Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi : A well managed simple Love story.
The much awaited Shahrukh Khan starrer “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” is here. It has come after a while since his last movie, OSO came last year. And it confirms why Shahrukh is considered the Super Star of Bollywood, with hardly any lows in his career.
RNBDJ also marks the comeback of Aditaya Chopra as a director. And what a comeback it has been. With an array of Yash Raj Films doing badly (Tashan, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, etc). I guess Aditya must have decided to say “Action” on his own, than to rely on the directors from outside.
RNBDJ has a very simple story line which unveils the unnoticed charisma of a very simple common man, mainly driven by his deep love. Though the story line has clichéd overtones of “marriage winning over love-affair” and “I cant cheat on my husband” stuff, but the way it has been managed prevents it from getting overly melodramatic.
The story line has been supported by one person playing two characters. SRK as a simple common man and SRK as the over the top macho flirt. The high point of RNBDJ is how Aditya Chopra has handled this dual characterization with ease, which is the central to the success of the movie.
We have seen in the past, many directors faulting in managing the dual character in the movie. Case in point, Rakesh Roshan’s, “Koi Mil Gaya”, where Hrithik plays a dual character of a born special child and then as a (cured) smart man. This went well only partially, that too mainly driven by Hrithik’s performance, however towards the end Rakesh couldn't manage it very well and there were instances where it was difficult to make out if Hrithik was playing the special child or a normal adult.
This is where Aditya gets the complete credit for the success of the movie. More so with the climax of the movie, where it looked not so simple to end it any other way than a clichéd bollywood ending. Aditya manages it very well and keeps the flow of the movie in control, making us really appreciate the whole stuff..
However one can not forget the contribution of Shahrukh’s acting. He continues to prove his versatility as an actor. His portrayal of Sanjay Sahani, a common man, working in Punjab Power as a clerk is simply flawless. Full marks to the costume designer Aki Narula who, with the kind of clothes provided to Shahrukh, (which includes the loose off-white shirt tucked inside pleated pants), makes him look like a real clerk form Punjab Power.
Till now, the zenith of a "common man" portrayal in Hindi movies could have easily been that of Anil Kapoor's in Eshwar, which though was aided by the mental abnormalities the character had. Shahrukh on the other hand, has no such abnormalities in his character, but he still manages a towering performance. I think after Swades and Chak De, this will be considered as his top performance.
The female lead Anushka Sharma has done a descent job. But a bit more glamorous lady won’t have done any harm to the movie. Or was it kept that way, to keep the focus only on Shahrukh? The only other main character in the movie is Vinay Pathak as Shahrukh’s friend. It is very nice to see him play a different role than his “Beja Fry”, “Dasvidaniya” character. It will help him a lot, not to get stereotyped.
The music of RNBDJ by Salim-Sulaiman is just OK and won’t be remembered for long. However RNBDJ has some very good choreography done by Shiamak Davar and Vaibhavi Merchant. Vaibhavi in particular has done an amazing job in the Hole Hole song with the camera following Shahrukh to various awkard places.
RNBDJ is a very different movie as compared to the other stuff that comes out of Yash-Raj Banner, having simplistic locations, mostly shifting between Shahrukh’s home, office and the Dance school.
All in all, RNBDJ is a very nice, well handled, well acted and a very well directed movie. Kuddos to Shahrukh Khan and Aditaya Chopra, it is completely there movie.
Ameet Mattoo
New Delhi.
PS : Please don't forget to post your comments.
6 comments:
i absolutely agree.. its excellent movie... good entertainer..
waitin fr ur comments on ghajini now...
mridu
Hi Ameet ..
Nice review
In addition to what u have mentioned I also believe that RNBDJ is a very unique movie.I'll explain that..
Most of the Love Stories in bollywood are very idealistic and probably reflects less than 5% of the real life love stories.RNBDJ not only reflects most of the real life love stories that do materialize but it is also a representation of many many unsuccesful stories.smething like a boy likes a girl but is never able to say so because of xyz reasons.
The realism in RNBDJ differentiates it from the philosphy like Mohabattein.e.g When sharukh khan says that he'll not change himself to get his love and the girl should fall in ,ove with the real Surender Sahni instead of Raj.I found that storyline pretty realistic because its never so easy to change urself as they show in most of the movie.
Lastly, the scenes from Golden Temple r just excellent.
Hay Sid, thanks for the comments.
I completely agree, the Golden Temple scenes are too good. They were similarly depicted very nicely in Rang de Basanti aswell.
It makes me want more and more to visit it.
One more point about RNBDJ is the real punjabi characters like Bobby, are so real. We will find them anywhere in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Batinda or anywhere else there.
I would like to believe that Indian public is becoming intelligent movie watcher but doesn't seem so. The only time SRK didn't act was in Chak De for which he deservedly won accolades.
It is more hype rather then content and to be able to mock himself as Raj. I think we should try to celebrate the movies like Manorma 6 feet under, Wednesday, Rock On not a great hits but celebral in nature.
cheers,
ansi
Ansi, thanks for your comments.
However you should not stop believing that Indian audiences have become intelligent. Had they not, movies like Rock-On, Wednesday, Dasvidaniya et al, would neither have been made, neither would they have become commercial successes aswell. Though I agree it is happening at smaller scales and Multiplexes are helping it to happen.
However at the same time, we can not restrict good-movie tags only to one genre of movie making.
Where we need a serious movie like Wednesday, a musical like Rock-On, an emotive movie like Dasvidaniya, we also need comic stuff like Beja Fry, a comic spoof like Om Shanti Om and an entertainer like Rab ne bana di jodi.
We need to give variety of good movies to audiences, to give them a wide dimension of experiences.
I believe that not only do movies reflect the status of the society around, they also help in developing the society on a whole. And this needs to happen in many dimensions.
Let us let bollywood do its little bit in some of these dimensions.
Hi Ameet,
Excellent review. Shows your depth and subtlety in understanding cinema.
The depiction of a middle class common man complete with sneakers on pleated formal trousers, in total contrast to the suave 'MACHO' yo-man in the dance class, was done par excellence by SRK, no doubt. How many actors can portray such contrasting double roles these days, leaving the class of Big-B apart?
Regards,
- Vivek Sinha
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