Synopsis
HAHK as it is known, looks at
Prem (Salman Khan) and Nisha (Madhuri) whose
elder siblings Rajesh (Monish Behl) and
Pooja (Renuka), respectively get married.
Over the course of the various wedding ceremonies
and Pooja's 'godh bharai' (Indian equivalent
of a baby shower), Prem and Nisha too come
close to each other. Pooja is ecstatic as
she finds Prem and Nisha are in love and
is all set to get them married when she
dies suddenly in an accident leaving behind
an infant son. As Rajesh finds it extremely
difficult to bring up his son single-handedly
and seeing the way Nisha takes care of the
infant following Pooja’s death, the
parents decide to get Nisha married to him.
Prem and Nisha decide to sacrifice their
love for the sake of duty. Finally, thanks
to Tuffy the dog, all's well that ends well.
The film
Hum Aapke Hain Kaun…! proves
that if a filmmaker’s conviction and
belief in his subject is strong and genuine,
he’s bound to make a film that reaches
out to people and succeed and how! Though
dismissed by many as a loooong marriage
video and nothing more, the film, well over
3 hours in length with as many as 14 songs,
touched a very solid emotional chord in
the Indian cinegoer’s psyche and went
on to become one of the highest grossers
ever in the history of Indian Cinema –
in fact, it was the highest grosser till
overtaken by Gadar – Ek Prem Katha
(2001) and remains number two on the
list of all time successful Hindi films.
 HAHK
is Sooraj R Barjatya’s second film
following his superhit debut film Maine
Pyar Kiya (1989) and an urban remake
of Rajshri’s Nadiya ke Paar (1982).
The film while being a typical Bollywood
film also contradicts a lot of what popular
Hindi cinema stands for. For instance, the
film has no villain, no violence or the
usual triumph of good over evil and is full
of ever smiling nice people. What’s
more it appears almost plotless for three
quarters of the way until Pooja’s
sudden death as she slips and falls down
the stairs. Nevertheless, the film holds
its own and works beautifully. And though
it appears that ‘nothing’ happens,
the clever screenplay of the film develops
the budding romance of Prem and Nisha rather
nicely set against the various wedding functions.
It is this track that is the central core
of the film and is made up of small tender
moments between the two that cannot help
but make one feel good all over –
be it the journey after Prem picks up Nisha
from her house or when Nisha prepares her
first meal for Prem.
HAHK proved to be a trend setter
and extremely influential on subsequent
mainstream Indian cinema as wedding songs
and marriage rituals became a necessity
in most Indian films thereafter. To quote
Channel 4, UK, the film is “ feel
good fare of the finest order, well deserving
of its reputation as one of the most exuberant
and accessible Indian films of the 1990s.”
What's more the film become a yardstick
for defining Indian traditional values and
its obvious affect on filmmakers like Aditya
Chopra and Karan Johar cannot be denied.
And leave alone films, many real life weddings
in India began having the same functions
and same games shown in HAHK with
women copying Madhuri’s outfits in
the film as well!
The feel good film propagating so called
‘Indian traditional values’
and an ‘ideal Indian family’
is dedicated by Barjatya to “all the
families of the world.” The film is
made up of several characters in a large
joint family and it is to Barjatya’s
credit he is able to flesh out each character,
however major or minor, and give them his
or her definite moments in the film. But
Madhuri
Dixit, reunited with the banner that
launched her, stands out and is undoubtedly
the life of the film as Nisha. Be it the
mischievous but strong minded independent
girl who gives it to Prem as good as she
gets or the woman willing to sacrifice her
love believing she is doing the right thing,
Madhuri is absolutely spot on creating one
of the more memorable female characters
of Hindi Cinema. The film deservedly won
her Filmfare Award for Best Actress and
inspired a series of paintings of Madhuri
by one of India's foremost artists, MF Hussain.
Salman Khan too is in fine form playing
one of his most popular roles. But here
one has to say he has been cast perfectly.
Monish Behl and Renuka are adequately sugary
while the rest of the supporting cast do
their bit though Bindu is extremely loud.
Special mention must be made of the Alok
Nath – Anupam Kher - Reema Lagoo track
that is beautifully and maturely handled.
Another highlight of the film is undoubtedly
its music by Raamlaxman. The music gels
extremely well with the film. In fact, the
music, so situational to the film, took
its time to catch on when the audio released
but following the film’s release it
jumped to the top of the charts and stayed
there several weeks. Practically every song
be it the title song accompanying the opening
credits, Wah Wah Ramji, Joote De Do,
Chocolate Lime Juice, Maayi re Maayi, Yeh
Mausam ka Jaadu Hai Mitwa, Pehla Pehla Pyaar
Hai, the two versions of Dhik Tana
Dhik Tana and in particular Didi
Tera Dewar Deewaana were hummed in
every nook and corner of the country.
Where the film falters, and majorly so,
is in the terribly garish and tacky production
design. The awful gaudy sets and loud costumes,
in particular Salman Khan’s clothes
show a total lack of aesthetics and something
that one wouldn’t like to be caught
dead wearing. And the track of Tuffy the
dog who umpires the cricket matches and
is the final saviour is just gob smacking
to say the least.
Besides Madhuri’s Filmfare Award,
the film also won the Filmfare Award for
Best Film and Best Director for Sooraj R
Barjatya. The film also won the National
Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing
Wholesome Entertainment. Following its huge
success, Barjatya tried his hand again at
a sugary sweet joint family melodrama Hum
Saath Saath Hain. But the film was
a major disappointment leaving one with
the feeling that Sooraj was repeating his
‘formula’ for success rather
than believing in it. Like HAHK,
he then tried his hand at remaking another
older Rajshri film – Chitchor
(1976) as Main Prem ki Deewaani
Hoon (2003) starring Hrithik Roshan,
Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor with
disastrous results. Going back to his instincts,
he has subsequently made, Vivah (2006),
looking at the tribulations of a young couple
who are engaged to be married and following
them from engagement to marriage. Though
the critics came down heavily on the film,
the film like HAHK touched a unique
chord in audiences and yes, was a hit! A
matter of conviction again…
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