New Delhi: Karan Johar returns with his opulent high-class grand mansions fantasies with full fledged old-school love drama and joint families who absolutely act as a barrier between two polar opposite lovers. However, KJo, despite the expectation, failed to serve what expected from him.
With Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh in lead roles, the movie starts with a wide shot of Randhawa mansion whose only heir is Ranveer Singh aka Rocky.
Rocky who loves dancing, fears his controlling father and his Dadi, played by Jaya Bachchan. Meanwhile, Alia as Rani is a fearless journalist and she is quick to go at the julgular of politicians who justify rape and levels woman as ‘Mithai ka Dabba.’
The love story commences when Dharmendra who has a short-term memory loss craves for his lost girlfriend Jamini; a role essayed by Shabana Azmi.
Fighting or Promoting Stereotypes
The movie tries to fight many stereotypes like conveying the message that bra shopping is as natural as women washing their husband’s undergarments all their lives while still setting some stereotypical grounds to say that Karan Johar has become modern.
‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ includes fat shaming, women’s stigma of not speaking up and their undying urge of brushing their dreams under the carpet until someones introduce them to the concept of freedom.
When Alia’s family is portrayed as highly-educated just like an ideal Bengali family ought to be like, Ranveer’s is typical, controlling and think about only one thing – food or laddo in this case, considering their family business.
Things to Enjoy
The fun part about the film is that it it is loaded with old classic songs in new voices. These oldies with a new touch are melodious.
Talking about the melodies in the film, along with ‘Tum Kya Mile’, there is ‘Ve Kamleya’ in the voice of Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Shadab Faridi, Altamash Faridi under the music direction of Pritam and lyrics were given by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
‘What Jhumka?’ and ‘Dhindora Baje Re’ are good for their signature steps.
Why to Watch?
The film is flawed but still entertaining in its return to typical Bollywood flicks that was lost in recent cinema. The love story of the two is sweet and watching them flirting together was a treat.
The romance and realisation of love are the classic moments in the film.
Color and Cinematography
Alia is seen wearing soft colors, mostly pink, with deep back blouses and a Bindi to keep it ‘Bengali.’ Ranveer sports vibrant low-neck shirts until the moment he accepted Rani’s family.
A transformation soon happens and Rocky also starts wearing solid and simple colors like yellow and red, completely dropping printed outfits.
The aesthetic of the film is solid yet soothing to eyes. Like in ‘Dhindora Baje Re,’ red is the theme which appears to be sending love vibes rather than depicting danger.
Multiverse of KJo Films
The movie does not let you forget that you are in KJo’s world. It has too many references from DDLJ, Devdas, Mohabbatein and the cult K3G. Some of them are even inspired from meme culture on internet.
Focus
Apart from the hero-heroine’s love story and their struggle to convince their families, the movie focuses on father-son love, family values and oh! can’t forget the woman empowerment.
Failed to deliver
Everything and everyone gives their best but the film still misses the Karan Johar factor. Those expecting this to be one of the KJo’s cult will be left disappointed.
As Karan Johar tries to make it modern while also keeping it traditional in Dharma world, the director loses the connection with audience.
Didn’t match up the expectations
Spolier Here…
The plot kept Dharmendra’s and Shabana Azmi’s love story in centre and the comtemplations if the two lovers who were in an uncoventional relationship for years would meet again or not.
It felt like Karan Johar tried to play safe here so he does not have to break family values that he kept promoting in the film.
Had Dharamendra get along with Azami, it would have been a revoutionary as well as a break to Karan Johar from his unconditionally-loved family.
Ratings
All in all, the movie deserves a shot. But looking at all the flaws and technicalities, the movie appeared to have 3 ratings out of 5. Enjoy! If you choose to hit theatres.
