny's daughter. His father, Yash, has arranged for him to marry someone else. Rahul (because he loves and respects his father deeply) goes to tell Anjali that he can't marry her, but her father has just died, and overcome with affection, Rahul marries her and takes her home to his family. His father then sends him away saying, "You are not my son." Rahul and Anjali move to London and it's up to Rahul's little brother Rohan (and Anjali's little sister Pooja) to reunite the families. Everyone sings a lot and cries a lot and family love is the most important thing there is, especially for the elders. Many of the jokes were references to cultural contrasts.

Totally delightful. Now I want to see more Indian movies.

Sometimes the subtitles were incomprehensible - not because of bad translations, but because they didn't translate everything, or because words don't convey cultural meaning. Luckily Jenny, who brought over the movie, explained that 'bhaiyya' means 'brother' and 'didi' means 'sister' - if I'm remembering this right.