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Mujhse Dosti Karoge!
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Wikipedia article
'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romance film directed by Kunal Kohli and produced by Yash Chopra for his banner, Yash Raj Films. It stars Hrithik Roshan, Rani Mukerji and Kareena Kapoor. Based on the 1996 American comedy 'The Truth About Cats & Dogs', the film follows the love triangle of three friends: Raj Khanna (Roshan), Pooja Sahani (Mukerji), and Tina Kapoor (Kareena Kapoor).
'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' marked the directorial debut of Kohli, who also co-wrote the screenplay and story with Aditya Chopra. The film's cinematography was jointly handled by Ravi K. Chandran and Gopal Shah, while Rahul Sharma served as the composer. Made on a budget of , 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' was released on 9 August 2002. It failed to attract an audience, grossing , and received mixed reviews from critics. For her portrayal, Kareena Kapoor was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 4th IIFA Awards, the only nomination for the film.
Plot
Pooja, Raj, and Tina are childhood friends. While Raj has always been attracted to Tina, he is unaware of Pooja's love for him. Raj's father decides to move to London with his family for work. Before leaving, Raj makes Tina promise to communicate with him via e-mail. Tina, fun-loving and distracted, does not want the responsibility so Pooja writes to Raj, signing the emails "Tina" instead of her own name to help Tina keep her promise and make Raj happy. Over the years, their e-mails bring them close. Fifteen years later, Raj returns to India for a vacation. By now, he is in love with the girl he has been writing to and believes he can recognize her at first sight so they don't exchange photographs before his arrival.
When the three meet, Raj walks past Pooja, not recognizing her as he said he would, but recognizes Tina, becoming smitten with her and thinking she wrote him all these years. He does not notice that the real Tina is completely different from the Tina he knew from the e-mails. Tina later introduces Pooja, and they become friends. Tina, despite being aware of the fact that she is not the one who Raj has been talking to for years and is not the one he really loves, cannot resist Raj's flirting and falls in love with him. Their parents gladly announce an engagement. Heartbroken, Pooja decides to never disclose the secret.
Raj returns to London, where Pooja travels for an interview. Raj takes Pooja to his favorite church and she accidentally hums the tune of a song he wrote to her about many years ago. Hearing this, Raj instantly realizes that Pooja is the one who had been writing to him all those years, and remembers all the little things he had shared in the e-mails that she knows about. He tells her she is the one he truly loves and the two decide to get married. Back in India, Tina's father dies, leaving Tina all alone. His last wish was that Tina would marry Raj, and Pooja's parents say that they will perform all the rituals as Tina's parents. Seeing that Tina is alone now, Pooja refuses to marry Raj. Raj is against this and insists on telling his parents the truth but Pooja stops him. He angrily vows that he will only marry Tina if Pooja marries someone else on the same day.
In London, Rohan Verma is a friend of Raj's who has always been attracted to Pooja. When the families travel to London for Raj and Tina's marriage, Pooja agrees to marry Rohan to satisfy Raj's ultimatum and ensure Tina's happiness. On the day of the marriage, Tina finally realizes that Raj is really in love with Pooja, as she sees that Raj's family ancestral bracelet was fitted for Pooja's wrist rather than hers. At the altar, Tina confronts Raj and Pooja, saying that she is not alone and is glad to have such great friends willing to sacrifice their love for her. The film ends with Pooja and Raj getting married.
Cast
* Hrithik Roshan as Raj Khanna
* Rani Mukerji as Pooja Sahani
* Kareena Kapoor as Tina Kapoor
** Barkha Singh as young Tina
* Smita Jaykar as Mrs. Khanna
* Himani Shivpuri as Mrs. Sahani
* Satish Shah as Mr. Sahani
* Kiran Kumar as Mr. Khanna
* Parikshat Sahni as Mr. Verma
* Sachin Khedekar as Mr. Kapoor
* Maya Alagh as Mrs. Verma
* Uday Chopra as Rohan Verma
* Raja Vaid as Ronnie
Production
'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' marked Kunal Kohli's directorial debut. The media reported that the film was based on the 1996 American comedy 'The Truth About Cats & Dogs', but Kohli explained that "not one scene from it is the same. There is a track dealing with mistaken identity, but it isn't a rip-off." It was produced by Yash Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films, and Aditya Chopra co-wrote the story and screenplay with Kohli. The dialogue was written by Kohli. Neil Nitin Mukesh served as the assistant director.
Mukerji, Roshan, and Kareena Kapoor were cast as the leads; it marked the latter two's third collaboration, after 'Yaadein' (2001) and 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...' (2001). Mukerji (as Pooja Sahani) said that she "loved every moment of working" on 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!', and described the film as a "privilege" for her. Roshan portrays Raj Khanna, a part that he compared with his role in 'Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai' (2000). He spoke of his rapport with Mukerji, claiming that it "was a pleasure working with her. She is very professional, very friendly and easygoing. She leaves all negativity behind when she comes on the sets." Interviewed by Rediff.com, he said that 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' was "a very, very intense film", adding, "The second half is propelled forward by the intensity of my character Raj." He further stated that the film "more [...] about three friends than a love triangle".
Meanwhile, Kareena Kapoor features in the role of the fun-loving girl Tina Kapoor. She was initially reluctant to star in the film because she would play the film's second female lead after Mukerji. However, according to 'The Times of India', Kohli and Yash Chopra convinced her to accept it. She found the role to be "very glamorous, typical of what people would expect of me", and believed that her fans, especially male, would like it. She noted, "I play a loser, yet emerge the winner. This is not a goody-goody heroine who gets the hero. My role has better scope. I am the life of the film. The other characters are sad most of the time." To prepare for her introductory scene, the actress did not eat for three or four days (this was inconsistently reported) as she wanted to "look great as it involved exposing my midriff". Moreover, Kareena Kapoor confessed that her looks were the main priority.
Made on a big budget of , principal photography was handled by Ravi K. Chandran and Gopal Shah. The filming took place in Film City, London and other places in both Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Ahmed Khan was the choreographer, while Manish Malhotra and Rocky Star were the costume designers. While Anuj Mathur designed the sound, Sharmishta Roy served as the art director. After the filming ended, 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' was edited by Ritesh Soni and V. Karnik.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' was composed by the debutant Rahul Sharma; he accepted the offers in April 2001 when he was on a concert tour with his father Shivkumar Sharma. Rahul Sharma described its soundtrack as "young and fresh", adding, "[It] is about urban young people, so the music had to be romantic and soft." He used santoor, flute and an orchestra contains 60 violinists for the background score. In later years, he told 'The Hindu' that composing the film's soundtrack was a "great" and "learning" experience. The lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi, with vocals performed by Alisha Chinai, Alka Yagnik, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan, and Sonu Nigam. The soundtrack album was released on 12 July 2002 by Saregama.
According to the film-trade website Box Office India, with around 1.2 million units sold, the soundtrack became the eleventh highest-selling music album of the year. The soundtrack got mixed responses from critics; Narendra Kusnur of 'Mid-Day' called it "hummable", and wrote, "Rahul's orchestration style is youthful, and the use of guitars is interesting and innovative." Kusnur, however, felt that "some songs have that typical [Yash] Chopra['s] banner flavour that's become really predictable and hackneyed of late". In a review published in the entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama, Joginder Tuteja believed that Sharma "does a superb job in churning out a number of melodies in one single package". 'The Hindu' elaborated, "The title song ... is quite hummable. With quite a bit of Western tunes synthesised with Indian, this song is likely to hit the charts. A rather lengthy medley of various Hindi songs from old and new films is inserted."
Release
Expectations for 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' (one of the most-anticipated film of the year) were high, as the film was Kohli's debut as a film director. It opened on 9 August 2002 and, conversely, emerged as a commercial failure. The film was released on 290 screens across India and grossed on its opening day. It collected in India and $2.6 million overseas. Box Office India estimated the film's total gross to be and concluded its final commercial performance with the verdict of "flop". The film's world television premiere happened on 7 November 2002 on Zee Cinema, while its DVD version was released on 11 November 2003 in a single-disc pack. It was available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video on 8 March 2017.
Reception
'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' opened to mixed reviews; critics were appreciative of the leads but criticized its "predictable" plot. Writing for Bollywood Hungama, Taran Adarsh gave the film a rating of one star, noting that it "clearly belongs to Rani Mukherji, who has the meatiest role comparatively". He believed that Mukerji was "superb in a role that fits her like a glove", but thought that Kareena Kapoor was "relegated to the background completely". In a two-and-a-half-star review, Subhash K. Jha saw that "Kohli tries hard to bring in his own touch to the [Yash] Chopra-esque ambience". Derek Elley of 'Variety' said that Kapoor "largely reprises her pampered bimbo" from 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...' (2001), and praised Roshan for "proves a smart mover and good dance talent". Manish Gajjar of the BBC shared similar thoughts of Kapoor: "[She] as Tina looks ravishingly beautiful and shows great flair for comedy in this film. Although the audience will be reminded of her Poo character from the hit film 'Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham...'."
'Outlook' magazine's Namrata Joshi, who rated the film one star, declared it as "avoidable"; she was critical of Roshan, who she deemed "makes a poor parody of himself". Sukanya Verma opined, "First-time director Kohli is impressive. He keeps a tight grip of the plot and displays a keen attention to screenplay. Every character in the film is well defined and sound. The film moves at a brisk pace and the audience is not left to pinpoint loopholes." Madhureeta Mukherjee of 'The Times of India' claimed that Mukerji "scores almost full marks for her heart-rending performance", with 'Empire' Omar Ahmed appreciated her for "save" the film. Khalid Mohammed observed of Kapoor: "Of the cast, [She] is reliably spry and saucy but should take care not to repeat her hoity-toity act if she is to escape typecasting." S. Ramachandran from 'Mid-Day' wrote that Roshan had delivered "a fabulous performance", and described his part as "an emotion-powered role from Rani Mukherjee and a sporadically-intense act from Kareena Kapoor". 'Stardust' hailed, "Though Kunal has handled some scenes with sensitivity and maturity he fails in many others, which gives the feeling of 'dj vu'."
Kapoor received a nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 4th IIFA Awards.
References
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