Kal Ho Naa Ho, Part 25

Aman’s eyes open slowly. He looks around as his mother tells him that everyone has come to meet him. He’s in the hospital. Oh, Aman, couldn’t you have said no to the dandia, just this once? Everyone (Jennifer, Gia, Shiv, Dadi, Chadda, Jazz, Sweetu, Rohit, and Naina) looks at Aman sadly. Actually, Naina avoids eye contact, but a single tear falls picturesquely from her eye. Aman waves hi to Gia, who gives him a flower. He asks her to marry him, but Gia shakes her head no. Aman looks at her so pathetically that she eventually nods her assent. Jennifer tells Gia that they’ll come back tomorrow. But what if tomorrow never ho naa hos? Or something. Jennifer strokes Aman’s face and does the bosom for a pillow thing, then takes off with Shiv and Gia. Dadi, Jazz, and Sweetu sob and wish him goodnight, then exit with Chadda, leaving Rohit and Naina. They gaze at each other meaningfully as Naina tries to hold back her tears. Rohit places a hand on her shoulder, then Naina walks away from him to sit on the bed. She draws closer to Aman, looking as though she wants to make out with him, but Aman shakes his head, trying to alert her to the inappropriateness of making out with him right in front of her new husband. Aman tells Naina that she’s gained weight. That’s always a good way to get a woman to not want to make out with you. Naina smiles for a moment, then stares at him tearfully. Suddenly she gasps and runs out of the room, collapsing into sobs in the hallway.

And then there were two little Indians. Rohit sits on the bed and asks Aman how he’s feeling. Aman says gently but sarcastically that he’s feeling fantastic. Embarrassed, Rohit smiles and apologizes. Aman tells Rohit that Naina is his in this life, but that she will belong to Aman in every life after this. So apparently in Naina’s future incarnations, repressive patriarchial concepts of ownership will still be around. Rohit shakes his head, but Aman tells him to promise that Naina will be his. Rohit eventually offers his promise, but then reveals his crossed fingers. Aman snickers and calls him a dog, but Rohit uncrosses his fingers and promises again. I wonder in what lifetime Aman and Rohit will get together. Aman tells him that he wants to sleep, but asks Rohit to wake him up before he leaves. They shake hands, then Aman turns away and closes his eyes. Rohit gets scared and asks, “Aman?” Aman opens his eyes and tells him that he’s not dying just yet. Rohit sniffles and then laughs. As Rohit lets go of Aman’s hand, Naina peeks through the window sadly.

Voiceover Naina turns into real life Naina, because it’s now “0 years later.” I think the aspect ratio on the DVD is a bit off. Maybe it’s 20 years later? Naina explains that Aman went away, leaving them all behind, and became a memory. She tells grown-up Gia that Aman was both her and Gia’s first love, and that she can never forget him. Though apparently Gia has, if Naina feels the need to explain all this to her. Naina says that Aman taught her how to love life, love herself, and love Rohit. I wonder if he also suggested the idea of a loving threesome with Gita or the What Not to Wear lady. Rohit walks up behind Naina and emphasizes that “they” can never forget Aman. Fashions don’t seem to have changed much 0 years into the future. Rohit gives Naina a hug, then some teenager who I would never have pegged as Indian calls Naina “Mom” and asks if they can go inside because it’s getting cold. As they follow their caucasian daughter Ria inside, Rohit says that he hasn’t told Naina lately that he loves her. I wonder if Naina has ever told Rohit that she loves him, other than that fake time at the restaurant. Voiceover Naina explains that every girl dreams of finding a good friend in her husband, but that she was lucky to find her husband in her best friend. As they walk through the snow-dusted grounds of their Conneticut estate, Ria and Gia play with a black and white dog, perhaps the love child of Laila and the German Shepherd. Voiceover Naina tells us that her name is Naina Catherine Kapur Patel, and that this was her story. But now it’s over!

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