*contains spoilers, major plot points revealed*
Aditya Chopra’s first film, DDLJ, as we know, was a major blockbuster, and is still running in theaters to this day. Five years later, his second film, Mohabbatein, though not on the same level as DDLJ, was a big hit. And now, 8 long years later, we get Adi’s third film, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Can it live up to the earlier two movies, especially DDLJ? A film like DDLJ in today’s time might not have worked like it did 13 years ago. But does Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi work in 2008?
It does, because Aditya doesn’t try to make the movie something that it’s not. RNBDJ isn’t a celebrated love story with boy meeting girl, both falling in love, facing a few conflicts, and living happily ever after with a few songs in Switzerland thrown in. It’s the simple story of Suri and Taani, and how unforseen circumstances throw them together. It’s how Suri looks at his bride with such love, infatuation, fascination. And how she can be his wife, but can’t love him. How tragedy in her life has basically forced her to marry someone she thinks she will never be able to love. And when she does love again, it’s to someone she thinks is totally different from her husband.
RNBDJ is different because this movie very well would have worked in the late 90s. But it’s also a good enough movie for this time as well. In an industry full of fast cars, motorcycles, half-naked women, style over substance, RNBDJ is a refreshing change. It takes on the story of an ordinary man, a “nerd”, and puts him and his feelings center-stage. And it makes us feel his emotions, happy or sad. You are on an emotional roller-coaster throughout the whole film, and you’re rooting for him in the end.
Surinder Sahni isn’t a typical Bollywood movie leading man. He’s usually one of those background character actors who people laugh at, make fun of, is the best friend of the main actor, etc etc. Adi takes his chance and makes Suri his leading man. And he makes us love him. He may not be conventionally handome, he may not have a great body, but that doesn’t make him any less of a man. He’s caring, loving, honest, and only wants the best for his wife. You feel for Suri in this movie even if you don’t want to. When Taani tells him that she will never be able to love him, he doesn’t get mad, he doesn’t tell her to leave. He tells her that he doesn’t even know what love is, so it’s ok. He tells her that she did enough for him by not embarassing him in front of his friends. Even though he loves her with all his heart. He’ll keep it inside for her sake. She tells him “I want to kill the old Taani”. Instead of pleading with her, saying no, I love the old Taani, he stays quiet. For her sake. Because he knows she’s already decided what she needs to do.
He’ll do anything for her. He has a pani puri eating competition with Taani as Raj, but doesn’t expect a full meal when he gets back home as Suri. But Taani made biryani for him, and he can’t disappoint her. He’ll explode, but he will eat all of the biryani that she gives him. And it’s not just a little bit. She piles it on the plate, and all he can do is smile nervously. “A-one” he says as he struggles to force the food into his mouth. Suri practices to dance when Taani does, so he can do a bit better for her. To help her win the competition. He lives two lives, just for this woman who already says she won’t return his love. This is the mark of a true Bollywood hero. Follow your heart, no matter what. And Suri’s heart followed Taani everywhere.
Now Raj Kapoor is another story. He’s rude, he’s a flirt, he’s loud, he’s pretty annoying. But Suri’s life has been nothing like this. He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to act, what’s cool and what’s not. Bobby is his only indication of “cool”, and we know how that is. So Raj acts like an idiot, only as Suri knows how to act. He is over the top, but this is all through Suri’s eyes. Suri’s probably never worn jeans and shirts so tight. It’s a big adjustment for him, so he must adjust his jeans whenever possible. He has to wear huge sunglasses and spike his hair, all for Taani. And he was only planning to do it once, so he figured he would give it a shot. But he realizes that he can get closer to Taani, and circumstances make him become Raj night after night. He’ll do it happily. He gets to see the side of Taani that he fell in love with.
Taani is also not a typical BW heroine. Adi brings back some old-time story lines, like a whole wedding precession dying on the way to the wedding, and a fathers last wish to see his daughter married to someone who he knows will take care of her. Many girls would go ahead and marry whoever they wished, but Taani is different. She marries Suri for her father’s sake. This man that she has only met once, the man who her father always talked about. She feels it is the right thing to do. That’s why I buy it at the end that Taani sees Suri as her Rab. After all she went through, the one constant was Suri. He was always there. He took care of her. When she first sits down on the bed in her new home, she looked at the two pillows side by side. Then, in the next moment, Suri stuffs that pillow into his box with all his clothes, and tells her that the room is hers. No hesitation, nothing to talk about, he just packs up and goes to the attic. He’s not expecting a thing.
When she talks to Suri on the terrace, she’s not trying to hurt him. She’s just being honest. She’s not mad at him, she’s mad at God. But she doesn’t want him to keep his hopes up either, so she gives it to him straight. She’ll be his wife, and that’s about it. But she is a young woman. She needs her escape. The movies Suri takes her to are fun, but she needs more. So when she meets Raj, at first she’s annoyed, but she softens. Raj is a flash of lightning in her mundane world. And she combines her passion for dancing with this guy who makes her feel alive, who makes her laugh, and uses it as her escape. She doesn’t realize it, but she’s slowly falling in love again.
I didn’t expect her to recognize Raj. For one, it is a pretty big change from Suri to Raj. And second, how many times did Taani really look at Suri? I mean a really good look? Take away the glasses and mooch, and would you really recognize him? In such a radically different avatar? When you’re not expecting anything like it? For all Taani knows, her husband is working overtime. She’d never even think about who Raj really is. She does show Suri that she cares though. She tears into him after the Sumo fight, knowing he could have really hurt himself. She apologizes and personally delivers his tiffin, which puts Suri on top of the world. But she can’t love him. She can be there for him, but not love him. As for Raj…
When she agrees to run away with Raj, my heart just broke. The look on Raj’s face, like his whole world had just been shattered, was very powerful. And for a moment, you don’t like Taani. She’s basically cheating on her husband, and is willing to leave him for another man. But then you think about her life. Here’s this man that she could only dream about, right in front of her, willing to run away with her. She makes a rash decision, which she later backs out of. And again, the look on Raj’s face when she does back out is priceless. Filled with surprise, relief, love.
And that brings us to the dance competition finals, with Taani waiting and hoping that Raj will come back one more time and dance with her. When Suri shows up, she’s dumbfounded. First, wondering what the hell her husband is doing there. And second, when he starts dancing, realizing that Raj is in fact Suri. It ends on a beautiful note, with Taani correcting the MC. “It’s Mr. and Mrs. Surinder Sahni”. Perfect.
I can’t comment about the end credits yet. We had enough problems with the theater anyway (started 15 minutes late, intermission didn’t last long enough), but for the end credits, they let it run for about 1 minute, then cut the sound. So we couldn’t hear a thing that was being said. I’ll comment on em if I get to hear it the second time around, otherwise I’ll have to wait for the DVD. Sad
Lots of funny moments in the film. My two favorites are Suri searching for his Pepsi straw, and forgetting that his USB drive was still connected to his laptop. He’s so flustered that his wife actually wants to talk to him, that he completely forgets about it. Also, the way Suri just gazes at his first tiffin. Just looking at it with so much love. The Dhoom sequence was entertaining too, with ‘macho’ Raj sitting on the back, holding on for dear life.
On to my gripes. The first one that stood out for me was Taani not being mad at Suri at the end. He’s been lying to her for months. Yes, it showed just how much he loved her, but a bit of initial anger would have worked a bit better in my opinion. Also, the Sumo wrestler scene drags on. Quite a bit of that could have been cut, or another route could have been taken to show what Suri would do for her. The YRF references also got a bit old. I understand the Dhoom one, that was cute, but the rest were just overkill.
Shah Rukh again walks away with the accolades. He’s brilliant in both roles. Anushka is a very pleasant surprise. I loved her. She matched SRK step for step in their scenes together. Her smile lit up the screen, she was just gorgeous. Vinay Pathak was hilarious as Bobby, and also great in the emotional scenes. He was a great friend.
RNBDJ was worth the wait. 8 years from Adi, and 1 year from Shah Rukh. But the final product makes up for it.
Rating: 
So, here we go. One of the most anticipated movies of the year, if not the most. Adi-SRK back together again, etc etc. There’s been lots of talk about SRK being paired with such a young co-star, Anushka Sharma. Salim-Suleman were selected to do the music, and that also raised eyebrows. [...]
This movie is touted as a comedy, but it’s far from it. Sure, it has it’s moments (which didn’t come across as very funny to me), but overall, it’s a drama with splashes of comedy. The movie starts out introducing us to the characters. The first thing that struck me was they [...]
