Much of the early action in Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi (2001) takes place in Great Britain, and specifically the cities of London and Glasgow. In theory. The UK segments of KKKM
were clearly almost all filmed in and around Edinburgh. Now for me,
this is a Good Thing. Edinburgh is a beautiful city, and it’s a rare
and distinct pleasure for me to watch a Bollywood movie and be able to
say “I’ve been there. And there. And there. And I have sat in the
same park bench that Kajol’s sitting in right now.”
In American movies and television, it’s not at all unusual for one city to substitute for another; Toronto is frequently disguised as New York, and Vancouver has been used as a stand-in for everything from Los Angeles to the jungles of Vietnam. Still, I can’t help but wonder why the substitution was necessary in this case. Nothing in the film is really specific to either London or Glasgow; in fact, one scene actually makes more sense if you assume it takes place in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival. Why not just set the film in Edinburgh? Is it because no one can pronounce the name?
Issues of geography aside, KKKM has a plot that makes Kuch Kuch Hota Hai seem plausible by comparison. Devyani (Mita Vasisht) wants her stepbrother Raj(Rishi Kapoor)’s money, and she’s willing to do anything to get it. 22 years ago, she poisoned the relationship between Raj and his wife Archana (Rati Agnihotri) by implying that Archana had been having an affair with an old college friend. Archana fled into the night, and (this being Bollywood) immediately got into a car accident and then gave birth to twin girls. Devyani had her accomplice, a doctor, declare one twin dead, and then she delivered one girl to each parent, declaring that the other wanted nothing to do with either spouse or child. Raj sank into a drunken stupor, Archana moved to London and opened a grocery store, and the twins both grew up to be played by Kajol.
Raj’s charge, Sweety, is the Geeta of the pair. She’s headstrong and absolutely fearless. Thanks to her aunt’s manipulations, she’s also at best barely tolerant of her father, and openly contemptuous of Devyani. Sweety secretly works as a jockey; when we first meet her, she throws a race and then waves her payoff in her father’s face. After a brutal confrontation with Devyani and her accomplices, Sweety runs away and takes a job as a jockey in London.
Meanwhile, Archana lives with Tina, who is almost the archetypal sweet-natured good Indian girl. When Tina flies to Glasgow on family business, both sisters cross paths with the very confused Sameer (Sunil Shetty), who has to work for Sweety’s shady boss in order to pay off his gambling debts, reclaim his passport, and finally return home to India. As anyone who’s seen The Parent Trap could guess, the sisters meet, decide to reunite their parents, and swap identities in order to do so.
Kajol puts in a pair of strong performances; both sisters are very distinct and clearly drawn. It helps that, unlike nearly every other twin movie I’ve ever seen, the sisters who have been raised apart for years actually have different hairstyles! Sunil Shetty comes across as very charming, largely because he seems to be really enjoying himself. The parents are really responsible for carrying the last half of the film, and they both do so with style.
I thought the songs in KKKM were a lot of fun; I especially enjoyed one number in which Tina and Sameer tried to earn bus fare by working as street performers in Edin- sorry, “Glasgow”, but my favorite number was the first one, in which Sweety ruins a potential arranged marriage while singing about what a horrible daughter-in-law she’s planning to beT. he song is remarkably subversive for Bollywood, and indeed the whole movie is a kind of inversion of the typical rules of family drama, with the wise children trying to steer their headstrong parents into an appropriate relationship.
I don’t think I was supposed to enjoy Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi as much as I did; the other reviews I’ve read were lukewarm at best and scathing at worst. Still, Kajol sparkles, Edinburgh is both gorgeous and familiar, there are moments of real humor and moving drama (the scene in which Tina realizes the depth of her father’s alcoholism is chilling), and there’s a surprisingly subversive tone to the whole film. Plus, Kajol drives a tank. How cool is that?
In American movies and television, it’s not at all unusual for one city to substitute for another; Toronto is frequently disguised as New York, and Vancouver has been used as a stand-in for everything from Los Angeles to the jungles of Vietnam. Still, I can’t help but wonder why the substitution was necessary in this case. Nothing in the film is really specific to either London or Glasgow; in fact, one scene actually makes more sense if you assume it takes place in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival. Why not just set the film in Edinburgh? Is it because no one can pronounce the name?
Issues of geography aside, KKKM has a plot that makes Kuch Kuch Hota Hai seem plausible by comparison. Devyani (Mita Vasisht) wants her stepbrother Raj(Rishi Kapoor)’s money, and she’s willing to do anything to get it. 22 years ago, she poisoned the relationship between Raj and his wife Archana (Rati Agnihotri) by implying that Archana had been having an affair with an old college friend. Archana fled into the night, and (this being Bollywood) immediately got into a car accident and then gave birth to twin girls. Devyani had her accomplice, a doctor, declare one twin dead, and then she delivered one girl to each parent, declaring that the other wanted nothing to do with either spouse or child. Raj sank into a drunken stupor, Archana moved to London and opened a grocery store, and the twins both grew up to be played by Kajol.
Raj’s charge, Sweety, is the Geeta of the pair. She’s headstrong and absolutely fearless. Thanks to her aunt’s manipulations, she’s also at best barely tolerant of her father, and openly contemptuous of Devyani. Sweety secretly works as a jockey; when we first meet her, she throws a race and then waves her payoff in her father’s face. After a brutal confrontation with Devyani and her accomplices, Sweety runs away and takes a job as a jockey in London.
Meanwhile, Archana lives with Tina, who is almost the archetypal sweet-natured good Indian girl. When Tina flies to Glasgow on family business, both sisters cross paths with the very confused Sameer (Sunil Shetty), who has to work for Sweety’s shady boss in order to pay off his gambling debts, reclaim his passport, and finally return home to India. As anyone who’s seen The Parent Trap could guess, the sisters meet, decide to reunite their parents, and swap identities in order to do so.
Kajol puts in a pair of strong performances; both sisters are very distinct and clearly drawn. It helps that, unlike nearly every other twin movie I’ve ever seen, the sisters who have been raised apart for years actually have different hairstyles! Sunil Shetty comes across as very charming, largely because he seems to be really enjoying himself. The parents are really responsible for carrying the last half of the film, and they both do so with style.
I thought the songs in KKKM were a lot of fun; I especially enjoyed one number in which Tina and Sameer tried to earn bus fare by working as street performers in Edin- sorry, “Glasgow”, but my favorite number was the first one, in which Sweety ruins a potential arranged marriage while singing about what a horrible daughter-in-law she’s planning to beT. he song is remarkably subversive for Bollywood, and indeed the whole movie is a kind of inversion of the typical rules of family drama, with the wise children trying to steer their headstrong parents into an appropriate relationship.
I don’t think I was supposed to enjoy Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi as much as I did; the other reviews I’ve read were lukewarm at best and scathing at worst. Still, Kajol sparkles, Edinburgh is both gorgeous and familiar, there are moments of real humor and moving drama (the scene in which Tina realizes the depth of her father’s alcoholism is chilling), and there’s a surprisingly subversive tone to the whole film. Plus, Kajol drives a tank. How cool is that?
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