Last Friday night we moviegoers at Fanaa not only got to see Kajol back on screen and looking luscious after her four-year absence, there was also a first-time showing of a trailer for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Karan Johar’s August-releasing movie which was filmed largely in and around hamara New York City (including Jersey City, Hoboken, Philadelphia and parts of Westchester county as well), and saw a slew of Bollywood luminaries (Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee, and Shahrukh Khan) take up residence in Manhattan (just a few blocks from my office) for an unprecedented three months.

When the Indian Film Board’s certificate appeared on the screen, the packed house again let out a collective gasp, as if one of the film’s stars had just materialized in person.

Having followed the blow-by-blow accounts on Bollywhat last year, written by  the many local people who worked as extras, in a the short time the trailer rolled  before my eyes, I was primed to recognize many of the costumes and locales.

One thing missing though: I don’t recall hearing even the hint of a soundtrack yet.

In short, the movie looks like it will be chock full of fights and shouting and clanging plates and cutlery, as two married couples seem to struggle with, or be on the brink of, infidelity.   Abhishek Bachchan even says a line that goes something like “What about my own wife, who won’t sleep with me?”   (Oh my God, what happened to no-sex-please-we’re-Indian ??)   Karan Johar himself has  been  reported to have said that this movie will be a departure from the non-stop sweetness and light of  his past films, dealing with conflict in marriage and serious issues.  

What will the tag line for this one be?   “Staying in an unhappy marriage;  it’s still all about loving your parents.”

And then, as quickly as it started, after all the fast cuts of couples fighting, we see Amitabh Bachchan laying in a hospital bed (talk about bizarre foreshadowing) and he says “Love and  death, both come uninvited.”  

Fin.

I can’t wait.   For longer trailers.   For the soundtrack.   For the movie itself.