When a Man loves a Woman - My Thoughts on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)

When I was young, I had once heard a Ghazal by that great King of Ghazals - Mehdi Hasan. It was mind-blowing and somehow the words just stuck with me. Allow me to repeat the same to you, if you may:

Ye Saagh-Dil, Ye Phool-Chehre, Mazaak Udaate Hai Aadmi Ka
Koi Zaraa Ye Inn Se Keh De, Maqaam Oonchha Hai Saadgi Ka

Translated it means something like this, beautiful girls with those sweet and innocent hearts, that flower-like face that makes lovers in droves go mad, often make fun of men with simple features.The poet further exhorts one and all to go ahead and tell these beautiful cradles of innocence and love that only flamboyance is not all that matters in life and that often times, the value of simplicity often outweighs flamboyance in all ways.

But in the path of life, I have often seen that men and women (too) of simple and decent manners are often losers when it comes to being the attention of parties - the limelight is often hogged by those who are flamboyant enough to show their feelings - by those who can carry their feelings on their sleeves. I guess the days of simplicity are often numbered.

I remember in school and college times, how many times my friends and I would be passed over for those who had the better dresses and the better styles and things would no change a lot till I would come back with trophies and awards and successes in all fields - academic, cultural and sports and still things would not change. What to do, there were no Ray Ban glasses, no Adidas shoes, no gel in the hair (good old Parachute coconut oil was all I could afford), no Gucci, no Armani suits to wear and no hot wheels to burn - so other things could wait.

Similarly, if you have been a simple and decent girl with no great features but friends who are fairer and sport hot dresses, even you must have felt the pain when your decency is sidelined for our friend who happens to be more shapely, more curvaceous, more fair and ..... maybe, more sexy!

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi talks about such people and then more. It talks about the predicament of a man who's a simple middle-class Joe, (a man whom we meet everyday on the roads, on the trains, in the office) but who loves and is married to someone due to fate and fortune who is flamboyant, full of joie-de-vivre and the struggles inherent in such a contradiction of qualities- told from the point of view of love itself

Shahrukh Khan as Suri is brilliant to say the least - if the 1990s oversaw the birth of Shahrukh the Star, the Super Star, the Phenomenon - one that could sleepwalk through any movie on the basis of a few stock emotions, the last few years have actually seen the metamorphosis of the stunted growth of an actor we thought we would never see after the days of DDLJ and now maybe those who kept the faith in the 90s can now turn and say, guess what we told you so.....

Shahrukh plays the role of Suri to perfection - this is a role that's easy for many to identify with - a caricature here who embellish both the performer and the performance but true to his credentials, the actor has carried it well - the look could have been toned down a bit but then the actor should not blamed for the director's or the designer's faults and foibles - should he be?

As Raj, Shahrukh is however a revelation - that's the way a loud boisterous Jat from Delhi performs and that's how one needs to see it - and Shahrukh ensures that you carry the image with you. There are many who may find fault with his performance and say that he played to the gallery but to be frank, that's not true - one needs to understand that it was not a double role and hence given to the merits of understatement but a single man in the script masquerading as two different people and that too a man of no previous works as such - I think it is justified and justified well

The force of what the director wishes to say is well-explained in one dialogue and if one listens closely, this is the dialogue that has the entire film in a nut-shell

"Main Uss Ka Pyaar Paane Ke Liye Kucch Bhi Karoonga, Bobby Par Uss Ko Pyaar Suri Se Hi Karna Padega........Suri Badlega Nahi"

What I will like the most about him though and what I will remember the most in this movie though is his banter with his friend wherein he extols the supremacy of true love - one that comes through devotion and sacrifice and not the love that speaks through flamboyancy. I mean, what is love if it needs to be told all the time (although a lover cannot stop telling, but still) - love should be seen even if it's being hidden. As Hasrat Jaipuri said:

Lakh Chhupao, Chhup Nahin Sakta Raaz Itna Gehraa
Dil Ki Baat Bata Deta Hai; Asli - Naqli Chehra

Another scene that pained me but made me smile too was the scene wherein a drunken Raj is talking to a mannequin dressed as Suri ( a brilliant directorial achievement - after all to most of the girls out there in this world, a man like Suri is a mannequin; for them men are like Raj) and telling him that one day Raj will take away Taani and Suri will be left wringing his hands and then crying over it like Suri - that was some scene! As Suri, his best scene is the one where he's visiting the Gurudwara, internally traumatized but overtly calm and dignified - please watch the movie for these 3 scenes if not for anything else

Anushka Sharma, the debutante is pretty impressive in her performance. She performs well and the best part about her performance is that her equations and her graph never dip, despite being exposed to such a complex and difficult role - So her agreeing to a loveless marriage does not have a ring of fantasy, her blunt espousal of a life without love is not extra-ordinary, her initial behaviour with Suri is not out-of-place, her decision to fall in love outside love is not wrong, her decision to seek love outside her marriage and walk out on her husband, not strange and finally her decision to stay back not surprising.

That's what amazes me - her performance as Taani is an exquisitely made necklace made to order with no tramplings - well wrought in gold and it's obvious that the director has done his job well. Her best scene has to be the scene wherein her frustration with her husband comes to the fore and the way she chides him for being just an ordinary man - that was awesome. Again the scene when she decides to be with Raj is brilliant. It shows the love she has for that man. The love is true and the love is the only truth is well-understood and felt even she decides to forsake him.

Vinay Pathak has always been a fabulous actor. He does not need an introduction for his performance - having been a man beyond compare in most of his roles and here too he does not disappoint. As usual, he has done an excellent job with her portrayal of Bobby - a bohemian in the conservative city of Amritsar well performed without any pretence or hyperbole

Music by Salim-Sulaiman is average. Anyways, the time for masterpieces in Hindi Cinema is gone far too much in the past but I do feel that compared to what we hear today, it's still one of the better ones.

However, one song that does capture my heart and makes me actually remember somethings from the past is: Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai by Roop Kumar Rathod is well sung and well shot. It's beautiful to say the least. However, Shreya Ghosal in her version is not as impactful as Roop, although she has the benefit of the slower version. Another song that may make one feel slightly romantic is the song - Haule Haule by Sukhwinder Singh that has a lot of panache. "Dance Pe Chance" by Sunidhi Chauhan and Labh Januja is another song that will definitely set the discotheques on fire. Sonu Nigam disappoints with his rendition of "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" - I also feel sad that this song mentions Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Rishi Kapoor but fails to mention the greats such as Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. I do believe that actors, directors and composers need to have some knowledge of their cinema.

Aditya Chopra has never disappointed me whenever he took over the helms of the show and jumped behind the scenes - he does not do that even now. All his films have fascinated me in lesser degree or more and I am happy to see that even this movie did. I understand the commercial implications of being the creative and the financial head of Yashraj Films but I think the banner would be served more if he could keep making movies like the ones he makes at more frequent intervals. The direction is brilliant - now only if it could have been a little less earnest; maybe it would be more powerful like the two movies that come to my mind while watching this movie - Sasural starring Rajendra Kumar and Katha starring Naseeruddin Shah and Farooque Shaikh. Anushka's transformation may leave many unconvinced since the bound and the rebound from Suri to Raj and back is a little too fast for many to digest. Also the Hindi Cinema of 2008 is not equivalent to the Hindi Cinema of 1995 when DDLJ was released.

Also, I like the way the director has used the Mohammed Rafi - Asha Bhonsle - Shailendra Singh song from Suhaag as the inspiration for the name of the film - may I say the name is apt for the film though

All I would say, as I rest my case is that:

Humne Dekhi Hai Inn Aankhon Se Mehekti Khushboo;
Haathon Se Chooke Inhien Rishton Ka Ilzaam Na Do
Ek Ehsaas Hai Ye Sirf Inhein Mehsoos Karo
Pyaar Ko Pyaar Hi Rehne Do, Koi Naam Na Do