Pyaar to Hona Hi Tha [DVD]

Note: Hindi with English subtitles.

'Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha' released in '98 stars real life husband and wife Ajay Devgan and Kajol in the roles of Shekhar and Sanjana. They meet inadvertantly on an airplane flight to India and what starts out as an unfriendly first meeting eventually blossoms into romance. Who could have guessed.

The film contains many of the usual Bollywood mainstays, moments of absolute silliness, song and dance and on again, off again relationships. While I'm a fan of both stars and the movie does have its moments, overall this one is a little to wacky for me.

Repeatability Factor: Good for one viewing only.

If you loved Meg Ryan and Kevin Klein in French Kiss , you will love this one. It has a few changes to accommodate for the differences in countries but ultimately it's the same movie. I love watching Kajol and Ajay together in this. There are definitely sparks present.

Basic Plot Line ..Kajol is an orphan with no family . She is shown in love with her fiance and living in his family house waiting for her wedding date to come around . She has never been parted from her Fiance since the engagement. She is afraid to fly and he is going to India on business. She hasn't been there yet. He calls her after a few days and tells her he's fallen in love with someone else and that he's sorry. She decides to conquer her fear and go get her love back. She meet's a man on the plain who seems like a bit of a rogue and he's irritating her or is he. He smuggles a small plant in her hand bag with a diamond necklace wrapped around it to avoid the customs police. They get separated and because a police inspector that tries to reform him grabs him and he doesn't get a chance to get his packet back . He hunts her down to a hotel where she is waiting to see her fiance in the lobby, they won't give out the room number, a see through glass elevator descends slowly showing a view of a man kissing a woman and kajol calls out her fiancee's name and faints . A crook takes her bags and that starts the merry chase of a good hearted rogue trying to help his family and a naive woman ignorant in the ways of inticement and how they end up helping each other. Fun fast paced and Kajol is perfect as always. Ajay looks great in this role that combines a little light action with a fun romance and plays the seemingly self centered rogue to perfection. Spend an enjoyable few hours with them and his lovable family.

If you liked the movie "French Kiss" starring Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan, then you will love the Bollywood spin on the story. This film stars Ajay Devgan and Kajol (a true life married couple), and stretches this story out to well over two hours because they add additional music (you know, like Walt Disney does), and so you get to see alot of beautiful Indian fashion, with beautifully choreographed dance scenes. And Kajol, my goodness, is she a gorgeous actress, or what? . After I saw this movie starring Kajol, I rented "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham", and "Fanaa" just to see more Kajol films. And then I discovered even more beautiful Indian actresses. Hundreds of them. Now, I'm convinced that Bollywood (India's Hollywood) has the most beautiful women in the world. Since 2001, when I first saw "Lagaan", I've must have watched about 300 Bollywood films. Not all are great, and many even have less-than-wonderful acting, but everybody looks so good.

But nowadays, I generally still watch Bollywood films because I love to watch good looking people on film. A good story is only secondary as my intention to be entertained.

If you an English speaking American, and are new to Bollywood films, let me give you a breakdown of how I interpret and ingest the Bollywood experience:

First of all, you will most always be reading English subtitles.
The average Bollywood film is about 3 hours long.
Bollywood films are very colorful. All their beautiful fashion, and colorful dance floors. In High Definition, just the sceneries alone make you appreciate what High Definition is all about.
About 30 percent of the film will be music videos (with Yash Raj films, it's more like about 45 percent). I personally wish there were less music videos if the movie is already over three hours long.
About 30 percent of most Bollywood films have some rather silly, really unfunny, and downright annoying comedy scenes (which is usually in the first half of the film), then the film will start to become more serious, as it moves along.
One of the main reasons why you will watch a Bollywood film, is because you already chose to fall in love with one of their many beautiful actresses, or handsome actors. (I personally try to see all Rani Mukherji films, and Shah Rukh Khan is the one actor known to be one of the biggest box office sellers of Bollywood.)

So, I guess I can honestly say that I have about 10 Blu-Ray Bollywood films which about 7 of them are Yash Raj releases. Though I have about 100 Bollywood films on DVD, all I really care to get on Blu-Ray now is "Lagaan" which was the first Bollywood film that I saw about 10 years ago. And perhaps "Mann" with Aamir Khan, and "Rangeela" which stars the enchanting Urmila Matondkar. Oh, and I guess it would be truly appreciated if "Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai" starring Amisha Patel and Hrithik Roshan would ever be released in High Definition Blu-Ray. The scenes in India and New Zealand were all just so beautiful on the screen.

Another good movie that I would like to recommend, that is not a Yash Raj film, but is available on Blu-Ray is "Ghulam" starring Rani Mukherji and Aamir Khan. Even all the song videos in this film are all truly appreciated, and the added humor isn't so annoying. Check it out!