Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani – My Flash Review!

I always thought that as a filmmaker Karan Johar doesn’t just make films, but celebrates films. Invariably his films wade into oodles of nostalgia at every opportunity. His latest film – Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani (Rocky from here on) goes a step further. It is an unapologetic tribute to the Bollywood of Yore, celebrating all that we have liked in the past in Hindi films, but with a “woke” twist. In doing so, KJo comes up with a film that is evenly likeable in general while being a brand ambassador for Saregama Carvaan!

As the title suggests, the film is indeed a love story between one Rocky – a loud, flashy and bulked-up Punjabi boy and Rani – a well-healed, confident and cultured Bengali girl. The film has the usual KJo package of opulent sets, Naach, Gaana, snow-clad mountains, 24*7 good-looking men and women, gorgeous costumes and of course Chiffon sarees. The difference however is this.  In this time-tested one-liner of a story, if you throw in cultural conflicts, regional differences, English Vs Desi lingo and yesteryear romance, while virtue signalling on issues like patriarchy, fat shaming, gender biases, elder care and workload sharing at homes you get this Karan Johar’s latest opulent Rocky saga. As you can see, KJo takes up quite a lot of things on his plate but surprisingly aided by his writing team, puts together an engaging and enjoyable film.

Of course, the film peddles the usual stereotypes regarding Punjabis and Bengalis and re-hashes some of KJo’s own tropes from his earlier films. The acting of almost all actors is at two pitches higher than normal.  A few songs seem thrust randomly. There seems to be no real reason for the girl to fall in love with the boy in the first place. We can mostly predict the flow of the proceedings. Yet, despite all these, largely the writing (Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan and Sumit Roy) and the KJo package I referred to earlier, keep us connected with the proceedings. The dialogues are witty and some of the one-liners are really LOL stuff.

If the writing is one pillar of the film, the performance of the ensemble cast is another.  The thespian actor, Dharmendra proves that he is still a born charmer. KJo creates a couple of “mass” moments in the film for him and he clearly owns them. Alia Bhatt is a natural before the camera. She looks stunning and in a role that goes through a lot of emotional ups and downs, Alia just hits it out of the park. And then Ranveer Singh. It’s a role he has donned in the past and so the “Rocky Randhawa this side” characterisation must be familiar to him. Yet, he brings to life the Rocky Randhawa character as only as he can, different from what he and even others like Ayushman Khurana have done in the past in a similar Punjabi Munda role. I found Shabana Azmi’s performance a bit underwhelming for her calibre. Jaya Bachchan takes a leaf out of her husband’s book from K3G to portray the tough matriarch role. Special mention to the other cast like Tota Roy Chowdhury who as Alia’s dad does a sensitive portrayal of the role. That he comes across as a trained Odissi dancer while is actually not, is huge.

This review will not be complete without a mention of Pritam’s foot-tapping music. The songs that have been choreographed and picturised well by KJo and the team are already chartbusters thanks to Pritam’s uplifting score.  “What Jhumka” is a great hook and will be soon a permanent feature in shaadis. Also, the use of some yesteryear melodies like ‘Abhi Na Jao is heartwarming.

I have always thought that Karan Johar is an underrated filmmaker. His Coffee with Karan anchor image as a professional gossip monger precedes his image as a director.  But in reality, I reckon he is a shrewd filmmaker who has the pulse of the audience. But for his initial films which were one-dimensional in terms of story and Over the Top in terms of making, his later films like My Name Is Khan, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and his shorts for OTT platforms have ventured into uncharted territories by Bollywood standards.  Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani is yet another attempt by him on this path. I would put this film as a Good “Theatrical” watch – stress on Theatrical because I wonder if the film will be the same on smaller screens!