Hum Tum

Plot

Karan (Saif Ali Khan) is a cartoonist and a self-styled ladies' man. His daily comic, named "Hum Tum," explores the battle of stereotypical male/female behavior. On a plane from Delhi to New York, he meets Rhea (Rani Mukerji) who doesn't seem to be interested in him. His feeble attempts at flirting go nowhere, but when they have a stop-over in Amsterdam, she agrees to explore the city with him. Karan quickly learns he has little in common with the feisty but proper Rhea, but he won't give up. He ends their contentious time together with an unwelcome kiss. Outraged, Rhea slaps him, and storms off, but Karan insists they'll meet again. After a few months he spots her in a park in New York, and he makes a scene with his girlfriend (Shenaz Treasurywala), who turns out to be Rhea's childhood friend, which ends in their break-up.

Three years later, Karan is helping his mother plan a wedding that turns out to be Rhea's. Rhea is marrying Sameer (Abhishek Bachchan). They bicker again, but this time, they part on good terms. Years later in Paris, Karan is visiting his father (Rishi Kapoor), when he runs into Rhea. He learns from Rhea's mother (Kirron Kher) that Sameer has died in a car accident, and he sets out to help her reclaim her positive outlook on life. Karan returns to Mumbai, and three months later, Rhea and her mother visit. Sensing that she needs to be with a strait-laced, "boring guy," he conspires with Rhea's mother to fix her up with his shy best friend, Mihir (Jimmy Shergill). But eventually Mihir falls in love with a friend of Karan's, Diana (Isha Koppikar) and they get engaged. On the engagement night Rhea learns from drunk Diana about the conspiracy, and gets upset with Karan. Mihir makes Rhea realize hers and Karan's love for each other. That night Rhea and Karan consummate their relationship. Karan deems it a mistake and asks Rhea to marry him as he feels he took advantage of her, and that marriage will rectify the mistake. Rhea becomes upset, as she did not consider their actions a mistake; she realizes she loves him but tells Karan that they should not commit one more mistake by marrying for the wrong reasons. Rhea leaves him since Karan projects his confused feelings as guilt rather than as love for her. Karan realises his mistake and seeks her out. One year later Karan's cartoon Hum Tum becomes a hit and he writes a book about Hum and Tum. Basically the story is based on his lovestory with Rhea. Rhea reads that book and finds him in the press conference. Karan and Rhea reunite again. Karan admits his love for her, and they get married and have a baby girl.

Cast

Reception

The film had an above average opening and did fairly well at the Box Office, with a net gross of ₹305 million (US$4.8 million) (unadjusted for inflation). It was the seventh highest-grossing film of that year.

Critical reception of the film was mixed to positive. The most common form of criticism came from its "simplistic and at times dragging script". While critics were divided amongst their opinions about the film itself, the direction by Kunal Kohli and the performances by its lead and supporting casts were adequately praised.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama says that "casting is one of the film's strengths", arguing that "It would be hard to imagine anyone other than Saif as the wisecracking Karan...he makes Karan insufferable and likable at the same time...His arresting performance is sure to sky-rocket his fan-following amongst the youngsters." Adarsh also argues that "Rani's effervescent personality infuses Rhea with buoyancy, and, later in the film, she too shows a vulnerable side. Rani takes a giant leap as an actor...her performance is flawless."

2005 National Film Awards

2005 Filmfare Awards

2005 IIFA

2005 Screen Awards

2005 Zee Cine Awards

Soundtrack

Music of the film was given by Jatin Lalit and lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. The following are the songs of the film:-

The CD and audio cassette also feature an instrumental version of "Hum Tum" and a deleted song called "Yaara Yaara". This tune was reused in Kunal Kohli's next film, Fanaa, in the songs "Chand Sifarish" and, more noticeably, "Chanda Chamke". The latter has the same tune throughout the entire song. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 16,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's eighth highest-selling.

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