I knew I'd like the movie. Because I am an Alia fan. Because I love old school family dramas. Because I enjoy Karan Johar's direction and vision. I ended up loving the movie.
RR has all the masala and the twists for a Bollywood hit. And it feels like a hit without a single macho punch being pulled anywhere on screen. It also hit close to home for very personal reasons. There are simply too many similarities right now between my life and various episodes in the film. I think that's important for a good movie. And that's why I loved it - because I connected with it.
The story is simple. An intelligent, self-made, independent, educated woman falls in love with a rich, loud, narcissistic, lovable, carefree man. Families realise the disparity and the lovers decide to test themselves in each other's spaces for a few months.
In the midst of it all, you throw in a septuagenarian romance that's links the families further. A matriarch who governs with an iron hand (already done in Ram Leela with a far greater flair) but this doesn't include physical but emotional violence. A house governed by ambition and a quest for material prosperity. The other house governed by freedom and a quest for intellectual betterment and acceptance.
The movie doesn't just tackle the romance and the odds of the hero and heroine. But interlinked within the families, each character struggles to find a voice or realises that the voice they were using could be biased at best and cruel at worst, as well.
The film has both Pride and Prejudice. It's a subtle encapsulation of how people look down upon people, how we form prejudices based on past experiences and why it is important to realise our own trauma and make peace with due apologies. Every person in the movie is flawed. And growth happens with the realisation of these flaws and seeking to better one's self through mature decisions. The only abrupt change that seemed jarring was the write-off they gave Dhanlakshmi, Jaya's character. But in a way, it was for the best, because it was in keeping with her character that the change wasn't radical or real, but implied off-screen.
Dharmendra and Jaya Bachchan are brilliantly cast in characters just made for them. Shabana steals the screen when she is on it, as the woman who experienced true love for a few days that lasted a lifetime. She battled abuse and raises a son who is different from the typical idea of what a man should be and do, in India. This is brave (uncannily) and well handled by Karan. The scene where Alia's father is ridiculed speaks to every boy who grows up different in a patriarchal society. Ranveer's Rocky wears an outfit that's vomit green as he laughs with the crowd. I noticed it, Karan.
The monologue Rocky gives addressing the ridicule Rani's father faced, after a Kathak performance, is worth an honourable mention. It speaks of the need to understand not just what is considered woke in the modern day world but also the dangers of cancel culture that circles around it. For those who say that never happens to men who are into classical dance, you truly either live in a different world or choose to ignore the problems that are very much around in this world.
Rani's character excels in her confrontation with Rocky's father. It is the frustration of all liberal mentality that reaches a crescendo there. The dangers of that is almost as bad as the despotic power that Dhanlakshmi holds over her entire family. Almost. But not quite.
The costumes were extensions of the characters. Rani was mostly dressed in the most beautiful sarees, since Sridevi's performance in English Vinglish. Red being her colour and the implication of red being the colour of true love and passion, given it being the colour of the most sensitive character, of Rocky's grandfather, essayed by Dharmendra. It is perhaps the colour that flares out when poetry is ousted by industry. Rocky thus wears a riot of colours, because he has it all in him and Ranveer can carry off all of them because he knows he can.
There are a multitude of old song covers. Mostly from a favourite film of mine, Hum Dono. And the songs set to the OST of the movie are not particularly engaging but they work for the tempo of the movie. My favourite is actually not the title song but Ve Kamleya.
All in all, I end with my personal opinion that Karan Johar has written a wonderful script. He has applied himself once again to creating a family drama for the modern world and he has succeeded. The movie is exemplary for the fact that it speaks of breaking away from issues that do not truly matter and finding ground in a world that is trying to find a place for each person's uniqueness.
RR has all the masala and the twists for a Bollywood hit. And it feels like a hit without a single macho punch being pulled anywhere on screen. It also hit close to home for very personal reasons. There are simply too many similarities right now between my life and various episodes in the film. I think that's important for a good movie. And that's why I loved it - because I connected with it.
The story is simple. An intelligent, self-made, independent, educated woman falls in love with a rich, loud, narcissistic, lovable, carefree man. Families realise the disparity and the lovers decide to test themselves in each other's spaces for a few months.
In the midst of it all, you throw in a septuagenarian romance that's links the families further. A matriarch who governs with an iron hand (already done in Ram Leela with a far greater flair) but this doesn't include physical but emotional violence. A house governed by ambition and a quest for material prosperity. The other house governed by freedom and a quest for intellectual betterment and acceptance.
The movie doesn't just tackle the romance and the odds of the hero and heroine. But interlinked within the families, each character struggles to find a voice or realises that the voice they were using could be biased at best and cruel at worst, as well.
The film has both Pride and Prejudice. It's a subtle encapsulation of how people look down upon people, how we form prejudices based on past experiences and why it is important to realise our own trauma and make peace with due apologies. Every person in the movie is flawed. And growth happens with the realisation of these flaws and seeking to better one's self through mature decisions. The only abrupt change that seemed jarring was the write-off they gave Dhanlakshmi, Jaya's character. But in a way, it was for the best, because it was in keeping with her character that the change wasn't radical or real, but implied off-screen.
Dharmendra and Jaya Bachchan are brilliantly cast in characters just made for them. Shabana steals the screen when she is on it, as the woman who experienced true love for a few days that lasted a lifetime. She battled abuse and raises a son who is different from the typical idea of what a man should be and do, in India. This is brave (uncannily) and well handled by Karan. The scene where Alia's father is ridiculed speaks to every boy who grows up different in a patriarchal society. Ranveer's Rocky wears an outfit that's vomit green as he laughs with the crowd. I noticed it, Karan.
The monologue Rocky gives addressing the ridicule Rani's father faced, after a Kathak performance, is worth an honourable mention. It speaks of the need to understand not just what is considered woke in the modern day world but also the dangers of cancel culture that circles around it. For those who say that never happens to men who are into classical dance, you truly either live in a different world or choose to ignore the problems that are very much around in this world.
Rani's character excels in her confrontation with Rocky's father. It is the frustration of all liberal mentality that reaches a crescendo there. The dangers of that is almost as bad as the despotic power that Dhanlakshmi holds over her entire family. Almost. But not quite.
The costumes were extensions of the characters. Rani was mostly dressed in the most beautiful sarees, since Sridevi's performance in English Vinglish. Red being her colour and the implication of red being the colour of true love and passion, given it being the colour of the most sensitive character, of Rocky's grandfather, essayed by Dharmendra. It is perhaps the colour that flares out when poetry is ousted by industry. Rocky thus wears a riot of colours, because he has it all in him and Ranveer can carry off all of them because he knows he can.
There are a multitude of old song covers. Mostly from a favourite film of mine, Hum Dono. And the songs set to the OST of the movie are not particularly engaging but they work for the tempo of the movie. My favourite is actually not the title song but Ve Kamleya.
All in all, I end with my personal opinion that Karan Johar has written a wonderful script. He has applied himself once again to creating a family drama for the modern world and he has succeeded. The movie is exemplary for the fact that it speaks of breaking away from issues that do not truly matter and finding ground in a world that is trying to find a place for each person's uniqueness.