KJ & His Movies: Enigma and Indulgence

Sitting in Port Blair, there are not many avenues for entertainment except nature.  You do not have swanky malls nor snazzy fast food joints. When you are bored of the beach, the option to fall back on is either head for a movie (at one of the two multiplexes with smalls screens) or for a drink at a watering hole nearby.  I did both over the weekend - watched Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani and headed for a drink at the very affordable and awesome Drifters Lounge.

When it comes to Karan Johar's movies, there are no half measures.  Everything is mounted on a huge canvas.  The rich are screamingly rich, and the educated are snobbishly so.  It applies to his latest offering too.  There is nothing subtle in the movie, 'Rocky aur Rani...', except for the pastel shades of Alia's sarees.  The dominant colour of the movie is red.  Everything is verbalised, either as a dialogue (sometimes even garrulous), or as a song (sometimes they add to the narrative, and at others, they stall the movie).  But, you cannot but enjoy almost every bit of the movie.  I was taken by surprise for its cinematic force.

The movie doesn't take time to bring the hero and heroine together, but what grabs eyeballs is the senior romance - between Dharmendra (as Rocky's grand pa) and Shabana (Alia's grand ma).  There is a further interesting twist too - they both are married to others (while Shabana's widowed, Dharmendra is still wedded to the shrewd businesswoman, Jaya Bachhan, but left without memory after an accidental fall in his youth).  Bringing these two together, as a last resort to restore the memory of his grandfather, gabru Rocky falls for the fiesty Rani.  A loud, moneyed, Rocky and his Punjabi family stand for everything garrulous, garish, and grand.  Alia and her Bengali family is the definition of passive aggression.  Rocky is hardly educated, while Alia is an anchor at a news channel.  

How Rocky and Rani then convince their families to agree to their match forms the rest of the story.  There is nothing new in the story.  It ticks off every box in predictability list.  Introduction of the hero/heroine and setting up their characters.  Rich have no class.  The classy ones are snooty bitches. Every trope is thrown in and some more.  Women not having a voice in affluent household.  A hat-tip to Yash Chopra too through a song in snow - with Alia in (what else but) sheer chiffons.  But the movie doesn't stand out and become watchable for these elements, but for the surprises it introduces even amidst them.  

The movie brings up multiple relevant issues - women and their agency, gender roles, patriarchy, and feminism.  Not as words or concepts, but through characters, situations, and consequences.  Rocky and Rani confront their own inner prejudices before the eventual reunion.  Along the way, Rocky's sister - overweight and rejected by umpteen arranged matches - finds her groove, and stands up for herself in front of her father and granny.  Rocky's mother too discovers there is more to a woman than a good marriage and loyalty towards family.  Similarly, Rani learns love doesn't always happen between two similar people - education or lack of it is no barrier. Ranveer doesn't blanch when Alia says she has had boyfriends before.  Rani's father's choice of profession - a dancer (and hence effeminate/non-masculine -finds respect among those who sneer at first.  Rani's mother learns that snobbery is not class. Ranveer doesn't blanch when Alia says she has had boyfriends before. All these happen over extremely well-executed set-pieces.  The best sequence award goes to the 'Dola Re' reimagined with Ranveer and Tota Roy Chowdhury (playing Alia's father).  It was evident when the entire audience burst into spontaneous clapping at the end of it (a huge surprise it happened in a small town like Port Blair).

Karan has returned to direction after a long hiatus (his last movie, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, released in 2016; though it was a success, it appeared he was out of depth).  And, the rich, Punjabi setting is his forte, a firm wicket which he doesn't fail to take advantage of, and hits it out of the park.  

KJ has been a less-celebrated pioneer of sorts in India cinema, possibly because every movie of his is a mass entertainer, and not art-house certified.  He broke the taboo and brought homosexuality to the mainstream movies as a producer, first as gags and jokes involving Saif and Shah Rukh in 'Kal Ho Na Ho', and a faux-gay romance in 'Dostana'.  Same-sex love entered common drawing room conversations from here - a feat many may refuse to acknowledge.  He followed up by directing a hard-hitting short in 'Bombay Talkies', and then with an extremely heart-felt 'Kapoor and Sons' by Shakun Batra.  

The messages on patriarchy, gender, and women's agency may not resonate with the purists (of either cinema or concepts), but I am certain this is a great beginning where a common person gets to understand a different point of view, and without resistance.  Everytime the concepts of patriarchy or feminism are uttered, it somehow brings out the worst among cis-gendered men (and conformists).  This movie steers clear of it and yet brings out their effects so well.  Of course the entire movie is implausible - but there also lies its ability to make people relate to it.  In a very entertaining way. It never gets too real to unsettle the viewer.  

There sure are drawbacks in the movie.  It's overlong - they could have cut the length by at least 15 minutes (just eliminate those songs, dammit).  Jaya Bachhan's performance is one-note, very caricature-ish, and possibly her worst-ever.  Alia has done these acting chops before and does not bring anything new to her role. Her dance moves need a lot of improvement too.  Music by Pritam is pedestrian.  These though are minor hiccups when compared to the movie's entertainment quotient, extremely an competent Ranveer, and other supporting cast led by a very graceful Tota Roy Chowdhury.  The scene-stealers though are the vintage Dharam and Shabana.  Every time they appear on screen, they consume everyone around them.  Add to this, the excellent use of old melodies, especially the ever-hummable beauty, 'Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar' by Jaidev.  

I was hesitant to watch this movie.  Not a crazy fan of KJ's style of movie-making (hated his Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai), nor a fan of Ranveer.  But, they trumped the naysayer in me with this offering.  I totally recommend watching it; it is sheer joie de vivre.