Subhash K Jha revisits and celebrates Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani , which starred Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, along with Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Churni Ganguly, Aamir Bashir, and Kshitee Jog in a new installment of This Day That Year. We also hear from Karan Johar about the making of the film and his feelings about the love Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani it received when it released in 2023.
Wait! Did we see an upsurge in the number of men joining Kathak classes after Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani ? Among the many things that writers Sumit Roy, Shashank Khaitan and Ishita Moitra tells us in this kaleidoscopic view of life on Malamaal Hill, is that it’s okay for men to adopt traditionally female roles.
And listen, if you like Kathak dancing it doesn’t mean you are effeminate or gay. Tota Roy Chowdhury converts the boorish Punjabi loutish epitome of toxic masculinity Rocky, played with lipsmacking relish by Ranveer Singh. Before we know it the two men are dancing together to Sanjay Bhansali’s ‘Dola re dola re’ without the being the least conscious of the feminine expressions. Move over Aishwarya, Madhuri…
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is a riot of informed entertainment. It has a breathless pace, probably to match its leading man Ranveer Singh’s energy level. Although Alia Bhatt playing his Significant Other is equally electrifying. Together Rocky and Rani are as dynamic as fuel and fire.
From the moment they meet the screen is ignited by their combustive chemistry. Though poles apart in temperament and cultural values, we know instinctively that Rocky and Rani are meant to be together. Don’t ask how. We just know.
But hang on. This is not only about the love between Rocky and Rani. It is also a charming chronicle of the unfulfilled love between Jamini (a moving homage to Shabana Azmi’s silently eloquent act in Mrinal Sen’s Khandhar) and Kanwal (Dharmendra). The unfulfilled love in the past gets a befitting closure in the present.
Karan Johar’s direction is exuberant , sometimes dizzyingly so, when it wants to be. He then suddenly reins-in the riot of colours and drama, as though to remind us that the insulated affluent lives that these characters lead also need to self-gaze once in a while.
For Ranveer Singh’s Rocky, the party never stops. He is an unabashed patron of patriarchy. His father(Aamir Bashir, excellent as ever) is an unapologetic MCP who body-shames his daughter (Anjali Anand, cute) and simply shames his wife (Kshitee Jog).The wife wants to be a singer and belts out ‘Aap jaisa koi’ in the kitchen when no one is listening.
Among the many achievements of this very special film on under-achievers is the use of vintage music, from ‘Abhi na jao chhod kar’ (as the signature tune for the Jamini-Kanwal love story) to ‘Suno suno Miss Chatterjee’ (from the film Baharen Phir Bhi Ayengi), used here by Ranveer to woo Alia because….well she is Rani Chatterjee.
Ranveer’s Rocky is a masterclass in exuberant acting without heaving into the hemisphere of hamming. As for Alia, every time she has us wondering what she would do next. Every time she takes us by surprise. Among the supporting cast, Shabana Azmi as the grandmother who loved and lost, allows her silence to shriek her protest.
Jaya Bachchan plays the villain of the piece with a commanding grimace. Her character Dhanalaxmi reminds us that the toxicity in a patriarchal society often originates from a woman. It takes another woman to remind us of this fact. As for the Bengali actors, they are so busy being Bengali we forget they are part of a film that gives every characters the freedom to be what he or she wants to. Even a male Kathak dancer.
“I feel for the first time I am validated as an artiste” … Karan Johar , basking In the success of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani , spoke to this writer about his state of mind as the World showered love on his labour of love.
Karan Johar remembers how the audience reacted to Tota Roy Choudhury and Ranveer Singh dancing to ‘Dola re dola’. “Just like in the song ‘Tum kya mile’, I pay a homage to my favourite filmmaker Yash Chopra, in ‘Dhindhora baje re’ and ‘Dola re dola’ the entire set is a homage to Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Someone asked me if I got inspired by Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s aesthetics. My response was, ‘No. I copied it.’ Inspiration is a mild word. I copied it as I am huge fan of his artistry. When I was creating that Durga Puja set it was only normal that I lean on the genius of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. So there is homage to two of my favourite filmmakers this film. Also, a lot of the family values are derived from my growing up on Sooraj Barjatya’s cimema. Plus my mother trained me to love Hindi film music. At the age of six when my friends were listening to Wham and Madonna, I was listening to Lataji, Ashaji, Rafi Saab and Kishore Kumar. I remember Lataji’s ‘Lag ja gale’ and ‘Tujhse naraaz nahin’ were the songs that touched me deeply at the age of nine. As a child I felt different from the others. My work is always looking back to the time I was growing up with deep impressions of Hindi cinema.”
Karan Johar used vintage songs so effectively in Rocky Aur Rani… especially ‘Abhi na jao chhod kar’. “There is no song more romanic than kAbhi na jao’. I used some of my favourite songs. ‘Ek pyar ka nagma hai’, and ‘Suno Suno Miss Chatterjee’… that was my writer Ishita Moitra’s find. She came to me one day and said we have to use it. I hadn’t even heard this song. What is gratifying is the young generation is looking for kAbhi na jao’ online. That is my biggest victory. Even if a tiny population goes back to the golden era of film music. I feel I have succeeded.”
Karan says Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was your most personal film in many ways. “It is personal for my love of Hindi and Indian cinema. It is a homage not only to the filmmakers I respect, it’s homage to the music I grew up on. And also some personal feelings that have seeped into the characters, especially that of Alia’s father played by Tota Roy Choudhury. Like him, I used to dance with abandon. And my father clapped along. But when I danced in front of friends, some of them giggled and laughed. It made me feel I was less of a man. My father would make me dance in front of his friends. I would dance to ‘Dafli wale’. And none of his friends found it unusual. It was only when I stepped into the outside world that I got the sniggers and the laughs, people pointing at you for your body language.”
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was Karan’s first directorial in seven years. “I never realized there was such a long gap, and that I wasted so much energy on things other than making movies. Of course, there were some practical issues: I was earlier supposed to make Takht before Rocky Aur Rani. That was two-and-a-half years of preparation gone to waste. Then there were two years of the pandemic . So technically I am just three years late. But even then that is three years too many. I realized I investing my energy in other activities and not what I love doing the most. When I look at my filmography I feel this cannot be my seventh film in twenty-five years. It’s not a great record to have for any filmmaker. I should have made many more films. I feel I should direct much more. Good, bad, hit, flop is secondary. I just need to make more movies now. If you are filmmaker you need to put out a film much more often. A filmmaker needs to tell stories and create new worlds. I feel I haven’t done enough of that. I realized what I had missed out on when I released Rocky Aur Rani on 28 July. The last time I released a film directed by me was Ae Dil Hai Mushkil 28 October 2016. I realized this was just plainly ridiculous. I wasn’t being lazy. I was busy strengthening my company and a lot of other activities, some of which I now feel I should have curtailed. Of course, I enjoyed whatever I was doing. But now the focus has to be on making films. Let me make it very clear that I really enjoy the process of nurturing new talent, But now I’ve come to realize that one of my my happiest place to be is the film set, interacting eith my team making film… Of course my happiest place is my mom and kids. But after that, it’s the film set. There is no bigger and better joy than creating a film on a set. I feel when I’m behind the monitor watching the execution of my written material, that joy is irreplaceable.”
