The much anticipated 'Kal Ho Na Ho' brings together the hit team Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar again, after big hits 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' and 'Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gham'.

The movie revolves around the life of three friends Aman Mathur (Shah Rukh Khan), Rohit (Saif Ali Khan) and Naina (Preity Zinta) who rediscover themselves on the complicated path of life. The story begins with the 23 year old Naina Catherine Kapur (Preity Zinta) residing in Manhattan narrating the story of her life over her daily morning jog.

The characters in Naina's half Punjabi, half Catholic household includes her mother Jenniffer (Jaya Bachchan) who is struggling to make both ends meets running a restaurant, her fathers mother (Sushma Seth) who has a solid temper and her small brother and sister who she has to take care of. Ever since her father passed away, life has been hell for Naina.. with the constant bickering between her mother and grandmother and the financial burden the family is facing. Life for Naina is too serious with no time for fun or frolic, which has turned her into an uptight, uninteresting person

Her only friend is Rohit Patel, a typical Gujarati who runs a business. There enters Aman Mathur bringing a whiff of fresh air to their drab life. He moves into Naina's neighborhood a charming personality who woos everyone he meets, interferes in and has a solution to everybody's problem. Much to her chagrin Aman almost takes over Naina's life makes her do things she would never dream of doing and makes her see life in a different perspective.

Aman has an influence on Rohit too.. life becomes a song when all these three get together. They discover the power of friendship. But Aman the ever charming personalia on the outside has a sad secret of his own which creates chaos in their lives.

The movie rises to the expectations with a smooth paced narrative penned well by Karan Johar and dazzling performances by the cast. The first half is light and flowing and though in the second half the seriousness sets in, the director tackles it well and does not let gloom take over. As a debutant director Nikhil Advani deserves credit for handling the movie with elan. The film is thought to be an adaptation of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's classic 'Anand' but the similarity is only in the characterization of the heroes and the rest of the story is entirely different. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is easy on the ears especially the numbers 'Pretty Woman',' Mahi ve'. Superb shots, dialogues, and Choreography add to its charm. One of the flaws is its length especially towards the end. 

Shah Rukh does his usual emotional act all over again in a role tailor made for him. Maybe its time he tried out something different. Priety Zinta looks pretty and creates an impact with her talented acting. Saif Ali Khan gives another memorable performance after his much talked about 'Dil chahta hai'. He is a natural, especially good in the emotional scenes. His performance deserves applause. 

We rate the movie above average.. a film worth a watch..