Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai
Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai () is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic thriller film written, directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan. It marks the debuts of his son Hrithik Roshan (in a double role) and actress Ameesha Patel. Upon its release on 14 January 2000, the film along with Roshan's debut act and the soundtrack album became an instant sensational Blockbuster Success.  It earned over  worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2000.

It received positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise directed towards Hrithik's performance, his dancing skills and looks, and the film's soundtrack. Hrithik became an overnight superstar; his debut was termed 'Hrithik Mania' by the media, and he has been known as the "Millennial Superstar" ever since.

Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai went on to be inducted into the Guinness World Records (2002) for being a feature film with the most awards won a total of 92 awards received in numerous ceremonies and categories. Likewise, the film would be added to the Limca Book of Records (2003) for the greatest number of awards won by a Bollywood film. As director and producer, Rakesh Roshan collected his first ever Filmfare Award, while his son became the only actor ever to win both the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Debut for the same film. The core concept of the movie was inspired by the 1986 Kannada movie Ratha Sapthami.

Following the success of Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, the father-son duo have gone on to collaborate in many more films, including Koi... Mil Gaya (2003), Krrish (2006), Kites (2010), Krrish 3 (2013), and Kaabil (2017).

Plot 
Rohit is an orphan, who lives with his aunt, uncle and younger brother Amit. He is an aspiring singer, but works at an automobile showroom to make ends meet. Through his job, he ends up meeting Sonia, daughter of a rich businessman, Saxena, who is friends with his boss, Malik. Rohit and Sonia meet at her birthday party, then again on a cruise ship. Sonia gets jealous of the female attention Rohit gets on the cruise. They get drunk and argue, eventually falling into a lifeboat and passing out. The boat detaches from the ship in the night, leading them to float to a deserted island and they continue arguing. At one point, Rohit gets mad at Sonia for using the flag that had her skirt on to catch fish when it was meant to signal the search party and have them rescued from the island, starting another argument. At one point, Rohit accidentally pushes Sonia causing her to fall into the lake and he tries to rescue her but nearly drowns and Sonia, in turn, rescues him and Rohit confesses his love for her, whereas she does the same.

They are rescued by Saxena, but their relationship is rejected, as he does not want his daughter marrying below her (financial) status, causing Rohit to be fired from his job. However, Rohit, to make himself worthy of Sonia, cuts a music record that makes him famous. He becomes a rising star, and is soon signed up to perform at his first concert. On the eve of the show, Rohit goes to pick up Amit from school, but witnesses the murder of the police commissioner, by two corrupt policemen and Malik, after the commissioner confronts them about their illegal drug dealings. Rohit flees but is chased down by the policemen. Saxena, who is the real leader of this drug cartel, orders Rohit's death as he is now witness to their crime. On his orders, the policemen knock Rohit's motorcycle off the bridge. Rohit, not knowing how to swim, falls into the river and drowns. A search party is sent into the sea but they are unable to recover his body.

Amit and Sonia are shocked at the news and they enter depression, with the former being rendered mute after the incident. Meanwhile, Saxena sends Sonia to New Zealand to spend time with her cousin, Neeta. While there, Sonia runs into a likeness of Rohit by the name of Raj. She meets Raj at a club, and seeing that he is a good singer as well, initially believes it to be Rohit himself. When Sonia goes to meet Raj's parents, his mother confirms that he has never visited India. Raj falls in love with Sonia, but she constantly runs away because she is scared of looking at someone similar to Rohit.

After some time, Sonia returns to India with Raj, who is there on a personal tour. They bid goodbye at the airport, when suddenly, someone shoots Raj in the arm. Raj and Sonia run away and go into hiding. They realize that someone mistook Raj for Rohit, and summarize that his death may not have been an accident. They visit Rohit's family and friends, who are shocked to see Raj as well. Amit suddenly speaks up on seeing Raj, and reveals that he witnessed Rohit being chased down by his eventual murderers.

Raj and Sonia decide to revive Rohit's concert, announcing that Rohit has returned as a way to draw out his murderers. Raj, wearing a bullet-proof jacket knowing that the policemen are going to be present, performs at the concert, but the plan backfires, as the policemen are tipped off about his identity and do not reveal themselves. Instead, they kidnap Sonia and draw Raj out to a secret location to rescue her. Raj rescues Sonia by killing the two policemen, while Saxena saves them both by killing Malik, as the latter is about to reveal the former's association with the gang. Raj picks up Malik's cellphone, and seeing the name 'Sirjee' on it, decides to call the number. It rings to Saxena's phone, revealing him to be the leader of Malik's gang. Raj also confirms that Saxena was the one who ordered Rohit's death. Saxena confesses to his crimes and is arrested. Raj decides to return to New Zealand with Rohit's brother, Amit. Sonia confesses her love to Raj, saying that she doesn't want to lose her love again, and she goes with him as well, and the two end up getting engaged.

Cast 
Hrithik Roshan in double roles as 
Rohit: an aspiring singer from a lower-middle-class background in India; Sonia's love interest who dies in an accident
 Raj Chopra: an NRI billionaire businessman and singer residing in New Zealand, later Sonia's love interest
Ameesha Patel as Sonia Saxena: Mr. Saxena's daughter and Rohit's and Raj's love interest
Anupam Kher as Mr. Saxena: Sonia's father, who orders Rohit's death
Dalip Tahil as Shakti Malik: Atul's father, Mr. Saxena's friend
Mohnish Behl as Inspector Dilip Kadam: a corrupt officer in Mr. Saxena's payroll, and one of Rohit's murderers
Ashish Vidyarthi as Inspector Satish Shinde: a corrupt officer in Mr. Saxena's payroll, and one of Rohit's murderers
Satish Shah as Anthony Rodriques: Rohit and Amit's landlord; Lily's husband 
Farida Jalal as Lily Rodriques/Aunty: Rohit and Amit's landlady; Anthony's wife 
Rajesh Tandon as Atul Malik: Shakti's son and Sonia's best friend
Asha Patel as Neha Chopra: Raj's mother
Tannaz Irani as Neeta Saxena: Sonia's cousin and Raj's best friend
Vrajesh Hirjee as Tony Bahl: Rohit's best friend
Abhishek Sharma as Amit: Rohit's younger brother
Johnny Lever as Inspector Parab Sharma
Ram Mohan as Police Commissioner Verma
Payal Malhotra as Shobha Malvade
Dimple Inamdar as Dancer
Jasveer Kaur as Dancer

Production 
The film was launched in 1998 with Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles. However, the latter walked out a few days after the launch, following a "misunderstanding" between the director Rakesh Roshan and Kareena's mother Babita. Rakesh, who had known Ameesha Patel's family for a long time, cast her in the role within 3 days.

The ship scenes were filmed aboard the Star Flyer. The island scenes were filmed in Krabi, Thailand, in the area near Khao Phing Kan (popularly known as James Bond Island).

Reception

Critical reception 
Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai received highly positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise directed towards Hrithik's performance and the film's soundtrack. However, most critics also criticized the film's "clichéd" storyline.

Planet Bollywood'''s Alok Kumar said "I'm telling you all to go see KNPH, a movie with which I had low expectations. The film ended up being very entertaining." Ajay Chaturvedi of Apunkachoice.com said "The film suffers from a bad script." But he praised the performance and dancing of Hrithik saying, "The highlight ... is Hrithik Roshan who has good screen presence, He has acted quite well considering that this is his debut film and he is a brilliant dancer." He praised the music saying "it is a big plus with "Na Tum Jaano Na Hum" and "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" being the pick of the lot."

The reviewer for Filmfare rated it 3.5 out of 5, and wrote, "Rakesh Roshan has come up with a winner. A racy script, excellent product values and taut editing result in a storyline that keeps the audience hooked throughout. The music is also good, especially the title song and numbers such as "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" and "Chand Sitaare". Hrithik is very good in the action and dance sequences, and proves his acting calibre in his very first film. Patel too performs well."

Sabiha Kalolwala of The Indian Express wrote, "Rakesh Roshan has been smart enough to make a film which encompasses all the facets of acting — drama, action, romance, thrill, comedy and tragedy, all of them enacted pretty well by Hrithik Roshan." Of the soundtrack, he wrote, "There is not even one song which is not enjoyable." Anupama Chopra, reviewing the film for India Today wrote, "... Rakesh has taken the routine love-story, added a thriller twist and narrated it with style. KNPH isn't about path-breaking craft, it's about blockbuster presentation. Rakesh's sweat and money are apparent in every frame." She concluded writing, "What doesn't work is the tired villain track. Kher, one of Bollywood's finest, hams from frame 1. Perhaps the idea of playing disgruntled papa yet again was too tedious. His post-climax repenting is almost comical. The rest of the gang isn't much better. The plot is as stale as the performances." Kanchana Suggu of Rediff.com called the film a "great entertainer" and wrote, "One must say Rakesh Roshan knew what he was doing when he cast Hrithik as the lead. The boy is good. The ease and style with which he dances, emotes, fights, makes one forget this is his debut film. He's had to essay two different characters, and he's done justice to both." Also commending the performances of other actors, she wrote praises of other departments in that the "music is good, the songs are catchy, the cinematography is appealing, the direction is unobtrusive and the story is actually 'different'."

The interval twist of the movie - where the hero supposedly dies in an accident - and the second half of the film - where the heroine is sent out of her hometown to her uncle's place in order to overcome her depression, but is shell-shocked to find a lookalike in a vehicle nearby, and later catches a glimpse of him again in a discotheque dancing merrily - was reported to be based on the 1986 Kannada movie Ratha Sapthami.

 Box-office 
In India, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2000. When adjusted for inflation, it was the 11th highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time as of 2011, and the sixth highest-grossing film of the 2000s.

 Soundtrack 

The film's music was composed by Rajesh Roshan with lyrics by Ibrahim Ashk, Saawan Kumar Tak and Vijay Akela. Most of the songs were sung by Lucky Ali, Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik. The dancing sequences were choreographed by Farah Khan. The songs "Chand Sitare" and most notably, "Dil Ne Dil Ko Pukara" are inspired by the song Voices (Vangelis album) by Vangelis. The latter song has that tune playing throughout most of the song.

The film's soundtrack album sold about 8.5 to 10million units becoming one of its decades best selling Bollywood soundtrack of all time. The soundtrack was #70 on the list of "100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time", as compiled by Planet Bollywood. Accolades 

 In popular culture 
The Hindi-language musical romantic film, Na Tum Jaano Na Hum'' (2002) also starring Hrithik alongside Esha Deol and Saif Ali Khan, is named after a song from this film.

See also 

List of highest-grossing Bollywood films

Notes

References

External links 
 
 
 

2000 films
2000s Hindi-language films
Films set in Mumbai
Films shot in New Zealand
Indian romantic thriller films
Films directed by Rakesh Roshan
Films scored by Rajesh Roshan
2000s romantic thriller films
Films distributed by Yash Raj Films
Films shot in Thailand
Hindi remakes of Kannada films