Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai

A romantic film set in India. Rohit works in a music shop. He sings and wants to be a star. Sonia is the daughter of a rich family. The two meet. The family objects; the difference in class is plain. Rohit is accepted anyway. On one condition: he must prove himself. One night they witness something. They see a murder on a boat. The killers find them. Rohit is killed. From there the film moves to a second part. Sonia is pregnant and her family sends her to New Zealand. Years pass. One day she sees a man. His face is Rohit's face. Raj is someone else. Rich, arrogant, and unable to sing at all. Sonia approaches him. She asks him to help her find Rohit's killers. What the narrative is interested in is not revenge but resemblance: its idea is that one face can carry two different lives, and that the woman confuses which of them she loves. The structure is familiar. The double or lookalike is a deep-rooted shape in Indian cinema and the film uses it knowingly. The music carries the film. The album was among India's best-selling records that year. The production is a family affair. Rakesh Roshan directed, his son Hrithik Roshan played the lead, and his brother Rajesh Roshan wrote the music. Hrithik Roshan entered cinema with this film. In the same year he took Filmfare awards for both best debut and best actor. It is Ameesha Patel's first film as well. It was an extraordinary commercial success in India and among the most discussed productions of its moment. Hrithik Roshan, Ameesha Patel, Anupam Kher and Dalip Tahil are in the cast. Who it is for: anyone who likes mainstream Indian cinema of the early 2000s and musical melodrama. Who it is not for: anyone looking for realism; the plot runs entirely on coincidence and the second half is too long.