There’s a scene in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa where Shah Rukh Khan’s Sunil tells his sister after a particularly bad day that Anna isn’t being receptive towards his love. He believes that it should all be about his feelings, and his love for her and he should get a chance to express what he feels. When he sees that chance slipping away, Sunil doesn’t blink twice before accusing Anna of being a manipulative woman who is going to end up with a rich guy. In this moment, Sunil is not a hero and director Kundan Shah doesn’t really try to defend his central character when he is being hateful, or just disillusioned about what he believes is owed to him.
This innocent scene of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is probably the most important scene of the film as the filmmaker could have chosen to go in two directions from here. Sunil could have gone the Darr way (another popular performance of SRK) where he convinces himself that he has a right over the woman he loves, completely disregarding what she feels, or he could have backed off (like a normal person) and not interfered in what she chooses to do with her life. Sunil chooses a third path.
He devises a bad plan which ends in him badmouthing the love of his life but unlike any man from the world of Sandeep Reddy Vanga movies, Sunil is called out almost instantly. He is not allowed to double down on his claims and justify them as ‘anything goes in the name of love’. He is guilty for his actions and regrets the mistakes he has made. This is what makes Kundan Shah’s protagonist the relatable boy-next-door who keeps making mistakes but is brought back to the real world by his moral compass. He isn’t perfect, in fact, far from it, but his earnestness makes you sympathise with him. And the credit for that earnest performance must completely go to Shah Rukh Khan.
Sunil was the heartbroken lover in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.
In fact, in a 2015 interview, even director Kundan Shah said that the reason for this film’s success was Shah Rukh’s charisma. Talking to Rediff, Kundan said that back in those days, there wasn’t any formal concept of film promotion but Shah Rukh promoted this film by himself. “We went to a theatre in Hyderabad where the film was being screened, stopped the show and interacted with the audience. We spoke to them for ten minutes, and then watched the rest of the film with the audience. The crowd went mad. I told Shah Rukh that the audience reaction was not for my film but for him and his charisma. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa worked because of Shah Rukh,” he said.
In many of his old interviews, Shah Rukh expressed that Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is actually one of his most favorite performances. And many SRK fans would agree with the same. It was after Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge that Shah Rukh became the quintessential lover boy of Hindi cinema. But before that film came around, SRK played everything from a lost lover to man dealing with mental health issues. Shah’s Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa was also a unique film in that respct. If made traditionally, it could have been a love story of Chris and Anna where Sunil is the villain of their life. But Kundan Shah decided to tell this story from the point of view of this lost guy who doesn’t drown himself in alcohol, and isn’t out to burn the world just because he got stuck in an unsuccessful love story. He moves on with his broken heart hoping that it will heal over time.
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Sunil, in this film, is the kind of boy that actually exists around us. He doesn’t push himself to any extremes and hopes for a regular life. Even when his heart is broken or his dreams are crushed, Sunil walks away with tears in his eyes but doesn’t really do anything about it. Shah Rukh adds so much heart in his performance here that you are actually convinced that this is not a filmy story but the story of everyone who loves with all their heart.
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa was a precursor to SRK’s Raj and Rahul days. And even after the many wins he had as those characters, the bittersweet loss of Sunil holds a special place in his fans’ hearts.
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