Rohit and his younger brother Amit are orphans who live with their aunt and uncle. Rohit is an aspiring singer and works at an automobile showroom to make ends meet. Through his job, he meets Sonia, daughter of rich businessman, Saxena, who is friends with his boss, Malik. They encounter each other several times, one of which is on a cruise ship. When Sonia gets jealous of the female attention Rohit attracts, they drunkenly argue, fall into a lifeboat, and pass out. The boat floats to a deserted island. The two fall in love while stranded there together.

They are rescued by Saxena, but their relationship is rejected, as he does not want his daughter marrying below her financial status. As a result, Rohit loses his job, but Rohit challenges Saxena that he will be successful in order to win Sonia's heart. Rohit's friends help him cut a music record to establish himself so he can be worthy of Sonia. On the eve of his first concert, he goes to pick up Amit from school and inadvertently witnesses the murder of the police commissioner by his boss Malik and two corrupt policemen after the commissioner confronts them about their illegal drug dealings. Saxena, the true leader of this drug cartel, orders Rohit's death as he is now a witness. The policemen knock him off the bridge into the sea. Rohit, not knowing how to swim, drowns; his body remains on the seafloor and is unable to be recovered.

Sonia, under the belief that Rohit died in an accident, is devastated and falls into depression. Saxena sends her to her cousin's family in New Zealand to give her a change of scenery. There, Sonia is stunned when she encounters a look-alike of Rohit named Raj and thinks that Rohit was somehow saved. Seeing that he is a good singer as well, she initially believes him to be Rohit but is disheartened to learn that he is a New Zealand native and has never visited India. Raj falls in love with Sonia, but she avoids him, as it hurts her to see someone else with Rohit's face.

Raj accompanies Sonia on her return flight to India but accepts her rejection. They bid goodbye at the airport, when suddenly, someone shoots Raj in the arm. He and Sonia flee and realize that someone mistook Raj for Rohit, meaning his death may not have been an accident. They visit Rohit's family and friends, discovering that Amit had become mute since his death. Amit finally speaks upon seeing Raj, and reveals that he witnessed Rohit being chased by his murderers and that his death was ordered by someone Malik called "Sirjee."

Raj, Sonia, and Rohit's friends revive Rohit's concert, announcing that he has returned as a way to draw out his murderers. Raj performs but the plan backfires, as the policemen instead kidnap Sonia. Raj rescues her and kills the policemen, avenging Rohit's death. Saxena kills Malik before Malik can reveal Saxena's involvement. However, when Raj calls 'Sirjee's' number on Malik's phone, Saxena's phone rings, revealing him to be the leader. Saxena is arrested. Raj decides to take Amit back with him to New Zealand. Sonia confesses her feelings for him, saying she doesn't want to lose her love again, and goes back with him as well. In the end, Raj and Sonia get engaged.

• Hrithik Roshan in double roles as
  • Rohit: an aspiring singer from a lower middle-class background in India; Sonia's love interest
  • Raj Chopra: an NRI billionaire businessman and singer residing in New Zealand; 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
• 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
• Ashish Vidyarthi as Inspector Satish Shinde: a corrupt officer in Mr. Saxena's payroll
• 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

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.^[13] Rakesh, who had known Ameesha Patel's family for a long time, cast her in the role within 3 days.^[14]

The ship scenes were filmed aboard the Star Flyer.^[15] The island scenes were filmed in Krabi, Thailand, in the area near Khao Phing Kan (popularly known as James Bond Island).^[16]

Critical reception edit

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.^{[failed verification][17]} 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."^[18] 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."^[19]

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."^[20]

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."^[21] 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."^[22] 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'."^[23]

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.^[24][25]

Box-office edit

In India, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2000.^[26] When adjusted for inflation, it was the 11th highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time as of 2011,^[27] and the sixth highest-grossing film of the 2000s.^[28]

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.^[30]

The film's soundtrack album sold about 8.5 to 10 million units becoming one of its decades best selling Bollywood soundtrack of all time.^[31] The soundtrack was #70 on the list of "100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time", as compiled by Planet Bollywood.

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.

• List of highest-grossing Bollywood films

• Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai at IMDb  
• Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai at Rotten Tomatoes
• Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai on Facebook