| Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa | |
| Director: | Kundan Shah |
| Producer: | Vikram Mehrotra |
| Starring: | Shah Rukh Khan Deepak Tijori Suchitra Krishnamoorthi Naseeruddin Shah |
| Music: | Jatin–Lalit |
| Cinematography: | Virendra Saini |
| Editing: | Renu Saluja |
| Runtime: | 158 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Hindi |
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is a 1994 Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic comedy film directed by Kundan Shah, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepak Tijori. It also featured Suchitra Krishnamurthy (in her Hindi film debut) and Naseeruddin Shah. With a budget of, the film received positive reviews and grossed, equivalent to adjusted for inflation .[1]
At the 39th Filmfare Awards, it won 2 awards – Best Film (Critics) and Best Actor (Critics) for Khan, who also won Best Actor for Baazigar at the same ceremony. It is widely considered to be one of Khan's best performances, and he has said that it is his favorite film.[2] It was premiered at the Indian Panorama section of the 24th International Film Festival of India.[3]
Shah Rukh Khan has bought the rights to the film under his banner, Red Chillies Entertainment.[4]
The film was remade in Telugu as Swapnalokam (1999), with Jagapathi Babu and Raasi in the cast.[5]
Sunil is woken up from his dream of marrying the girl he loves, Anna, by his sister.
Sunil is a happy-go-lucky scamp who loves music and is not interested in studies, which bothers his father, Vinayak. Everyone has given up on Sunil and thinks he is good for nothing except for Father Braganza, who believes Sunil is pure at heart.
Sunil, Anna, and Chris are 3 members of a 6-person music band, who are looking to make it big. Anna rejoins the group after being away for a while, which makes Chris happy as he loves Anna. After Anna reenters his life, Sunil begins to try and change his ways to get Anna to fall in love with him.
During a performance at a friend's wedding, Sunil notices the closeness between Anna and Chris. Devastated, he decides to create a rift between them. Sunil eventually gets caught in his web of lies. A furious Anna slaps him and decides to never talk to him again. Sunil is thrown out of the band. However, fortune favors Sunil as he saves the band from being heckled at a local club by putting on a stellar show; the entire band forgives and forgets.
Sunil thinks he has won Anna back but finds out that Anna and Chris love each other and want to be married. Crushed to pieces, Sunil accepts he has lost in love.
Meanwhile, Anna's father decides that Chris is worthy of marrying her. He makes his intentions known but Chris' parents have other ideas and fix Chris' marriage to their friend's daughter. Anna and her family are dejected.
Sunil consoles Anna and the tide slowly turns in his favor. Anna's father believes that Sunil will love and take care of her and convinces Anna to marry Sunil. Sunil is overjoyed until he realizes Anna still loves Chris. Sunil decides to reunite the two and get them married. On their wedding day, as Chris and Anna are about to exchange rings, Chris drops his ring and it rolls out of sight. Sunil spots the ring but feigns ignorance, even as his younger sister gazes at him with a heavy heart. Eventually, Chris locates the ring, and the couple gets married.
Just after the wedding, Sunil is seen sitting on the sidewalk, dejected and heartbroken. By chance, a random girl, who is lost and seeking directions, approaches Sunil. Sometime later, Sunil and the girl are seen walking in the moonlight and talking merrily.
Anthony and Vasco, two criminals who are a part of the story, see Sunil with the new girl and break the fourth wall, saying that Sunil will be alright. The criminals hear the police siren and immediately scamper away as the credits roll.
The music was composed by Jatin–Lalit, while the lyrics were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. One of the most popular song "Ae Kaash Ke Hum" sang by Kumar Sanu. The song "Sachhi Ye Kahaani Hai" derives from two songs: Boney M.'s "Rasputin" (1978),[6] and Johnny Wakelin's "In Zaire".[7] Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa sold over 800,000 soundtrack albums in India.[8]
In a retrospective review, Sampada Sharma of The Indian Express wrote, "SRK played everything from a lost lover to man dealing with mental health issues. Shah’s Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa was also a unique film in that respect. If made traditionally, it could have been a love story of Chris and Anna where Sunil is the villain of their life. But Kundan Shah decided to tell this story from the point of view of this lost guy who doesn’t drown himself in alcohol, and isn’t out to burn the world just because he got stuck in an unsuccessful love story. He moves on with his broken heart hoping that it will heal over time."[9]
Swapnalokam, the Telugu-language remake, directed by Bhimaneni Srinivasa Rao was released in 1999. It stars Jagapathi Babu, Raasi and the then newcomer Rahul.[10] [11] The film failed at the box office.[12] The music was composed by Vandemataram Srinivas.[13] [14] Griddaluru Gopalrao of Zamin Ryot disliked Jagapathi Babu's acting while praising that of Rahul's and Srinivas' music.[15]