Just back from a screening of Yash-Raj's newest opus 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'. The movie's a good one, something that you can go and see with your family, without feeling awkward or sheepish at any time. But then, I have always been a sucker for love stories with happy endings, so really not the best person to ask.I have never been a die-hard fan of SRK; Swades was, to my mind, his best performance so far. His roles, I felt, were too escapist, and at the same time, were catered to the tastes of the NRI populace, to help them associate with a fictional India.
But in RNBDJ, he's done himself justice. His rendition of the simple, sweet and devoted Surinder, madly in love with a woman who says to his face that she could possibly never return that love, is touching and most endearing. He emotes so brilliantly that he brings alive the character. His willingness to do just about anything, just to see her smile and laugh, perhaps appeals to my idea of a romantic person, to a love that transcends all reason and thought. And even when he realizes that she is ready to leave him than to stay all her life with him, his stoicism and willingness to let her go, just so that she may be happy wherever she goes, speaks loudly of a true love, if there is any such thing in the film industry. Perhaps the story was written keeping the adage "if you love someone, let her go; if she comes back, you always had her, if not, you never had her in the first place" in mind.
Anushka Sharma is charming in her debut, so everyone says. Heck, to hell with all this decorum! She's BRILLIANT! Of course, she's a pretty sight to behold, but the hold of her character comes from the innocence and guile that only a debutante could have brought, and perhaps no one could have brought it as effortlessly as her. At times, she manages to steal SRK's thunder with such ease and finesse that one is left in awe.
Many have found fault with the fact that her character doesn't recognize her own husband in the debonair dancing partner; after all, she sees her husband everyday, doesn't she? That's the beauty of it. Taani (her character) has accepted Surinder as her husband, but doesn't find it possible to love him. It's one thing to look at someone, and quite another to see that person; you can look at a person for ages, but you only deign it fit to see into the eyes of the person whom you love. So it was with Taani. When you have never looked into a person's eyes, no matter how many times that person parades himself in front of you, you will never recognize him.
Newspapers may have panned RNBDJ, but if you happen to visit any theatre playing it, it's running to full houses; audiences laugh at the jokes, clap when Surinder wins his little victories, and whistle when Taani makes her delicate and graceful overtures. That, to me, is the mark of a film that has struck a chord. Not every film need strike a high note with everyone; it just needs to set off a rhythm. The symphony will definitely follow.
RNBDJ tells a seemingly fairy story: that you don't need to be a dashing person to win someone's heart. Sometimes, the sincerity of your emotions will pull you through. And this, though a over-romanticised idea, always rings true. Love dwells in the heart, and if the heart rings true, then how can love not come forth? People would call it long-drawn and farcical at points, especially during the sumo-wrestling sequence, but if anything, it just demonstrates the intensity of love a person can feel for another. And when you are in love, when you truly feel for that special someone, nothing is too much. Isn't that how all great love stories go?
