Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... - Analysis

Analysis

Film critics and academics have analyzed Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... in several ways. In the book, Encyclopedia of Religion and Film, Eric Mazur described several "mythological subtexts" in the film. While mentioning the opening scene of the film, which features the Raichand family worshiping "Hindu deities during the annual Diwali holiday", he explained that the scene allowed the Hindu audiences to participate in the darshan along with the characters.

Author Rajani Mazumdar compared Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... to Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) and added that the film dealt with themes of family and moral values through a "spectacular stage that moves across global locations". She further stated that the buildup to the story was juxtaposed with the backdrop of two contrasting places – the Raichand home and the interiors of Chandni Chowk. While the Raichand house is described as "expensive, almost like a museum", Chandni Chowk is shown as a world of crowds, chaos and festivities. She also made a note of the use of frontal camera angles in order to ensure that the "spectators eye travels throughout the interior expanse".

Writer Sangita Gopal analyzed the "intensification of the aesthetic effects of Hindi cinema" in the narrative scheme of the film. During the confrontation scene between Yash and Rahul Raichand, a "thundering background score" coupled with "360° panning shots" were used to build up melodrama. She added that while such scenes simply began by reprising previous face-offs in several melodramatic Hindi films (such as Mohabbatein of 2000), they gradually shifted "to a more realist register as the framework moves from a sociology to a psychology of the family". Mazur mentioned the use of "dream sequences" in the film as a means of escapism. He referred to the song "Suraj Hua Maddham" as an extradiegetic sequence that allowed Rahul and Anjali to be physically intimate "in ways that they could not in the real world of the film." He added that the characters conveyed a plethora of emotions not through extensive dialogue but through the exchange of glances, which were demonstrated by extreme close-ups on their eyes.

Writing for the book Movie Blockbusters, Andrew Willis commented that the film was specifically written to appeal to the Indian diaspora. He explained that the film was aimed at invoking nostalgia among the large section of NRI's in Canada, United Kingdom and North America. In the second half of the film, Rahul and Anjali move to London, where they enjoy an affluent lifestyle, among several non-Indian neighbors and friends. However, there is a perpetual dissatisfaction among them, especially Anjali, in living away from home. Additionally, she dresses up in a traditional sari and performs the duties of a loyal housemaker. She also frets about her son and younger sister being "too influenced" by Western culture. The film, thus tries to form an emotional connection with the expatriate Indian audiences.

Certain academics, however, criticized the portrayal of Britishers as "morally corrupt". Several sequences convey a "culturally conservative" and "idealistic image" of India, while maintaining that the diaspora living in Britain lead a life of "involuntary exile". Western ideology is, however, equated with economic success, with emphasis on Western consumerism such as Starbucks and Burger King, while being critical of the society at large. However, another academic observed that Rohan was the only character in the film who could navigate multiple cultural spaces with ease. He seems totally at ease both at his ancestral home in India and in London. Additionally, he strikes a chord with the diaspora by arranging for the local schoolchildren in London to sing "Jana Gana Mana", the Indian National Anthem. Though the tagline for the film was "It's all about loving your parents", some analysts noted that the film dealt with the concept of fathers trusting and loving their children.