Rhythmanalysing New York through Diasporic Lens: A Study of Nikhil Advani’s Kal Ho Naa Ho and Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Bollywood movies set in New York form a significant part of the oeuvre of the cultural expressions of diasporic India. Part of the appeal of the city for Indian film-makers lies in the intensity of its rhythms and the ability of the diasporic subject to perceive these rhythms as a ‘rhythmanalyst'. The diasporic subject thus becomes the perfect rhythmanalyst in that (s)he is both a part of the city's rhythm and yet, essentially outside it. He/she contributes to it, yet, (s)he can be a passive spectator, gazing at the street and the city from a location that is unique to him/her. The everyday spectacle of the street, the music of the city, can be perceived in all its complexities by the diasporic subject with his/her ability to be both internal and external to the city. The city as a text unfurls itself before the diasporic rhythmanalyst, thereby making it possible for him/her to perceive an alternate vision of the new ‘homeland'. My paper attempts to explore how the diasporic subjects in Nikhil Advani's Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) and Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) make and perceive the rhythms in their ‘adopted' homelands and how these rhythms merge into the quotidian life of the diasporic Indian in New York, as depicted in these movies.