Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani - Movie Review

If I Had to sum up ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ in a single sentence, it would be – This is the least ‘Karan Johar-ish’ film, yet the most ‘Karan Johar-ish’ film that the filmmaker has ever made. Read on to know why.

Set in the milieu of affluent Delhi, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (RARKPK), is the quintessential Bollywood love story between an over-the-top Gucci-wearing Punjabi boy, Rocky Randhawa (Ranveer Singh) and a feisty, intelligent TV anchor, Rani Chatterjee (Alia Bhatt). Expectedly, opposites attract and the two fall in love, at which point their completely contrasting families enter the picture. Rocky belongs to a hugely successful business family, whose tough matriarch, Dhanalakshmi Randhawa (Jaya Bachchan) keeps a tight hold on both her family and the business. The Randhawas are the uber-rich Punjabis of Delhi that we have all heard tales about – palatial mansion, jazzy cars and an overbearing sense of ‘sanskaar’. The Chatterjees, diametrically opposite to the Randhawas, are the intellectual elite of Delhi. Their house has a painting of Tagore, walls lined with books and discuss election voter turnout over morning tea. The father is a Kathak dancer and mother is a senior English Professor in Delhi University (and as Rani calls her – is the Shashi Tharoor of the house). As fate would have it, the past of the elderly in both the houses – Kanwal Lund/Randhawa (Dharmender), Dhanlakshmi Randhawa (Jaya Bachchan) and Jamini Chatterjee (Shabana Azmi) – get intertwined forming the base of the love story. To convince their families, Rocky and Rani switch homes to live with the others family. This is where the film scratches more than the surface and touches upon a lot of issues that either side of the families had buried for long. On the periphery, RARKPK is return of Bollywood and Karan Johar to their mainstay – a romantic comedy peppered with family drama. But there is more than what meets the eye.

I started off by calling this movie the least ‘Karan Johar-ish’ film ever. That is because, unlike the usual perception of his movies, this one is not superficial or just candy-floss drama with pretty faces and handsome men flaunting their torsos. The writing by Shashank Khaitan, Ishita Moitra and Sumit Roy brings in layers to the otherwise regular ‘Bollywood Masala’ caper. They touch upon misogyny in our households, delve into compromises that couples make to keep a marriage intact, try to challenge gender roles and play heavily on human emotions. There are some beautiful moments that both the leads get with their families, that make this movie connect with its viewers. On the other hand, it continues to be a typical ‘Karan Johar-ish’ flick – there are massive sets, grandeur in every detail, beautiful faces and gorgeous leads looking their finest best – not even a hair out of its place! Also, like most his films, RARKPK continues to be honest and truthful to its ‘Bollywood Masala’ quotient – numerous nostalgic songs, dialogue references to some of the director’s work from the 2000s and over-the-top ‘naach-gaana’. When Kanwal sings ‘Abhi Naa Jao Chhodkar’, even an octogenarian Dharmender looks charming as ever. Only a true-blue Bollywood fanatic like Johar can make that happen!

The performances are all quite good, especially the actors who played the Chatterjee parents – Tota Roy Chowdhury and Churni Ganguly, who play an intellectual Bengali couple and get to display a wide range of emotions. Their scenes with Ranveer Singh after a Kathak performance and lingerie shopping sequences, respectively, are deeply affecting. Complementing perfectly in both these scenes and in all of the movie is Ranveer Singh. Playing his natural self- in bright, outlandish clothes- Ranveer is perfectly cast as the livewire Rocky Randhawa. Be it the Punjabi accent or the dance moves or the emotional scenes, Singh is brilliant. Matching his energy is the calmer, yet powerful performance by Alia Bhatt as Rani Chatterjee. She is fierce, strong and unabashed – right from her introduction scene where she ticks off a politician to her numerous face-offs with the Randhawas. Alia Bhatt does not let her petite frame come in the way of the feistiness that her character demands. Among the veterans, Jaya Bachchan – making a return to the large screen after a hiatus- is very good both in her dialect and performance. I wish her character had a better arc, since it gets an unconvincing end. Multiple National Award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, delivers her roles well. Dharmender, at 88, is mostly mellow but deserves an applause for still trying to charm his leading ladies and the viewers alike.

RARKPK does come with its flaws. The writing falters post the interval, where some of the issues with the family members seem contrived. Some of the sub-plots such as the one involving Rocky’s sister, Gayatri, or his mother, Poonam, seem forced and not add much to the plot. The climax also seems rushed, as if the makers suddenly became mindful of the duration and decided to speed up. But all said and done, the movie does have some beautiful moments and a typical Bollywood love story at its core.

One of Johar’s most loved directorial, ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ (2001) had a tagline – It’s all about loving your Parents. RARKPK, 22 years later, appears to be Johars adaptation to today’s day & age and should come with a tagline – It’s all about loving your parents, albeit with some rebellion!

My Rating – 3.5/5

Love Story - Movie Review

Over the last few months, movie watching experience has changed drastically owing to the pandemic. With cinemas shut, OTTs became our entertainment destinations. Now that theatres are opening again, one needed a good reason to take the risk and be back in theatres. And what better reason than a Sekhar Kammula – Sai Pallavi film (after the stupendous success of Fidaa, 2017). Add a not so conventional lead pair, Naga Chaitanya, and you have created enough intrigue to get your seats filled. But, does Sekhar Kammula’s much-awaited ‘Love Story’ deliver on its hype and expectations? I would say it almost does, but misses the mark by a whisker!

Set in modern day Secunderabad, Love Story begins with the harsh childhood of the protagonist, Revanth, raised by his widowed mother (Eashwari Rao) in Armoor, Nizamabad. Right from his childhood, Revanth and his mom internalise caste discrimination and accept it as their reality, just as many of the lower castes in this country have. Strong-willed and hard-working, Revanth grows up to be an ambitious and industrious young man. The adult Revanth (Naga Chaitanya) lives in Secunderabad and runs a modest Zumba centre, resolute to expand and grow his business. Equally ambitious and determined, small-town-girl Mounica (Sai Pallavi) comes to Hyderabad with the quintessential ‘software dream’. Unlike Revanth, Mounica belongs to an upper-caste family. But, hailing from a small-town, with a not-so-great academic background, Mouni (as she is fondly called) struggles to get a job. As fate would have it, their paths cross and Mouni joins Revanth, first as his business partner and then the ‘Love Story’ begins.

The story, screenplay, dialogues and the direction are by Sekhar Kammula, just as most of his previous movies, largely making it a one man show behind the camera. Like most of his previous films, he gives us strong-willed, righteous and independent lead characters, especially the female leads. Much like Rupa in Anand (2004), Sita in Godavari (2006) or most-recently as Bhanumathi in Fidaa (2017), Mounica is the driving force in the movie. And such strong characters have become Sekhar Kammula’s trademark and something we all love. But, unlike his earlier outings, Mr. Kammula has attempted to skim through multiple themes in a single movie. On a larger canvas, he starts to paint the film in the tones of caste-based discrimination, societal divide and the fights for one’s ambitions. On a micro level, he also touches his canvas with lighter strokes of gender inequality, child abuse and communal oppression. These are quite diverse topics and inter-weaving them seamlessly is a daunting task, which Mr. Kammula tries commendably, especially in a mainstream film. But I wish these themes were tied together better, instead of mildly feeling like a confused concoction as the movie jumps from one social evil to the other.

This reminds me of the review of Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy (2019) by film critic Sucharita Tyagi (Film Companion). Gully Boy touches many a societal evil and passes strong commentary on them, effortlessly! Ms. Tyagi describes this as “Watching Gully Boy is like seeing a European Renaissance painting, where each stroke & shade of colour speaks a different story”. And this kind of finesse is what I really craved for in Love Story. Not just Zoya Akhtar, but there are many directors today who delivered on effectively stitching together multiple unconnected themes in a single movie, such as Venkatesh Maha in C/O Kancherapalem (2018), Alankrita Srivastava in Lipstick Under My Burkha (2016), Vetrimaran in Asuran (2019), Amit Masurkar in Newton (2017) & Sherni (2021) and Nagaraj Manjule in his Marathi movies, especially Sairat (2016). Mr. Kammula’s efforts must surely be applauded, with hopes of a better-stitched movie the next time.

Sairat, an ill-fated love story between an upper caste girl and a lower caste boy, comes closest to the central theme of Love Story. So does the recent sleeper-hit, Uppena (2021). But what Love Story brings to fore in mainstream Telugu cinema is its honest and real performances. Among the supporting cast – Eashwari Rao as Revanth’s mother, delivers a warm and endearing performance. Rajeev Kanakala, as the evil upper-caste uncle to Mouni, is effective in a negative role. Naga Chaitanya is good as the boy yearning for a breakthrough and delivers a commendable performance, devoid of toxic masculinity. He acts well, though he seems a bit woody in the emotional scenes. Sai Pallavi, yet again, is a scene-stealing, natural performer. Be it her raw comic timing, emotional scenes or flawless dance performances, she is an outstanding asset to the film and Mr. Kammula utilises her full potential. (Though I didn’t quite buy that a Nizamabad-bred girl dances flawlessly on contemporary dance forms without any training :P – cinematic liberty, I suppose) And yes, both the leads & most of the cast gets their Telangana accent right. 😊

Love Story may be flawed, but it does pick up some right conversations in mainstream Telugu cinema. Unlike Uppena, where the caste divide was largely muted, Love Story brings the divide more into focus – including the caste-based difference in places to get one’s haircut to the places where one is laid to rest! It also gives us a warm and endearing love story shrouded by various societal problems. I just wished it all came together a little more seamlessly.

You can watch Love Story in theatres.

My Rating – 3/5

Cargo - Movie Review

One of life’s most fascinating and curious facets has been life after death. There have been various studies and research on what really happens after death? Is there an afterworld where humans are re-wired and sent for rebirth? Is there a mythical ‘Yamalok’ where all this happens? Writer-director Arati Kadav’s Netflix release, ‘Cargo’, takes this promising premise, gives it Sci-Fi undertones and yet, gives us an emotional tale, told through the eyes of two rakshasas (demons), Prahastha (Vikrant Massey) and Yuvishka (Shweta Tripathi).

Set in the year 2032, Cargo shows an imaginary world where Manushya (humans) and Rakshasa (Demons) sign a ‘peace pact’. The Rakshasa’s establish a Post Death Transition System (PDTS), through a network of spacecrafts called ‘Pushpaks’, orbiting around the earth and helping the dead transition to their afterlife. Calling themselves the modern-day descendent of Yamraj, the god of death, Pushpaks have ‘agents’ who ‘transition’ manushya after death to their next lives. Commanding one such Pushpak is Prahastha, who is assigned an assistant, Yuvishka, to take on their mundane tasks of handling the dead & the deceased.

I couldn’t help but compare the lives of Prahastha and Yuvishka to that of doctors we see around us. Usually, doctors tend to become unfazed, unmoved and unaffected by death and pain, since this becomes a part of their lives. The negativity of suffering and death does not emotionally move them, as easily as it affects a commoner. Prahastha, having manned his Pushpak for ages, is one such unremorseful ‘doctor’, who heals, rehabilitates and transitions the dead to their next lives. In sharp contrast, Yuvishka, like a medical intern, finds it difficult to handle her emotions and inner turmoil. Her compassionate heart aches for the deceased and struggles to remain objective, unlike her boss. How does she hold herself up for the profession she has chosen? Would the arrival of a companion after ages make Prahastha melt his stone-cold heart? Cargo is all about that.

Minutes into the viewing, I could also see similarities with the 2016-Hollywood Sci-Fi drama, ‘Passengers’. Much like Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, there are only two characters stuck in the outer-space in Cargo. However, there isn’t much of a romantic angle here – the leads remain largely platonic. Cargo is a movie about emotions, characters and in a way, trying to unravel the baffling mystery of life after death. Hence, we do not get to see hi-fi gadgets and equipment. In fact, owing to the small budget probably, the set design and scenes in the spaceship are quite primitive and look underwhelming. Speaking of the spaceship, it’s cleverly been named ‘Pushpak’ after the mythical spacecraft owned by another Rakshas, Ravana, in the mythological tale of Ramayana. Arati Kadav also takes clever (and fascinating) writing tropes in giving Rakshas’s distinct traits –they have various powers like the X-Men, their news is from the Paatal Lok and a singing sensation is named Surpanakha, after another mythological demoness. All this add to the quirk element of this make-believe world.

Having said that, Cargo isn’t a Sci-Fi extravagance. It is about the battle of emotions of its leads. On one hand, it is about Prahastha’s realisation that life is beyond his mundane work. On the other, it is about Yuvishka’s realisation that death is not the end of a person’s story, it continues, probably in another birth. The essence of the movie is beautifully explained by their handler from the base station, Nitigya (Nandu Madhav) in a scene. When Yuvishka asks him what his superpower is, he says that he can disappear upto 86%. When she questions its purpose if he cannot disappear completely, he replies, “Life mein kuch be completely disappear nahi hota”. This kind of sums up what Prahastha and Yuvishka learn towards the end of the movie – death is an aberration and not an end. Lives do not disappear completely (at least that’s what the movie’s writers seem to have deciphered).

Sci-Fi genre has largely been dominated by big budget extravagant films, even in the Indian context. With mammoth budgets, these films usually lean on cutting-edge technology, awe-inviting action and stunning visuals. Even Indian Sci-FI drama, from the awfully painful Love Story 2050 (2008) to the recent Telugu-Sci Fi, Antariksham 9000 KMPH (2018), concentrate on science and technology-driven dramas. But Cargo comes as a refreshing change and deserves an applause for its quirks and innovation. Apart from writer-director, Arati Kadav, a deserving mention of the great camerawork by Kaushal Shah and sharp editing by Paramita Ghosh. I wish the set designs were better and not as cardboard-like as they appear. I suspect the tight budget to be the reason behind it. Also, the narrative seems to lose a bit of a steam in the second half.

Like Passenger (2016), Cargo relies majorly on two actors – its leads. Vikrant Massey is terrific as the loner Prahastha, who experiences a change of heart once he experiences companionship. Playing his junior and new-found companion, Shweta Tripathi is nicely cast as the young, ambitious and compassionate new ‘agent’. Though their relationship remains unsaid and platonic, they share a warm chemistry. Nandu Madhav, playing their handler from the base station is nicely cast and makes an impact despite appearing only through a 14-inch monitor throughout the film.

After watching Malayalam genius at display in ‘C U Soon’ (2020) last week, I wondered if the Hindi film industry is headed anywhere close to similar innovation and story-telling. Cargo may not be a flawless attempt, but is certainly a laudable step towards interesting and innovative story-telling in Hindi cinema, which we do not see too often.

My Rating – 3.5/5

Gunjan Saxena - Movie Review

Over the recent past, Bollywood has churned out quite a few movies with the armed forces in the back drop, kindling a fervour of ‘josh’ in a country that suddenly turned desh-bhakt over the last few years. Debutante director Sharan Sharma’s Netflix release, Gunjan Saxena – The Kargil Girl, surprises you here. While the name sounds like yet another story of valour and patronization of our armed forces, this Janhvi Kapoor-starrer, on the contrary, is the story of a woman trying to break through a man’s world.

The movie traces the journey of a young girl, Gunjan, born to an Army Officer in the 70s. Raised in a patriarchal society, Gunjan’s dreams and ambitions are given a flight by her extremely supportive father, Lt Col Anup Saxena (Pankaj Tripathi). In a world where misogyny is normalised and expects girls to be ‘controlled’, Gunjan grows up with the sole aim of being in the skies – she wants to be a pilot! And the writers and production designers ensure that we know this well – her world revolves singularly around airplanes and being airborne. She wears aviators as a kid even while watching movies, wind chimes in her room are the shape of airplanes and she never misses to run when a plane passes over. She is obsessed about being a pilot! Cut to a few years later, a 21-year old Gunjan (Janhvi Kapoor) becomes the first woman to be a commissioned as a pilot in the Indian Air Force.

Now, this is where the movie surprises by not becoming a war film, which it could have easily become. It remains Gunjan’s story – her trials & tribulations through her initial days in the forces. In a crucial scene, we see a nervous Gunjan tell her dad she only wanted to fly and doubts her ‘desh bhakti’. To this, her dad brilliantly replies – Imaandaari se karo toh yeh bhi desh bhakti hai. She takes this as her motto and puts in her heart and soul to beat all odds – from not finding women’s restrooms to struggling as the lone female pilot surrounded by men. The tough portrayal of IAF instructors and training feels real and believable. Even Gunjan’s role in the Kargil War is shown subtly, without unnecessary heroism until the sequence in the climax.

While it steers clear of war film clichés (there are no ‘How’s the josh’ moments, thankfully) and jingoism, the writers Nikhil Mehrotra and Sharan Sharma resort to some unnecessary cinematic liberties. While it is understandable that society in the 80s-90s was conservative and expected girls to be a certain way, the negative portrayal of the Air warriors was uncalled for and was unconvincing. The men in the armed forces are known to be extremely chivalrous, dignified and are taught to respect women. But the men in the movie have been written as misogynists and opportunists, just to add to cinematic masala to Gunjan’s struggles. Now, this is a story based on real-life and I am not sure how much of it has been altered for cinematic effect, but as someone who has first hand experience of IAF, this negative portrayal seemed unnecessary and far-fetched.

Keeping the cinematic liberties aside, the other cinematic tropes have been used effectively – Music by Amit Trivedi compliments well and the camera work by Manush Nandan recreates a world of the 80s and 90s well. In terms of the performances, Manav Vij as the commanding officer is the only one who looks convincing as an IAF pilot. Both Vineet Kumar Singh and Pankaj Tripathi, playing officers from the Armed forces, fall slightly short of looking dynamic and convincing as officers. Pankaj Tripathi, as the soft-spoken father shines in his father-daughter scenes with Gunjan. In a scene during the latter half when Gunjan calls her father, see his glittering eyes filled with pride – a testimony of his acting prowess. Angad Bedi looks the part as an Army officer, but gets a one-tone character. As Gunjan’s elder brother, he is only pulling her down, trying to protect her and kill her ambitions in the bargain. In the titular role, Janhvi Kapoor makes a good attempt but succeeds only to a certain extent. Like I said in my blog on ‘Dhadak’, she falters when she is required to give a wide range of emotions. She is fine as the bubbly daughter and the shaken sole-woman-among-the-men, but cannot convey Gunjan’s angst and frustration effectively. See her in a crucial outburst scene with her fellow officer - she tries hard to appear effective but falls short, especially in dialogue delivery.

All said and done, Gunjan Saxena is an inspiring story. The fact that it steers clear of unnecessary jingoism and remains a tale of a woman breaking the glass ceiling, is commendable. If you ignore the slightly negative portrayal of men in the armed forces, Gunjan Saxena makes for a good watch.

My Rating – 3/5

Dil Bechara - Movie Review

At the beginning of Disney+ Hotstar’s ‘Dil Bechara’, the protagonist, Kizie Basu (Sanjana Sanghi), sums up the movie for us – Ek thha raj, ek thhi rani, dono marr gaye, khatam kahaani. In the Hindi screen adaptation of ‘Fault in our Stars’, we get a narrator in Kizie, who suffers from thyroid cancer, giving us a glimpse of her morose life, until the flamboyant Immanuel Rajkumar Junior AKA Manny (Sushant Singh Rajput) enters it.

This is not the first time we have a movie with terminally-ill protagonists. From Anand to My Brother Nikhil or Guzaarish, we have had makers tell us stories of diseases and the deceased. Dil Bechara comes closest to Mani Ratnam’s 1989 hit, Geethanjali. Thematically, both the movies have the same beats – terminally ill protagonists, one of them has a zeal for life and helps the other one come around. However, Geethanjali was in a much lighter vein and Mani Ratnam downplays their agony and pain, which is more pronounced in Dil Bechara. Other way to look at it – probably Dil Bechara has a more real take on the lives of the terminally ill – their bouts of health problems, their inner battles and mental turmoil. So, we get to see a sombre Kizie always walking around with ‘Pushpinder’ (her oxygen cylinder), her fluctuating health and recurring cancer counselling sessions. Her sullen life is lit up when Manny, a patient of osteosarcoma, enters her life and brightens it up.

Manny has a completely contrasting take on life. Belonging to a rich household (much of which we are not told about) and probably being able to afford best of medical care, he has a more positive approach towards life. A chain ‘smoker’, he likes to hold cigarette in his mouth without lighting it. He says its metaphorical – something that causes cancer has been rendered useless by a cancer victim. He is a Thalaivar AKA Rajinikanth fan and wishes to fulfil his best friend’s dream of directing a Bhojpuri flick. Kizie, who frequents funerals as a hobby, is chosen as his ‘leading lady’ in this ‘movie’ being shot on a handycam. Expectedly, he manages to make Kizie look at life better and fall in love with him, ending up romancing in Paris. But, does Kizie’s opening story - Ek thha raj, ek thhi rani, dono marr gaye, khatam kahaani - come true? Is their story ephemeral? Watch to find for yourself.

Dil Bechara, with a crisp running time of 100 minutes, does not thankfully meander into unnecessary subplots. We do not have cliched sad drama involving the families – everyone is unbelievably nice. But, unlike Geethanjali which focussed more on their love story, Dil Bechara takes to the tragic pain that the protagonists go through, making it a not so easy watch. Coupled with the collective pain we have been experiencing since the untimely death of the lead actor, the movie feels a lot heavier than it intended to be. For a movie title hinting at a love story, this required to be more on the romantic side. (Except a glimpse in the song ‘Khulke Jeene Ka’, not much of it is seen). But it ended up being a movie on life and death.  

A R Rahman’s music compliments the theme well, though ‘Main Tumhara’ - the track that brings them together and acts as a major plot point, could have been better. Performance-wise, Saswata Chatterjee, Swastika Mukherjee and Sahil Vaid provide good support to the leads. Sanjana Sanghi is promising in her maiden lead attempt and uses her petite frame to transition from an awkward college student to a girl madly in love. Sushant Singh Rajput, in his last acting stint, is good as the goofy Manny, giving us laughs and then takes us through his pains with equal conviction.

But, as everyone has been saying (and warning), Dil Bechara does not deserve to be ‘critiqued’ and ‘rated’. It is a tribute to Sushant Singh Rajput and I would also leave it at that (which means no rating). Watch it, but beware of tearing up (mostly because of SSR, the actor and not the character).

P.S: I admit it wasn’t easy watching this movie objectively, after the sad turn of events in the past few days and the cacophony that followed. That is why I decided to sleep over it to clear my thoughts and be able to pen them better. It is ironic that a young star, with promising acting skills, could not take inspiration from his zealous character, Manny. While watching the movie with a mind shrouded by the recent unfortunate events, one may find the dialogues sting at you. When Manny says ‘hum kab marte hai yeh hum decide nahi karte’ or when he begs Kizie ‘Can we pretend am not dying aur kahi nahi jaa raha’, you wonder if only Sushant Singh Rajput, the actor, had taken these words to reinforce himself.