Friday, December 12, 2008

"RAB NE BANA DI JODI" REVIEW


REVIEW : RAB NE BANA DI JODI

It seems that finally RAB (GOD) has listened to the prayers of YASH RAJ FILMS (YRF), whose continuous stretch of FLOP FILMS, seems to break, courtesy the presence of SHAH RUKH KHAN in their new film “RAB NE BANA DI JODI”, after their successful association in YRF’s last film “CHAK DE INDIA”.

The DUO of ADITYA CHOPRA & SRK which brought blockbusters like “DILWAALE DULHANIA LE JAAYENGE & MOHABATTEIN” has done it again with “RAB NE BANA DI JODI” and seems to have resulted into a successful comeback of Aditya Chopra as Director.

And one more surprise, RNBDJ, unlike other good looking YRF Films is not shot in YASH CHOPRA’s hot favourite SWITZERLAND locales, does not showcase sprawling BUNGALOWS, LATEST FASHION TRENDS etc., rather it’s a simple story (set up in a Indian city of Amritsar) of a simple next door ordinary honest person Surinder Sahni, who can easily be spotted around us in our daily life.

SRK plays Surinder Sahni, who lives in the crowded by-lanes of Amritsar and works for Punjab Power. His life undergoes a complete spin around when he sees a lively bubbly girl Taani played by debutante young ANUSHKA SHARMA.

Circumstances lead to the marriage of Surinder & Taani, on the condition put by Taani that she will try to be a good wife, but will never be able to love him. Surinder immediately accepts the deal, thinking what better he can deserve in his life for an ordinary person like him.

The film takes a twist when Taani wishes to participate in a Dance Competition and our simple Surinder gets himself a complete makeover (removing his moustache with flashy goggles, hip hop clothes etc.) with the help of his friend flamboyant Bobby (Vinay Pathak) and turns himself into Raj Kapoor and becomes a dance partner of Taani in the competition.

But the shocking fact is that Taani being a housewife is not able to recognize and differentiate between Surinder and Raj. This is rather difficult to digest and which is one of the main flaw in the script.

Still for it’s flaws, the film is very much watchable and enjoyable, courtesy King Khan, who as a nerd introvert Surinder Sahni has given a magical performance, backed-up by the accent, get-up with moustache, pleated trousers, very much like an ordinary man hailing from a small town.

His character is a proper mix of emotions, romance and simplicity which he carries with élan. SRK has always surprised us with the variety of performances he has given in YRF BANNER films such as DDLJ, DARR, MOHABATTEIN, CHAK DE INDIA and now RNBDJ.

Anushka, for her first film has shown lots of confidence and she should be given credit to match up and face a star of SRK status. Vinay Pathak as usual has given an incredible lively performance.

Film is interesting in pieces such as a cute dream sequence paying tribute to old filmstars and their songs. Then the pre-climax where Taani is ready to run away with Raj and finally the climax leading to the dance competition finale and the end credits showing the honeymoon of Sahni couple in Japan is excellent.

Aditya Chopra let downs with the loose story and screenplay, with interesting and gripping first 30 minutes and climax. Also, the music by Salim-Sulaiman is no match as compared to his earlier films, except for 2 songs – DANCE PE CHANCE and HAULE HAULE.

Overall, RNBDJ is a simple film which however does not live upto the expectation of Aditya Chopra’s caliber and also is no match to DDLJ & MOHABATTEIN. But for SRK’s wonderful performance and Anushka’s debut it is still enjoyable and cannot be ignored. It has opened up very well throughout the country and overseas as well, the challenge is whether the box office collections sustains after the first week.

I will give 2.5 out of 5.

TITLES
Banner : YASH RAJ FILMS
Released on : December 12, 2008
Language : Hindi
Genre : Romance & Musical
Producer : Yash Chopra & Aditya Chopra
Director : Aditya Chopra
Star Cast :
Shahrukh Khan - Surinder Sahni
Anushka Sharma - Taani

Vinay Pathak – Bobby
SPECIAL APPEARANCES : Kajol, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra
Music on : YRF Music
Music : Salim-Sulaiman
Singers : Sukhwinder Singh, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghosa, Roop Kumar Rathod, Labh Jajua
Cinematography : Ravi K. Chandran
Choreography : Vaibhavi Merchant & Shiamak Dawar
Story, Screenplay & Dialogue : Aditya Chopra


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