It was the year 2002. Bollywood presented a romantic drama, Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, the story of a not-so-ideal couple and a friend who just can’t stop meddling in their relationship. Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Salman Khan, the premise of the 2002 movie revolved around just one word, jealousy. Decades later, I rewatched Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam and I realised SRK’s character Gopal deserved some amount of empathy. Cos Madhuri as Radha could have been a bit mature in maintaining her friendship with Suraj (Salman).
And I am not saying just for the sake of it, I have valid reasons that made me believe so. Here are 8 scenes from the 2002 film that speaks volumes of Radha’s mixing up two kinda relationships way too much.
1. When Radha acted like a mom to man-child Suraj
In a scene, sexually-charged Gopal wished to play “football” (read: get intimate) with his wife at night and Suraj just couldn’t leave them alone and dialled her phone number. What pisses me off the most is how Radha acted like a mother to Suraj, the man-child who just couldn’t have brought the tablet himself to get relieved from julaabh. Instead, she could have asked Suraj to buy the tablet and not disturb them. Matlab thik hai dost hai but stop being his mom, no? Why ruin the moment between husband and wife for diarrhoea. Eh?
Agar tabiyat zyada kharab ho jaye na toh mujhe phone kardena, mai inko leke wahan pahunch jaungi.
-Radha
Uski dekhbhal karne wala koi nahin hai na, bechara Suraj.
-Radha
2. When Radha involved Suraj on her romantic holiday with Gopal
In another scene, Gopal wants to spend some quality time with his wife, Radha, and he plans a honeymoon trip to Switzerland. And bam! Suraj calls and tells that he is also going there. Stupid Radha chose to invite Suraj, a friend, on a romantic holiday with her husband. This makes Gopal upset and he ends up cancelling the Switzerland plan. I am sure, no partner wants an over-friendly dost on such trip. “Kabaab mein haddi.”
Hamare sath hi chalo na hum bhi toh parso Switzerland ja rahe hain.
-Radha
And this doesn’t end here.
Garam kapde lekar rakhna wahan bahot thand hoti hai. Aur woh jo sweater maine tumhare liye banaya tha na woh bhi lekar rakhna.
-Radha
3. When Radha gives Gopal’s shirt to Suraj without asking him
When everyone is back from the trips, Suraj enters their house unannounced and asks Radha, “Accha batao, mere liye kya laayi ho?” Radha passes on an orange shirt to him but Suraj likes the striped one which is for Gopal. She agrees to it without even consulting her husband cos uski pasand kahan matter karti hai? Aur dost ko naraz nahin karna na. Radha also let Suraj change shirt in front of her. Which kind of partner would appreciate such things? Went too overboard, Radha.
Thik hai, ye mai unke liye laai thi lekin tum rakh lo. Mai unhein ye dedungi.
-Radha
4. When Radha tells Suraj she would call him after Gopal leaves for office
Suraj wants to tell Radha that he has confessed his love to Suman (Aishwarya Rai’s character) and she also did. In a scene, Suraj dials Radha’s number and says, “Dekho, mujhe tumse bahot important baat karni hai.” Radha be like, “Abhi nahin, abhi nahin, woh office jane ki tyaari kar rahe hain.” Then, Suraj says he will call her in 10-15 mins after Gopal leaves. Radha be like:
Nahin nahin, unke office jaane ke baad mai tumhein phone karungi.
-Radha
And Gopal listens to the entire conversation which ends with Suraj talking about falling in love. This makes Gopal’s misunderstanding stronger that they are seeing each other. Wrong choice of words is all I can say, stupid Radha.
5. When Radha shares ghar-ka-jhagde with Suraj
In a scene, Gopal hits Radha’s brother, Prashant, cos he accidentally sees former’s sister taking bath. Radha ends up calling Suraj and telling that she asked Prashant to leave the house. Gopal sees that she is again on the phone with Suraj. Not just that, Radha even tells Suraj that she only trust him. I mean thik hai, Gopal shouldn’t have hit Prashant in anger, but Radha had the option to solve these ghar-ke-jhagde amongst her family members. But she made Suraj a part of it and said things like:
Mujhe bas tum par hi bharosa hai. Tumhin to mere dukh-sukh ko samjh sakte ho.
-Radha
6. When Radha unnecessarily mentions Suraj while Gopal tries to sing and play
In a scene, when Gopal goes downstairs and tries to croon and play piano cos Radha really loves singing, she ends up making him feel so tiny by mentioning that he can never sing like Suraj. I agree that Gopal sounded really bad while singing but Radha could have easily not done that. Again, wrong choice of words.
Kyun itni koshish kar rahe hain? Aap kabhi Suraj jaisa achcha nahin gaa sakte. Uski aawaz mein jo jaadu hai woh dil mein utarta hai.
-Radha
7. When Suraj is leaving cos Gopal reaches home but Radha is like betho naa!
In a scene, when Gopal sees Radha and Suraj doing all the gup at their house, he is obviously jealous. Gopal leaves and Suraj tells Radha to prepare tea-coffee for him cos he is also leaving. But Radha certainly doesn’t want to let Gopal have chain-ki-saans and requests Suraj to stay for a Horlicks drink. I mean, c’mon Radha.
Tum betho na, mai tumhare liye horlicks banati hoon. Kaise bhul sakti hoon mai.
-Radha
8. When Radha celebrates her birthday with Suraj not Gopal
Her marriage is having issues cos of Suraj’s meddling behaviour but she still sees him at times. In a scene, when Radha goes to meet Suraj and to see his fiancé, she gets her birthday surprise from him instead. Radha expects Gopal to attend the cake-cutting ceremony despite knowing the reason of her rift with him. She could have tried to meet Gopal and sort out their issues, but nay! Thode efforts dalo beta? No, I am not in favour of Gopal forgetting her birthday either.
Pehle unko aane do, woh aa rahe hain na.
-Radha
These scenes will make you believe that Radha in Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam was a flawed character. Having a BFF is not a problem, but don’t be a mom of such man-child or invite him to a honeymoon trip with your husband. Cringe AF. And of course, Suraj was flawed too. I mean, there can be an entire article written on him. Saare-ke-saare flawed hain but Gopal is the only one who gets all the hate.
Yeah yeah, I know, Gopal wasn’t a doodh-ka-dhula either. He was a toxic man who tells woman how to dress up and tortures his wife at times cos of jealousy. However, BFFs Radha and Sooraj were equally responsible for the nok-jhok between husband and wife. Their friendship made the situation worse that the couple were heading for a divorce.
No, I don’t have a problem with Radha and Suraj being childhood friends, but she could have kept both marriage and friendship separated from each other. Immature Radha chose to mix them instead. Chhoti bachchi ho kya?
