In Hindi film convention, such qualities make you a bitch! Thankfully Johar redeems her character in the second half, but more on that later. Don’t you get it- Victory + Rhea = Victoria! What a subtle tribute to the Beckhams, aye? Rhea is an ultra-modern, independent woman.
Even the national team of USA defeating Brazil 6-0 in a competitive match wouldn’t make the news! Anyway, our very own desi Beckham( he actually has a tattoo on his hand that says Victory Beckham sports one on his hand that has his wife Victoria’s name) shoots and scores! Desi Beckham has a wife Rhea(Preity Zinta), the diva of DIVA magazine. That wouldn’t and shouldn’t have been a problem, except that this film takes place in the United States of America and all sense prevailing football is the one sport that Americans know nothing about or aren’t even interested in. Remember Hrithik Roshan’s entrance in Karan Johar’s previous film, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham( Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sadness), where he hits a guaranteed spectacular six! It was cricket then, and because the football fever is so high what with the World Cup and everything, it is football now. Dev Saran(Shahrukh Khan) is a football(soccer) player who has just earned a penalty and is about to make that guaranteed spectacular goal that film heroes always do. And pray to God that he doesn’t get inspired by 'Before Sunrise'! The ball starts rolling, literally, as we are introduced to the four principal characters in what has got to be one of the cheesiest opening credits in a long time. For the sake of all of us, may his DVD collection burn and/or the library he rents titles from run out of classics. Karan Johar was inspired to make 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'(Never Say Goodbye), his study of love and its complex nature in these rapidly changing times, after a single viewing of Richard Linklater’s 'Before Sunset'.