Line #27 Film/KalHoNaaHo


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6	[[quoteright:999:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/khnh.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:999:The story of a lifetime...in a heartbeat.]]
8	-->So laugh, live, smile. Who knows whether tomorrow will come?
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10	''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' (''Tomorrow May Not Be'') is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama directed by Nikhil Advani and written by Creator/KaranJohar, who also produced the film under the Dharma Productions label. It was released on November 28, 2003.
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12	Naina Catherine Kapur (Creator/PreityZinta), an MBA student, lives in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity with her mother Jennifer (Creator/JayaBachchan), adopted sister Jia, disabled brother Shiv, and paternal grandmother Lajjo, and things are not going well. Naina's father was mysteriously DrivenToSuicide several years ago for which Lajjo blames Jia's adoption, causing significant friction and hostility between her and Jennifer; Jennifer's cafe, which she runs together with her neighbor Jazz, is also doing poorly, which doesn't help with Shiv's care. This has left Naina deeply jaded, pessimistic, uptight, and snarky, with her only friends being Jazz's sister Sweetu and her classmate Rohit Patel (Creator/SaifAliKhan).
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14	Her dull and uneventful life is overhauled when Aman Mathur (Creator/ShahRukhKhan) moves in next door with his mother. The cheerful and enthusiastic Aman helps her and her family with their problems, and soon Naina starts to fall for him. However, behind his cheerful facade, Aman is hiding a tragic secret.
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16	''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' was the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, and remains among the most prominent examples of media focusing on Indian-Americans, with its exploration of Indian-American identity making it an easy entry point for newcomers to Bollywood. It received praise for its performances, its soundtrack, and its writing.
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18	!!'''This film provides examples of these tropes''':
19	* AccidentalMisnaming: Neither Rohit nor Aman seem to remember [[GoldDigger Camilla]]'s name. Although, in Aman's cases, a few instances were MaliciousMisnaming.
20	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Shiv can be this to Naina.
21	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Naina ends up finding a perfect husband and starting a family, but loses the man she truly loves.]]
22	* BlitheSpirit: Aman.
23	* BookEnds: The opening and closing monologues by Naina end nearly identically:
24	-->'''Naina:''' ''(at the start)'' My name is Naina Catherine Kapur, and this is my story.
25	-->'''Naina:''' ''(at the end)'' My name is Naina [[spoiler: Catherine Kapur Patel]], and this is my story.
26	* BoyfriendBluff: Subverted. Naina pretends to date Rohit so Aman will leave her alone; however, Aman quickly figures out that they're really just good friends.
27	* CerebusSyndrome: The film does take a significant turn for the serious as it goes on. The first half, despite the details surrounding Naina's torrid home life, is mostly a comedic story of her friendship with Rohit and his misadventures, as well as Aman entering into her life and livening it up. The second half is far more dramatic (even if it does have a few laughs, mostly with the [[spoiler: PlayingCyrano section]]) and the film ends [[BittersweetEnding bittersweetly]].
28	* CharacterNarrator: Naina. The entire film is a {{Flashback}} as she tells the story to her younger sister.
29	* ChekhovsGun:
30	** Naina's complaint that the mailman continuously mixes up the last names Kapur and Kapoor.
31	** All of Aman's conversations with Priya.
32	** [[spoiler: Aman's habit of crossing his fingers when he lies.]]
33	* CoolBigSis: Naina to Shiv and especially Gia.
34	* CrowdSong: "Pretty Woman," "It's the Time to Disco," and "Maahi Ve" all qualify.
35	* DeadpanSnarker: All the three leads have their moments.
36	* DefrostingIceQueen: Naina.
37	* DisappearedDad: The late Mr. Kapur, who took his own life sometime prior to the film. This is the root of Naina's bitterness as she struggles with the rift his death caused in her family and grief over him leaving her when she needed him. [[spoiler: She gets some closure after learning his reasons for doing so in his suicide note.]]
38	* DramaticIrony
39	* DrunkenSong: Rohit and Naina bellow the chorus of "It's the Time to Disco" as Aman drags them home from a bar.
40	* DysfunctionalFamily: The Kapurs. They come together in the end after Aman [[spoiler:reveals the true circumstances behind the late patriarch's death.]]
41	* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: {{Deconstructed\|Trope}}. Jennifer's husband and Naina's [[DisappearedDad father]] ended up having an extramarital affair which resulted in the birth of Gia. Jennifer not only accepted Gia, but managed to forgive her husband for his adultery, writing it off as a mistake. Mr. Kapur, however saw his unfaithfulness towards Jennifer as an [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable]] [[MyGreatestFailure mistake]] and her forgiveness reflected how good a person she was, adding [[FromBadToWorse fuel to the fire]] and he was DrivenToSuicide.]]
42	* EverythingFades: The title translates to "tomorrow may not be."
43	* EvilMatriarch: Evil is a stretch, but Lajjo is the main reason for her family's strife for much of the film due to her fights with Jenny, which take a toll on her daughter-in-law and grandchildren.
44	* FamilyBusiness: The Kapurs have Cafe New Delhi; the Patels have Dial-A-Dhokla.
45	* FinalSpeech: [[spoiler: To quote one movie reviewer, "Madame Bovary has nothing on Aman."]]
46	* TheGlassesGottaGo: Subverted. Aman removes Naina's glasses for what he intends to be a BeautifulAllAlong moment, but it backfires because Naina really is BlindWithoutEm. Naina does eventually get contact lenses, however.
47	* GilliganCut: When Rohit doesn't believe that Camilla is a GoldDigger, Aman suggests Rohit test her by telling her that he doesn't want his father's money and that he is going to struggle to earn his own and if she will stand by him. Rohit angrily tells Aman he will never say anything like that. Cut to Rohit saying this to her verbatim.
48	* GoodParents:
49	** Jenny is a loving mother who works hard to provide for her family and tries her best to support her children, especially Naina, through difficult times. [[spoiler:Taken to the extreme with Gia, to whom she is a GoodStepmother. Despite the AwfulTruth that Gia is her husband's child from an illicit affair, Jenny took her in when the girl's biological parents couldn't/wouldn't, and raised and loved Gia as her own daughter.]]
50	** Also Aman's mother.
51	* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Aman]] spends his final moments laughing and joking with [[spoiler: Rohit]].
52	* GoldDigger: Camilla.
53	* HandsomeLech: Averted with Rohit. His introduction sequence first shows him unsuccessfully trying to flirt with three different women, but it then shows him to be a gentleman, and rather sensitive at that.
54	* HeartwarmingOrphan: Gia.
55	* HollywoodHeartAttack: Averted. [[spoiler: The film establishes that Aman has a heart condition, his heart attack happens during strenuous physical activity, and it's implied that he hasn't been diligent about taking his medication. Upsetting, yes, but hardly shocking.]]
56	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: Aman]] takes this to an extreme with ''everybody''.
57	* InnocentInnuendo: Rohit gleefully tells Naina that he spent all weekend in bed with "Laila". Cut to his bedroom, where we see Rohit... and Laila the golden retriever licking his face.
58	* {{Intermission}}: As standard for a Bollywood film, but notable because it is the exact moment when CerebusSyndrome really hits the movie. After the romantic "Kuch Toh Hua Hai" sequence where [[spoiler:Naina has realised that she has fallen for Aman and Rohit has realised that he has fallen for Naina (with Aman's feelings being unspoken)]], Naina meets Rohit and [[spoiler:tells him about her love for Aman as he is about to tell her about his feelings for her, leaving him heartbroken. She goes to Aman's house to tell him, but sees a framed picture of Aman with a woman in a wedding dress; assuming that she is his wife, she leaves the house, also heartbroken. The ''real'' bomb drops when Aman reveals he purposefully let Naina believe that he is married: the woman in the picture is his friend...and his doctor, because Aman, even though he loves Naina, wants to BreakHerHeartToSaveHer as he is dying of an incurable heart condition. The intermission is thus marked with the frame split three ways, as Aman, Rohit and Naina all cry their eyes out.]]
59	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Lajjo at the end of the film after she reconciles with Jenny.
60	* JustFriends: Rohit and Naina, until the RelationshipUpgrade.
61	* KnightOfCerebus: {{Inverted\|Trope}} with Aman. The movie looks fairly depressing, then enter Aman, who single handedly turns it into an upbeat RomCom. That being said, Aman does have a [[SecretlyDying dark secret]] and after TheReveal, it gets dramatic again...
62	* LoveTriangle: Aman and Rohit both end up falling for Naina.
63	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: GenderInverted; Aman is this to Naina.
64	* TheMatchmaker: Aman seems to have made it his life's mission to push Naina and Rohit together.
65	* MatchmakerCrush: On the other hand, it quickly becomes clear that while he's busy pushing Naina and Rohit together, Aman has some serious feelings for Naina.
66	* MeetCute: Aman and Naina do this twice. The first time is a CrashIntoHello, subverted because Naina doesn't see him. The second time, she opens her window to yell at Aman to keep quiet. The two [[HeldGaze have a silent mini-conversation with their eyes]] until Naina stomps away, at which point Aman begins the first CrowdSong.
67	* MistakenForCheating: Towards the end of the film, Naina sees [[spoiler:Priya, who she believes to be Aman's wife, roaming around with an unknown man named Abhay. When she confronts them, Priya, somewhat confused, says that Abhay is her husband; she subsequently tells Naina about Aman's heart condition.]]
68	* MistakenForGay: Aman and Rohit, by Kantaben and later Rohit's father. Subverted in that both Aman and Rohit are aware of the misconception.
69	* MoodWhiplash: The first half of the film is a light-hearted romantic comedy - then everything goes south as it's suddenly revealed that [[spoiler: Aman is dying of an incurable heart condition and can't find a donor.]]
70	* MultigenerationalHousehold: The Kapurs.
71	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
72	** [[spoiler: Mr. Kapur had an affair with another woman, resulting in Gia's birth. Jenny had forgiven her husband for betraying her, but [[MyGreatestFailure he couldn't]], which is why he committed suicide.]]
73	** [[spoiler: Notably, Lajjo is shocked and remorseful after learning the above as well as how Jenny kept quiet about the truth all these years to preserve her husband's memory.]]
74	* NiceGuy: Rohit and Aman.
75	* ObnoxiousInLaws: Jennifer and her mother-in-law constantly argue, with Lajjo criticizing everything she does.
76	* OneTrueThreesome: Emphasized by the fact that Aman and Rohit, despite being in love with the same person, do not antagonize each other over Naina at all, and are so close that when others assume that they're gay lovers, they play it up for all it's worth. Additionally, Aman does not hold a grudge against Rohit for marrying Naina, especially since he actually set the whole thing up himself, and would rather see them happy. Rohit for his part is fully aware that if not for the fact that [[spoiler: Aman is terminally ill and doesn't have much longer to live,]] Naina would have chosen Aman without a second thought, and honestly would have both accepted and preferred that outcome had it been possible.
77	* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler: Gia is [[TheReveal revealed]] to be Mr. Kapur's illegitimate daughter born out of wedlock from an extramarital affair, making her Naina and Shiv's half-sister. Her biological mother wouldn't care for her, and her father committed suicide out of guilt some time after Jenny adopted her.]]
78	* PlayingCyrano: A good portion of the second half of the film has [[spoiler: Aman play Cyrano to Rohit's Christian and Naina's Roxane.]]
79	* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Naina is a 23-year-old MBA student while Shiv and Gia are in elementary school.
80	* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Rohit, Aman and Naina.
81	* SadBollywoodWedding: The bride cries all the way to the altar because she's in love with [[spoiler: the dying best man]]. They get to have a last duet about how much they love each other but have to let go.
82	* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Naina with Aman and Rohit.
83	* SpoiledBrat: Shiv sometimes acts like this by taking advantage of being wheelchair-bound.
84	* ThemeTune: The titular song.
85	* TheUnfavorite: Gia, whose grandmother refuses to accept her because apparently, she is adopted. It's later shown that Lajjo [[MisplacedRetribution believes Gia's adoption brought misfortune to her family and caused her son to commit suicide]]. [[spoiler: Thankfully, Aman sets her straight when he reveals Gia is her illegitimate granddaughter from her son's affair, which prompts Lajjo to finally welcome Gia into the family.]]
86	* WhiteShirtOfDeath: [[spoiler:Aman has an entire white ''outfit'' of death during the title song.]]

Context Film / KalHoNaaHo