Gist: Aleya, Ankush and Anjali, the three children of Maya (Kajol) and Aman (Arjun Rampal), have to cope with the fact that their parents are divorced and that there is a new woman in their father's life: Shreya (Kareena Kapoor), a successful fashion designer, who’s in love with photographer, Aman. She does her best to treat the kids in a way that makes them still feel at home when being with their dad, but also loves her work and does not plan to give it up. But Maya, a full-time mother, regards Shreya’s efforts as only for the sake of it. She can't understand that work can be important to her as well as the kids. The conflict between them is deepened by the sudden diagnose of cancer, which may be deadly for Maya. They all have to learn a little in order to grow together.
Now. I will give the review in two ways… one, compared to the the true Hollywood classic Stepmom and the other independently Bollywood.
Compared to Stepmom: (ignore this part, if you haven’t watched Stepmom because there may be spoilers)
- In the opening credits, they write that it’s “based on” Stepmom… duh! It’s a complete copy! The story, the
characters, turn of events are exactly the same! In certain important scenes, even the dialogues are the EXACT translation in Hindi. So basically, this is not any adaptation… this is a ditto! - There are few changes that did not make ANY difference or impact to the movie. First is the shuffle of the sequence of events. Stepmom was more clearer… here, things just happen!
- In Stepmom, Julia Roberts was the photographer and the pampered little kid was Ben, the magician. In We Are Family the Arjun Rampal is the photographer who works with a fashion designer, played by Kareena and the little fairy princess, Anjali was the pampered one. The real mom’s (Susan Sarandon or Kajol) profession is just not told in both the versions! Lol.
- Susan undergoes Chemotherapy whereas Kajol undergoes Radiotherapy. Both don’t lose hair in the movie. Hmmm but they show Kajol loosing a handful of it while combing… yet, she looked perfect after that. Brand Ambassador of Olay Total Effects… that’s why??
- The biggest difference was that in Stepmom, the stepmom gets to know about the cancer first. In We Are Family she gets to know about it last. Did not make ANY difference! There are other small differences surrounding this part too… don’t make a difference!
- To be honest, We Are Family is nothing compared to Stepmom. The kids in We Are Family who are important characters are so cardboard-like. All in all, if you have watched Stepmom you will be bored to watch this one.
As an independent movie:
- Bad acting by the kids in the movie who are very important characters to the story. Typical dialogues given to them and even sometimes to Kajol and Kareena too!
- In certain scenes, the movie looks like a Pepsodent or a Life Insurance Company ad, where we see “happy family” and “all smiles” and “yaay”s everywhere! Urrrgh!!
- Horrible background music… sorry Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy. A touchy moment is going on, Kajol is going to cry, and Brraaaeeaaamm goes the electric guitar!!
- My BIGGEST disappointment with the movie is that they copied the classic Jailhouse Rock by the legendary Elvis Presley. Copying is fine and they took the rights as well… but they ruined it!! Bad lyrics, bad video, bad dancing! It turned out too Bollywood-ish!!! There was Bhangra in between too!! Only Daler Mehndi and Falguni Pathak were missing!!!
- For the good parts: Nice acting by Kajol, Kareena and Arjun. Both the ladies look stunning! Good overall appeal by the movie as a whole.
- If you have no idea about Stepmom then you will not love, but you’ll surely like this movie. It’s a good watch if you haven’t watched Stepmom.
Looking from an independent point of view too, I’m giving this 3 Stars. Removing half for ruining Jailhouse Rock!!
21/2 Stars 
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