TheyвЂ™re the cowards, the ones with the hang-ups, the ones whoвЂ™d rather wallow and seethe inside than take a step to set things right outside. And hereвЂ™s the kicker: theyвЂ™re made for each other because theyвЂ™re the losers in their respective marriages. But like in all marriages, problems crop up, and thatвЂ™s when Dev and Maya begin a tentative friendship, only to realise they may actually be made for each other. ItвЂ™s quite the opposite, really вЂ“ Ria loves Dev, and Rishi loves Maya. The messiness is due to the fact that Dev and Maya are both married вЂ“ to fashion-magazine-editor Ria (Preity Zinta) and PR guy Rishi (Abhishek Bachchan) respectively вЂ“ and the maturity is because their spouses arenвЂ™t Ranjeet and Bindu clones who drink and smoke and sleep around.

I expected a few surprises, sure, for Johar is nothing if not an expert at spinning fresh variations on familiar clichГ©s вЂ“ thatвЂ™s why those who donвЂ™t care for clichГ©s donвЂ™t care for JoharвЂ™s cinema вЂ“ but what I didnвЂ™t expect is BollywoodвЂ™s most mature, most messy romance since the younger Sridevi set eyes on father-figure Anil Kapoor in Lamhe.

вЂ“ KARAN JOHARвЂ™S plots can typically be summed up with a one-liner question: Will Shah Rukh Khan get together with X? Will Shah Rukh Khan get together with Kajol (in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai)? Will Shah Rukh Khan get together with his estranged family (in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)? And so, as Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna вЂ“ or KANK, as itвЂ™s come to be known вЂ“ began to unfold, and I saw that its one-line plot is whether Shah Rukh Khan (playing Dev) will get together with Rani Mukerji (as Maya), I thought this was going to be just another milking of the same, old formula. Karan JoharвЂ™s latest is too long, too weepy, but itвЂ™s nonetheless the meatiest romantic melodrama in a while.

Hindi movies kabhi alvida naa kehna