SYNOPSIS - CHORI CHORI CHUPKE CHUPKE
("SECRETLY AND SILENTLY")

  1. Journalist interviews the rich and famous industrialist, Mr. Kailashnath Malhotra. Kailash is the head of a very happy joint family household which includes his son and grandson, as well as Pappu (JOHNY LEVER), the son of his former manager, and Dr. Balraj, his personal physician. Balraj has Kailash on a strict diet to maintain his tenuous health. Kailash tells the journalist that all he lacks to be perfectly happy is a great grandson. Unfortunately, his grandson, Raj, refuses to even think of marrying. Raj is currently at a friend's wedding.

  2. At the wedding, Raj (SALMAN KHAN) is enchanted by a beautiful woman. (SONG: No. 1 Punjabi). Unfortunately, when he approaches her after their dance, he discovers that she has a child. Actually, it is her sister's child, but Priya (RANI MUKHERJEE) is too amused by Raj's erroneous assumption to correct him.

  3. Pappu, who is famous for his high-level connections, considers calling the Irrigation Ministry when the garden hose stops working. Raj sneaks sweets in to Kailash. When Kailash is busted by the rest of the family, he thinks up an excuse to escape a scolding, and tells the family he is eating sweets to celebrate Raj's decision to get married. Later, Raj makes clear to his grandfather that he does not want to get married!

  4. At the office, where Raj has an excellent relationship with his doting, as-yet-unwed secretary. Dr. Balraj calls to tell Raj that his grandfather is very ill. In fact, Kailash and the doctor are in cahoots to guilt-trip Raj into getting married. Suspicious, Raj calls his mother and discovers that Kailash is in fine health. Playing along, he shows up at Kailash's make-shift sickbed and exposes the scam. Exasperated with these never-ending antics, Raj finally resigns himself to marriage. Kailash is overjoyed.

  5. Raj goes to meet the girl his family has picked for him. It's Priya! However, still believing her to be married, Raj mistakenly assumes it's her elder sister he's come to meet. He is dismayed by her age, her plump cheeks, and her maternal appearance. Pappu, who knows it is Priya they have come to view, cannot understand these complaints. Finally the matter is cleared up and Raj is exhilarated to learn he is marrying Priya.

  6. Raj and Priya are married (SONG: Dulhan Ghar Aayi). They spend their honeymoon in Switzerland (SONG: Dekhne Waalon Ne).

  7. Raj and Priya return from Switzerland for a happy family reunion. Later, Raj gets a phone call. Upset by his secretive behavior, Priya demands to know who it is that he feels he cannot speak to in her presence. Raj braces himself, and asks her what she would do if she discovered that she had to share his love with someone else. Distraught, Priya declares that she would kill herself. She asks if he is in love with someone else. He admits that he is not, but adds that he soon will be. Laughing, he reveals all: the phone call was from the doctor, who wants them to know that Priya is pregnant.

  8. The house is incredibly happy at news of Priya's pregnancy. Envigorated by a new reason to live longer, Kailash swears off sweets. Later, the family fights over which picture they should hang in Priya's bedroom, since there is an old wives' tale that an unborn child will resemble whichever image its mother-to-be stares at the longest. Pappu wants the warrior-king Maharana Pratap to grace her wall; others want the picture to be of a great cricket player. The decision goes to Priya, who laughingly admits she already has posted the picture of the man she most wants her child to resemble. The picture, naturally, is of Raj.

  9. At a cricket game, Priya has an accident. She miscarries her child.

  10. The doctor tells Raj that, in order to save Priya, he has been forced to remove her uterus and ovaries. She cannot conceive another child. Both Priya and Raj are crushed. The doctor warns them against telling Kailash, as the news may trigger another heart attack, and this one would surely be fatal.

  11. As they prepare to return home, Raj warns Priya that the only way to keep their family from crying is to keep from crying themselves.

  12. Raj and Priya return home. The family seeks to comfort Priya by reassuring her that there will be other children, but naturally, this only makes her sadder.

  13. Priya frets that one day the family will discover the truth, and view their secrecy as a betrayal. Raj suggests he accept a position abroad, where they can secretly adopt a child and then claim it is their natural offspring. Priya is unenthusiastic; Raj reminds her they have no other choice.

  14. Kailash wakes from a dream of playing with a great-grandchild who looks just like Raj. He assures Priya that the dreams one has during the daytime always come true. Later, a desperate Priya begs Raj to marry again, explaining that she can never be a mother, but he can still be a dad. Raj refuses, gently asking her if she would marry again if the accident had happened to him.

  15. Priya gets the idea of hiring a surrogate mother. However, because of the family's fame, they could not go through a doctor (so artificial insemination is out of the question if they want this to remain a secret). Raj balks at the idea of sleeping with another woman, but Priya argues her case convincingly: "You can get sadness for free, but you have to pay a price for happiness. I'd share our love for the sake of our baby." Raj points out that finding a woman to play surrogate mother would be very difficult; Priya confidently asserts, "If it is my fate to be a mother, we will find someone."

  16. Raj sounds out the efficacy of the idea by proposing it to his secretary as something "his friend" needs done. She is horrified and offended at the thought of bearing a child out of wedlock. Afterward, Raj is obsessed with wondering whether each woman he meets would help them.

  17. Raj picks up a woman he believes is thumbing a ride. She turns out to be a prostitute. Rattled, Raj still asks her if she'd be willing to spend a year with him for money. She cannot, because she has two people to feed, but she refers him to her friend Madhubala, a dancer at the Deepa Bar.

  18. Madhubala (PREITY ZINTA) performs (SONG: Diwana Diwana). Madhubala meets Raj, who takes her to a swanky hotel to discuss the matter. She is mercenary, brash, and uncultured; she laughs at his wife's misfortune. However, she is awed by the amount of money he offers her to bear his child, and accepts, on one condition: that he never kiss her on the lips. Raj has a condition too: that she never reveal her past to his wife. He renames her "Madhu" and gives her money to buy clothes. (This film now begs the pun be made: Preity Woman.)

  19. Surprise, Julia Roberts fans! The shopkeepers won't serve Madhu, witheringly informing her that they do not serve her kind. The hotel manager will not let her return to her room, but the elevator man vouches for her. She runs crying to Raj, interrupting his business meeting and earning the leering attention of Raj's business partner and longtime friend, Ajay.

  20. Raj, though embarrassed by her untimely appearance, is also sympathetic and angered on her behalf. He takes her back to the store, where he makes his identity known and requires the proprietor to serve Madhu. Madhu examines nearly everything in the store, and then agrees with Raj when he informs the owner that, while he had been prepared to buy the entire stock, nothing here is good enough for Madhu. They leave.

  21. Madhu's makeover is effected.

  22. Raj and Priya prepare to move to Switzerland. Raj's mother gives Priya an amulet to wear while pregnant, to protect the baby. Priya meets Madhu, who has practiced her greeting and now appears sophisticated and chic. Priya thanks her earnestly for what she's going to do for them.

  23. Switzerland. Priya and Raj are unpleasantly surprised when her cousin shows up to greet them at the airport. His son is having his sacred thread ceremony in a week, and he insists they come to it. Priya introduces Madhu as an acquaintance from the plane trip.

  24. Priya, Raj, and Madhu arrive at their house. Priya is fascinated by the lingering evidence of her happy honeymoon. Madhu is enchanted by the view of the pool from Priya's room, and Priya graciously changes rooms with her. Later, after a sleepless and unhappy night, Priya realizes that Raj and Madhu have not yet slept together.

  25. Priya and Madhu plot to effect Raj's seduction. Priya takes advantage of a coming snowstorm to "get stranded" for the night, leaving Madhu and Raj alone. Raj sees through her ploy; she is unrepentant, reminding him of their larger goal. He gets drunk, and Madhu seduces him.

  26. Madhu becomes pregnant. Priya gives her the amulet to wear. The three of them settle into a remarkably happy life (SONG: Diwana Hai Ye Man).

  27. Madhu is worried that her pregnancy is not showing. Priya reassures her.

  28. At the launch of Raj's cosmetics company, Raj gives the honor of "launching" it to Madhu, who is shocked, humbled, and thrilled to feel so respected and loved. Later, however, Ajay recognizes her and makes clear that he'd like a night with her, and will pay well for it. Destroyed by the mistaken assumption that Raj has told Ajay of her past, Madhu bolts.

  29. Madhu confronts Raj, demanding to know why he would make her feel so cherished, only to knock her on her face when she least suspects it. She says she's never been made to feel so cheap, even when she was on the streets. Raj defends himself: he never told Ajay she was a prostitute; he simply guessed it when she showed up at the business meeting in Mumbai. Unknown to them both, Priya overhears. Madhu, disbelieving Raj, goes to leave. She runs into Priya, who innocently asks why she's so upset. Madhu, unwilling to lower herself in Priya's eyes, lies to her, explaining that Raj told Ajay she was pregnant and couldn't dance. She retires, and Priya confesses to Raj that she overheard everything, and he was right to conceal Madhu's past, since she might never have been able to look past it to the beautiful person that Madhu really is. She adds that they could not have found a better woman to have their baby.

  30. Madhu is still fuming, so Priya doesn't feel comfortable with them both going to her cousin's sacred thread ceremony. She makes Raj stay behind and console Priya. He apologizes again to Madhu.

  31. Madhu is alone at the house when Ajay shows up with lascivious intentions. He assaults her, and Raj saves her, telling Ajay that were it not for their past friendship, he'd be a dead man. He adds that Madhu is worth more to him than all the money in the world. He then nurses Madhu and puts her to bed.

  32. Madhu, who was already falling for him, is now hopelessly in love with Raj (SONG: Chori Chori Chupke Chupke).

  33. Madhu tells Raj that when she was little, her mother used to tell her stories about a prince on a white horse, who swooped down and carried a poor girl away to married happiness. She adds that when she got older, there were no white horses, but a lot of white cars, and a lot of princes. None of them ever took her away, though; they just came to buy her. Gradually she realized that her mother's story was just that - a fairy tale. As she concludes her tale, Raj's family appears, sending Madhu and Priya into the back room to pin a pillow beneath Priya's skirts.

  34. Madhu ingratiates herself to Raj's family, who believes she is the wife of a businessman currently abroad. When Kailash asks what her husband does, Priya and Raj are quick to step in and help her create a credible story.

  35. Kailash recites for Priya an auspicious story for mothers-to-be. Madhu joins them. He says that this story causes a warm happy feel to radiate from the womb; Madhu confirms this. Kailash assures Madhu that, though her husband has left her here, he is surely always thinking about her and their baby.

  36. Priya pawns off on Madhu a very hot ginger sweet that her mother-in-law always makes her eat when pregnant. Madhu gets stuck eating another as well. Raj's mother notices that Madhu's legs are swollen, and offers to massage them. Madhu is rather appalled (the feet are the most unclean part of the body, so this is a very intimate and caring act), and then incredibly moved. She tells Raj's mother that she has no family in the whole world (apart from her husband), and Raj's mother tells her never to say that again, since Raj's family is now her own as well.

  37. Kailash has arranged a god bharaaii ceremony (a ceremony performed for a pregnant woman, to bless the unborn baby), and insists they return to Delhi for it. Raj mentions his promise to Madhu's husband to take care of her, and then blatantly "betrays" it by wishing her luck and advising her to call an ambulance when her time comes. Naturally, this neatly manuevers Kailash into insisting that Madhu accompany them to Delhi.

  38. In Delhi. Madhu offers to dress Priya and bring her down for the ceremony; Raj's mother gently tells her that she must not attend the ceremony, as the priest has decided that only one pregnant woman can attend. She stresses the huge importance of the ceremony, and this makes Priya so nervous that she finally decides that Madhu must attend in her place. Madhu can wear the veil, and no one will know that she's not Priya. Raj places Priya's mangalsutra (a necklace married Hindu women wear) on Madhu. At the ceremony, the adults bless her; Priya's sister assures her that the darkness of her mehndi means that Raj loves her deeply (SONG: MEHNDY). Priya watches from the shadows, alternately exhilarated for her baby and deeply depressed that she cannot be in Madhu's place.

  39. After the ceremony, Madhu panics and runs away. Priya chases her down at the train station, where Madhu insists she cannot give up her baby. Priya begs her to change her mind, reminding her that the whole Malhotra family's hopes and dreams are pinned on the child. Madhu says she will kill herself before she gives up the child. Priya promises her anything in exchange for the child. Madhu says, okay, give me your husband. Priya is appalled, and bitterly exclaims that Madhu has shown her true colors and roots after all. Raj shows up just as Madhu collapses in pain.

  40. At the hospital. Madhu must have an operation. The doctor solemnly informs Raj and Priya that the baby is turned the wrong way, and it will only be possible to save one of them, child or mother. Priya instantly tells him to save the mother.

  41. A miracle: both mother and child are saved! Madhu tells Priya that though she wanted to save the mother, the doctor saved both: "Both the mother and your baby... Your baby's mom. This baby is yours."

  42. Madhu packs. Priya asks her not to leave, saying that she will confess everything to the Malhotras, and if two brothers can live under the same roof, why not two sisters? Madhu gently tells her that while she had found a family in the Malhotras, she had lacked a sister until this day. "So let me remain your sister, not your co-wife... Only you have rights over this family." She leaves.

  43. At the airport. Raj gives Madhu the keys to her new house and some blank checks. Madhu will not accept them. She says that the photograph she has of his family is all she needs, and that if she took any money, she would feel too much like a woman who had sold her child. She assures him, however, that she is not going back to the streets: "You touched me once; no one can now touch me again." The end.
Lyrics, Synopses, Vocabulary | BollyWHAT? Forum | Blogs | B'wood Biographies | B'wood Music | FAQs | WorldWideBollyWeb | About | Home