Rakesh Roshan's formula-breaking effort, which banishes the traditional notion of musical romances, is the first Bollywood sci-fi film complete with aliens and dance routines. In an uncharacteristic performance, Hrithik Roshan plays a mentally-challenged child who, after facing ridicule and torment, finds solace with extra-terrestrials.
The plot - local town witnesses spaceship landing, young boy befriends marooned alien - makes nods towards Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and E.T., but what renders it distinctive (and affecting) is that each stylish segment is suffused with its own atmosphere. For example, when a boy faces scorn from a teacher, but wins a basketball match against all odds, the sequence combines tremendous emotional appeal with a sizeable suspension of disbelief. The most novel Bollywood movie of the year.