Rab Ne Bana Di aur Audience ne Tod Di. Review on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

If Adi had to make a movie after a long hiatus of 8 years then he should have come out of the hibernation by honing up his skills in direction, script and dialogues instead of thrusting upon the audiences a shoddy movie like Rab ne bana di jodi. With no story worth speaking of (a newly married uxorious husband Surinder Sahni (SRK) making a monkey of himself (through Raj’s character) to get his wife Taani (Anushka Sharma) love him through inept screenplay, listless dialogues and bad acting, the movie heaps more shame on Bollywood and infamy on the fading YRF banner. The movie reeks of contrived script, hopeless screenplay, sanctimonious sentimentality, and highfalutin & banal dialogues - all of which have gone past their expiry date. The movie does not work due to two main reasons.

1. The constantly stressed romantic ideal in the movie that you know love is for real when you see GOD in the opposite sex should have been encapsulated in series of convincing scenes but what you get instead are dance sequence fashioned after stars of yore, irritating scenes passing of as funny, Raj fliring with Taani, endless sermons about pure & true love that is divine in its concept, etc. SRK wants her wife to love the character of Surinder and not Raj. But there is not a single scene showing Surinder making any effort to woo Taani barring the clumsily shot Sumo wrestling scene. Instead the movie has scenes galore of Raj flirting with Taani and professing love for her. How long can we really take one more film with a heroine begging her Raj to take her away? But Adi had to watch the BO prospects also as Raj’s antics would find favour among the youth and masses rather than the simpleton Surinders’.

Moreover there are no scenes that culminate in Taani developing a liking for Surinder except for the temple scene where Taani prays to God (heeding to Raj’s sermons of seeing GOD in person you love) and upon opening her eyes finds “Surinder” walking in front of her and voila she falls for the simpleton. Hence the tag line of the movie “Ordinary man’s extraordinary love story” does not make sense in the movie as the character of flamboyant Raj was given more prominence. By the way Mr. Adi, who told you that a common man or a modern man (flirts/studs) behave clumsily? Get real please.

1. While Adi wants the audience to be dumb to believe that Taani couldn’t recognize Raj from Surinder due to the makeover, he also wants us to be intelligent to understand Surinders’ love for Taani through antics of Raj. Even if the director argues that SRK looked starkly different in both the characters but what about recognizing SRK by his voice, especially when they both meet daily. Is Adi suggesting that Indian audience need a brain-transplant? SRK fails to entertain the crowd with his buffoonery act. How long can the audience bear this aging star with the same antics movie after movie? He hams and overacts all the way whether as the simpleton Surinder with that constipated look or his rustic alter ego Raj wearing that clownish mien.

It is sheer arrogance of SRK that is deluding himself that the audience would lap up any tripe he throws their way. Anushka Sharma acts decently. But she might just end up being a one film wonder as she does not look like the regular Bollywood heroine. Vinay Pathak overacts. The music is insipid and lyrics inane. In short the songs suck. Barring editing (yawn) and art direction (fake sets), the other technical aspects of the movie are worthy of praise. In the preclimax scene Taani’s character tells SRK “I can’t take it any more” Well, the audience was feeling exactly like her at that point of time.

To be fair there were two good scenes in the movie that are worth mentioning - the scene where Shahrukh Khan leaves his mobile number on the dining table and keeps a rose next to it, and again decides not to and the climax scene where “Surinder” dances with Taani instead of “Raj”. Haule haule ho jayega pyaar baliye, haule haule, croons SRK in the movie but it seems that the audience will start singing Haule haule ho jayega hate baliye, after watching this movie. AMJAD K. MARUF