I watched this movie as a Shah Rukh Khan's fan who's always looking forward to being entertained with good stories presented in his trademark engaging way. I didn't watch it like a critic. I've never found anything wrong in the way he portrays his characters. I may like some more than the others, but the reasons have always been character tributes, not his acting chop. So don't expect to find biting comments about his movies or his acting in my blog. You can have a bellyfull of that kind of treatment from critics and wannabe-critics elsewhere.
Also, all the noted dialogues are written according to the English translation coz I dunno Hindi so I'm afraid to write it in case I misspell any word.
First Impression on SRK
When he disembarks from the train, my thought was: "Hey, this is not Shah Rukh Khan!" LOL
You know the gag spectacles people usually buy at gag shops... the one with big-sized rims, a big nose and a mustache? Shah Rukh looks like he's wearing that as Suri. I thought, if I were to pass by this guy on the street I would not have even looked at him once, never mind twice. If ever Shah Rukh felt the need to disguise himself when he goes out, he should go with this 'common man' mask instead of dark glasses. I can bet no one would realise who he is.
Anushka is a goddess in her wedding attire.
Anushka's lovely moments
Every time she appears onscreen XD. To pick just a few:
- When she's shouting to her friend not to touch her wedding dress
- When she's shouting to her father to go for the mehndi himself
- When she says, "Are? Kya nehi nehi?" to Suri on their first meeting
- When Raj is playing around during their first dancing session at the hall. Anushka's face looks like Taani can't make up her mind whether to kick his ass for being insolent or laugh
- "Aap ko biryani acchi nehi lagi?", "You never know. Wait and watch~" ...o man, so beautiful
- Taani looks the most modern and enchanting while she's spouting all that gaali in the Dhoom 3 scene
- Okay, forget it... I can't choose. I love all her scenes!
- Whenever he looks at Taani, before and after their marriage. He conveys such awkwardness, shyness and longing in those brief glances. Especially when Taani appears in front of his officemates in the house-warming party and in the 'first breakfast Taani made for him' scene. There's such gratitude and disbelief, probably at how lovely she looks (even I gape at her in that brilliant yellow dress, running her hand through her wet hair)
- Suri and his yellow tiffin casing... "yellow is my favourite colar" ...LOL! Even the Hyundai (the car brand Shah Rukh endorses ting tong) is yellow
- Before the start of Haule Haule when he flicks his head back
- Cute phrases: "Mention not", "Mooch nehi katte ni hai", "Hoit!", "Oyee!", "Siappa", "Punjab Pawar lighting up your life, Surinder Sahni this side ji",
- Suri's naive reactions: "You will slap my wife??", "Sorry Bobby, is that part (macho) very expensive?"
- Every time Taani comes to his room unannounced, Suri drops something he's been working on XD
- My wish for the 'my favourite uncle' moment was granted! It's that scene when Suri takes off his fake mustache while still wearing his spectacles. I went, "Hey! It's Uncle!" LOL
- Suri dances before his bath and at the dinner table during the 'Dance Pe Chance' video
- The way he looks when Taani says she's cooked him biryani and while she's filling up his plate (shock! horror! ohnoes, stop it! stop it! no more! I'm going to die, huh?), then loudly going "Arrrrghhhhh," while lying on his bed, unable to go to sleep LOL
- Every time Suri's demeanour peeks out during the first night at the dance hall, esp when Raj tries to explain that "it was a mistake" as the guy inspects his 21 green card
- Every time he flirts with Taani, esp the "Flirting would be if I were to tell you that I have never seen a girl more beautiful than you and when you dance all sweaty, the way your hair swings left, right, left, right made my heart skip a beat..." dialogue. I was like, "Suri! Where did you get that vocabulary??" XD
- During the bike ride in the rain, esp when he says, "Bataa du?" (I like the fact that there's quite a lot of rain when it's Raj's turn)
- Cute phrases: "Oh dearrr, never fearrr, Raj is herrre", "Areppaaa", "Now you'rrre not saying anything", "Okay, John Ibrahim!", "Full verzhon, please?", "Thank you Madonna madam!", "Correct?', "Kuch kam karu! Karu, karu, karu!", "Aap here... what? why? how come?", "Tu God's ki gift hai ji", "Same, same?", "The sky fell, yes. Let's hang together", "By the by", "Oh, present ji", "Everything is same.. to same ji", "Oh good night Taani partner. Happy monsoon~~"
- Every time he takes off his dark glasses and looks at Taani. So intense are his stares, it makes me wonder how much Suri's spectacles power is and whether, however much he squints, Raj only sees a blur whenever he looks at her from a distance
- His expression, inflection and o yumm body language when he says, "O man, I'll die of happiness!", "Price ka mile gaaa?", "Koi bi?", "I'll pick you up tomorrow 9am, Amritsar time ji."
- Prancing down the stairs of the mandhir in that tight kapre during the 'Tujh Mein Rab Dekhta Hai' song
- Taani's eyes as she says, "I'll do as you wish, father" on his deathbed
- Suri's eyes when Taani says she has to kill her old self and create a new Taani, and Anushka's acting skill during this scene
- The whole characterization of Suri: the way he walks and talks, his body posture, his voice, the way he looks at others through his spectacles (he never takes them off, just like Clark Kent hehe)
- Shah Rukh's inflection when he says, "But I love her just the way she is" in the confession scene at his friend's salon
- The change in expression between '...apka hero' and 'ji'. Also, when he says, "I aaaaamm..." during Raj's first meeting with Taani. Actually, I love the whole host of expressions Shah Rukh displays during that scene. It's Suri being worried that his wife will recognize him and trying to act like this hero 'Raj' that he's created at the spur of the moment.
- When Raj talks to the mannequin/Suri, esp when Raj reverts to Suri at the end of the monologue. This is one of the scenes I rewind the most. That single tear at the end is so easy to miss.
- Raj's morphing into Suri in the changing room during and after Taani's answer that "The only thing a girl desires is that someone loves her like no one has ever been loved before. There is nothing else a girl wants from life."
- Anushka's expressions during the 'I Love You' scene. I feel as if I could stare at her forever
- Raj's expression after Taani says, "Nothing remains the same after that," is Suri thinking, "Hoshit, I made a big mistake, didn't I?". Very profound
- After Raj declares his love for Taani, there's a hardened quality in Suri's eyes whenever he gazes upon Taani, with every look screaming betrayal. This look starts surfacing in the salon: the scene when Suri combs his hair
- Suri's rigidly angry posture in the rain when Raju calls to tell him that his wife is at the garage asking after Raj, and the softening of his expressions when later he enters the garage and finds how wretched Taani looks sitting by herself waiting for him to come
- Anushka's expression and body movements during their entire dance in the Dancing Jodi Grand Finale competition
Everytime Shah Rukh appears onscreen LOL. Okay, okay.. that's too general.
- When Suri clears his cupboard. Also, later as he looks around the attic, goes, "maih" and proceeds to bounce lightly with a broom in his hand to clean the cobwebs
- Shah Rukh Khan is washing the dishes! Mukyaaaaaa!
- Best Scene of Filmfare 2008 is my favourite scene too
- Everytime Suri is at the office: sitting so primly at his seat, answering telephone, interacting with his officemates, carrying that tiffin box to his desk like it's some kind of offering to God, etc.
- Drunken revelry with his best friend, Balwinder aka Bobby Khosla, to the tune of 'Tere Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'
- The shorning of half a mustache: "Haule, haule, haule, haule, haule, haule, hoit!" (somehow, in the dark ...Suri's sillouette reminds me strongly of Shah Rukh as 'Babloo' in Duplicate)
- Every time Raj adjusts his tight jeans XD
- The gol guppa competition. Esp when both Taani and Raj have tears streaking down their sweaty faces, after they've eaten God knows how many plates of that food, yet they still bravely shove it in one by one. And afterwards, Suri shoveling the biryani courageously while saying "A-One ...A-One ji" after every mouthful.
- The 'oye macho' scene + the 'macho' song when Raj enters the dance hall
- The most uncomfortable moment for me has to be everytime Suri prays at the Golden Temple because he does the 'sujud'. It makes me wonder how Shah Rukh justified those scenes while he was acting
- There's too much mentioning of 'God' in this movie. What was happening in Aditya's life when he penned this story?
- That short dialogue-less scene at the temple before 'Dance Pe Chance'. Either Aditya was too sure that Shah Rukh would manage to convey the right message to us or he didn't want to bother. But I thought that's a very important scene and he should have inserted more clues into it in case some people don't get what it's about
- No one in the film tries to explain how a normal desk-job guy who never seems to get up from his seat, much less has weight-lifting included in his daily regiment, can have a nice sculpted body. Or does the casting staff think that Raj's body is like that of any normal guy's in Amritsar? I have to go to this Amritsar place and check out the male population there before I complain any further
- What does the writing Taani sees on the banner mean in the scene before she and Raj get showered with rose petals?
- That dancing and singing is allowed in the masjid. It's made me realize my ignorance on how Islam is practiced in other parts of the world
Feels like commenting about this song...
- Kajol looks so fresh and distinct in the sea of black and white, Bipasha so wooden and awkward with Shah Rukh, Lara so forgettable that I couldn't distinguish her from the back-up dancers even though her costume is outstanding (it looks like the set in Om Shanti Om. Even the costumes are similar. I wish they got Deepika for this one instead. That would have been quite a trip down memory lane), Preity so vivacious, and ...I run out of words to describe Rani. She's as beautifully vivid as she was in KKHH. In fact, some of her moves remind me of the 'Koi Mil Gaya' song. I can't believe she's 10 years older now, she is still just as youthful, energetic and riveting.
- I managed to guess correctly 4 out of 5 avatars that Shah Rukh did, which means his talent for mimicry is quite formidable (remember, I'm not an Indian Hindi movie goer. I hardly get to watch old Hindi movies on TV and I don't buy other DVDs aside from SRK's). My miss was Rajesh Khanna. But that's probably coz I've only watched a couple of his movies and they are of the tear-jerker variety. I have never seen Rajesh Khanna dance wearing bright clothes XD". But Raj (the Charlie Chaplin look), Shammi (Junglee and Yahoo, the way he throws his arms and hair about) and Rishi Kapoor (the long scarf) are pretty identifiable from the word go. And Shah Rukh got Dev Anand's mannerisms nailed. I bet he's one of the actors Shah Rukh always tried to imitate while acting in his bathroom when he was a kid
- Funniest Scene: thumbdrive-stuck-in-laptop scene LOL. The way Shah Rukh executed that scene is such a riot!
- Sexiest scene: when Raj gets out of the cab and pays the fare while wearing Suri's spectacles and then walking like Suri. Even though Raj is always in tight t-shirts and jeans, the only time I think, "OMG, he's so sexy!!!" is during this scene
- Most Adorable Way of Saying Embarrassing Things to Your Lady Love: Raj in the 'motion ni loose hai' dialogue LOL
- Best dialogue: "Bobby my friend, to make Taani laugh, to keep her happy, Suri can do comedy, Suri can dance, Suri can change himself completely and become Raj. But to win her love, Suri won't change. She will have to love this Suri I work for Punjab Pawar for who he is. And she will have to understand Suri's love soft, sweet, slow. Otherwise we are travelling the love lane, down the road we will meet again."
- Best Mood Twister in a Scene: the sumo wrestling scene. It could have been a funny scene but the way Shah Rukh played it made me cry and laugh at the same time throughout it. The music score amazingly captures the varying mood range of the characters
- Best Villain: Taani when she, leaving the movie theater and her husband behind without a word, went to find Raj at Raju Garage
- Most Lovable Look while Posing a Ridiculous Question: Suri when he asks Taani whether God will be angry at him for loving her more than Himself
- Most Loaded Sexual-Tension Look: Suri during the Dancing Jodi Grand Finale
- Most Favourite Scene: the 'run away with me' scene, hands down
Suri's my favourite character, but I also love Raj a lot. Shah Rukh has created a mix persona of jester, wannabe hero, awkward + extravagant guy with a good heart in Raj. I see moments of Suri in Raj, but I can't see Raj in Suri at all. In fact, there are several scenes with Raj that made me go, "Suri, why are you doing this?" or "Uh oh, it's Suri applying his naive logic/reasoning again". The way Shah Rukh plays both characters is genius. The only apparent time that Suri acts like Raj is when he asks Bobby, "Have you ever tasted the first raindrops? They taste heavenly."
My verdict? As far as comparison goes, to me, it's way better than DDLJ. The first time I watched DDLJ was in 1997 back when I was in the UK. People made such a fuss about the film so I looked it up. I wasn't very impressed with it, but maybe that was because I couldn't identify with whatever it is it tries to convey. But with RNBDJ, due to some real life experiences, I can identify with its issues and maybe that's why I enjoyed it better. Shah Rukh was right, it's quite a modern take on marriage. While not always concurring with Suri's decisions, I understand everything he tries to do for Taani. If my Suri were to love me as recklessly, what would have been my reaction? Would I be like Taani and ask him to stop?
Can I say this? Shah Rukh looks really nice with a mustache hehe. Even though it makes him look older than his age, it also makes him look more beautiful... to me, at least.
I can see how Shah Rukh was having fun with Raj. I love Raj, he amuses me to no end. Every time Shah Rukh plays a dorky character, it reminds me of Babloo. Maybe because that's his first really dorky character I've come across. He let go quite a lot as Raj. The gol guppa competition reminds me of how Shah Rukh said he doesn't like people to see him eat. Raj eats very sloppily in that scene. And of all the places Raj can go with his lady love, he takes her on a tour to places of worship LOL. What a difficult guy to pin down. No wonder Taani was smitten. I think Shah Rukh didn't want to fight public opinion and so agreed readily when people say Raj was played over-the-top etc. But IMO, the way he plays it is the only logical way to play Suri's Raj.
See, Raj will make sense if we think that Suri's modeled him after his best friend. Booby Khosla is flamboyant, very confident with himself (colourful hair and loud dress sense in the small town of Amritsar? He's definitely a confident guy) and overtly macho. It's a unisex salon so I think he's popular with the ladies too, although it was not shown in the movie. The only real person Suri can base his super hero Raj on is Bobby and because exaggerative gestures are out of character for Suri since his movements are particularly minimal , Suri's imitation of Bobby becomes jerky and discontinuous. Which probably translates to the audience as hamming.
Hasn't anyone ever wondered how come the best friend of the most boring guy in Punjab Pawar is an extrovert like Bobby? Aditya didn't explain clearly the equation between the two, deciding to focus on the woman-man relationship instead. I wish Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi has a sequel. There're a lot of things that can be done with these three interesting characters yet. Oh, by the way... that the story stays interesting from start to finish for billions of people all over the world with just three big characters (with one played by a newcomer) driving it forward speaks for the brilliance of Aditya's writing. If the screenplay had sucked, not even Shah Rukh could have saved it. It's also a testament to that popular saying, "Only sex or Shah Rukh sells" Heck, for a movie that stars the King of Romance, it doesn't have even a peck on the cheek (or did I miss it somewhere??) and it sold like hotcakes when it was released.
Some people say that Suri deliberately pushes Taani towards Raj in order to test her love for him by becoming more stoic, case in point is when he requests her to close the window coz the floor will get spoilt by rainwater. I don't think Suri does any such thing, he's just being his normal regular homely self. That's his ancestral home... of course he doesn't want to see the floor ruined. Suri's request is a reflex due to his practical nature. IMO, the only time he tests Taani is when he asks her about Raj.
And about Taani not recognizing her husband? I agree with the opinion that we see what we want to see. What we don't want to see, our brain will make up its own explanation to justify it so as not to disturb our sensibilities. Or else, why wouldn't Lois Lane notice that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person? The power to create false imageries to replace the truth in order to preserve our sanity is a very human defense mechanism... just like forgetfulness is.
Surprisingly, the humblest and most profoundly beautiful gestures in this film are made by the happy-go-lucky avatar, Raj:
- Blackout-ing the whole Amritsar for a few seconds in order to light it up again with 'I love you' written across the black expanse. I find it lovely that one side of the V is made up of roadside lamps
- Giving up the dance classes he is looking forward to participating with Taani in order to give her a shot at winning the competition
- Taking her on a tour to the places of worship and staging all sorts of lovely receptions to welcome her: the rose petal shower, the giant picture puzzle, the child dancers, and finally the most astonishingly extravagant love declaration a woman has ever been treated to
- Telling her that he thinks what she wants to wish in the first rain is to stop her heart from hurting
- Asking her, quite sensitively done actually, what is it that a girl wants most in the world
- Making her smile and laugh all the time. He never gives her a chance to stare into nothing or sulk at all during their interactions
- Trying to serve hot tea while the reality of Taani, his (Suri's) wife, choosing another man is staring him in the face
- Asking her to run away with him, knowing fully well that if she were to accept, he'd have to erase his real self (Suri) and become Raj for the rest of his life. Of all the movies I have watched in my life, I think this is the ultimate 'sacrifice yourself at the altar of love' scene for me. Nothing can top this, ever
- Being endearingly overwhelmed by Taani's refusal to leave with him after the competition even though the reason Taani doesn't want to leave Suri is most probably due to gratitude and wifely obligation, not love
My request? To any kind soul, translate the ending credits and upload it to youtube, please? Thank you in advance.
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