Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is Karan Johar’s answer to all those who predicted the death of quintessential Bollywood entertainment: masala rom-coms for the family. It is also a bold reply to cynics who wrote off Johar’s brand of films—frothy, larger-than-life, gaudy in bits but with love, parivaar, sanskaar and opulence. The man who made us mimic college life based on Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or learn about family in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, all the while being extremely fashionable, but also problematic, is back with a bang and a romance.
Rocky aur Rani works—all the more because of its honest exuberance and excessiveness, which leaves viewers clapping, crying and even secretly wishing for a Rocky or Rani of their own. It works because it is so impossible and implausible.
It is the job of rom-coms to create fictional characters we adore, and Johar does that with wild abandon. It tugs at our heart and memories stirring within the need to watch Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham for the umpteenth time.
Johar stands tall among directors who make rom-com-meets-family films. And he’s back after a break of seven years. Others can copy him, and enjoy a measure of success, but it’s not quite the same.
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is entertainment, entertainment, entertainment with generous dollops of family and mush — where tradition and modernity clash, cry, laugh and eventually, find a way to co-exist. Mostly, modernity wins.
Karan Johar’s last big screen directorial venture was Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) that made a worldwide collection of Rs 239.67 crore. With Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, there is a chance for him to reclaim the throne that many pushed him out of, at least on Twitter, post the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and the ensuing outrage over Bollywood and nepotism.
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Patriarchy, cancel culture, elitism
If K3G was about bringing an estranged family together, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is about making families understand that not all traditions they follow are good, and that even the most progressive of people are also flawed.
The classic love story hones in on the clash of cultures between Rocky Randhawa (Ranveer Singh) an over-the-top wealthy Punjabi youth from a business family and the journalist Rani Chatterjee (Alia Bhatt) who comes from a more erudite family.
The Randhawa matriarch Dhanlaxmi (Jaya Bachchan) is a cross between the infamous ‘parampara, pratishtha, anushashan’ version of Amitabh Bachchan’s character in Mohabbatein (2000) and Yash Raichand in K3G. The Chatterjees on the other hand are forward-thinking, and a tad classist. Rani’s father Chandon (Tota Roy Choudhury) is a Kathak exponent and her mother Anjali (Churni Ganguly) is a Delhi University professor.
Johar uses stereotypes to address patriarchy, cancel culture, elitism, and even the disdain that had accumulated about larger-than-life Bollywood films. His vehicle is Rocky—the flamboyant Punjabi who loves his bling, protein shakes and shirts unbuttoned till the navel. Through him, he delivers a scathing critique of cancel culture when he makes the Chatterjees aware of their own problematic stance in their dismissal of him. It is as if Johar is holding a mirror up to his critics.
From using classic Hindi songs, when Rocky’s grandfather Kanwal (Dharmendra) and Rani’s grandmother Jamini (Shabana Azmi) reconnect after years or when Rocky and Rani flirt and kiss, it is Johar at his best too. The movie is littered with pop culture references, including Alia Bhat’s infamous incorrect answer to the question about India’s prime minister years ago. He is almost surgical in how meticulous the film’s universe is.
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Romance through the decades
For a long time, Yash Raj Films has been associated with the genre of Bollywood rom-com. From the iconic Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge (1995) to Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), to Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) and Befikre (2016) YRF revisits romance every few years through the lens of modernity with tradition. The idea of a ‘mismatched’ couple, getting together to convince their respective families, forms the cornerstone of a Bollywood parviarik rom com.
Rajshri Films took the rom-com with family to another end of the spectrum with films like Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) Hum Aapke Hai Kaun (1994), Hum Saath Saath Hai (1999). These films became iconic for the sanskaar dose they carried, even if love won in the end.
There were variations, deviations and upgrades too, over the last two decades. The common ingredient in most of these films was one or both the protagonists being Punjabis and /or NRIs. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, a bit like Satyaprem Ki Katha, is about a couple where the husband is head-over-heels in love with his wife who is grieving a past trauma. Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) looked at the idea of love coming in all sizes when a small-town man Prem (Ayushmann Khurrana) is forced to marry Sandhya (Bhumi Pednekar), who is overweight. His dreams of a svelte, attractive wife creates issues in the marriage, as Prem is unable to accept Sandhya for who she is.
Imtiaz Ali too entered the space with a fresh take, in Jab We Met (2007), where, once again, a robust, joint Punjabi family is part of the adventurous ride of Geet (Kareena Kapoor) and Aditya (Shahid Kapoor).
But Johar created his own brand. It is also worth remembering that he made his debut in Bollywood, as an assistant director in one of the biggest romances of Bollywood, Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge (1995). That remains one of the biggest icons of romance, with family and modernity thrown in, for millennials.
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The body of work
Over time, Johar branched out from the NRI or family romance, even making a film about the flipside of marriages, and adultery, with Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). It created a buzz , because it was an ‘unlike’ Johar film, usually all rainbows and happy endings. With Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016), he immortalised the trope of ‘one-sided love’ through the character of Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor), who pines after Alizeh (Anushka Sharma), the girl who really sees him only as a friend. For Indians, ‘friendzoned’ became a social media buzzword, post the film.
But between these, he created Student of the Year (2012) and launched Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan. The high school rom-com hit all the right chords, with the absence of a school romance since Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1991). But the similarity ended there. Johar’s version of school was like the rest of his films–extremely elite, romanticised and larger-than-life.
In June 2022, Johar’s Dharma Productions co-produced Jugg Jugg Jeeyo, another family rom-com. The film earned a total of Rs 136 crore faring average at the box office. The story revolves around childhood sweethearts Naina (Kiara Advani) and Kuckoo (Varun Dhawan) who fall out of love barely five years into marriage. While Bhim Saini, Kuckoo’s father (Anil Kapoor) is in love with ‘Meera Ma’am’ (Tisca Chopra). His wife, Geeta’s (Neetu Kapoor) world revolves around her husband, children and kirtan.
The family comes together on the eve of Kuckoo’s sister Ginny (Prajakta Koli). She is marrying for stability instead of love, and looks up to her parents and brother’s marriages. The drama that follows forms the crux of the story. It’s almost like a prequel to Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, in how it tackles fissures within a seemingly happy family, but with the glitz and glamour intact.
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Romance and 2023
Romance is the theme of the Bollywood films this year—that have managed decent earnings. Pathaan is of course an exception — an action masala movie that posted highest earnings. The upcoming Jawaan is expected to top even that. The first to join the game was Luv Ranjan’s Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Shradhha Kapoor. A take on modern relationships and the concept of a girl having to live with in-laws, the film managed to earn Rs 15.73 crore in the opening weekend.
Sara Ali Khan and Vicky Kaushal’s mid-budget Zara Hatke, Zara Bachke also managed to do decent business and earned more than Rs 82 crore in India. Based on a couple’s desire to own a house, it gives a glimpse into a middle-class lifestyle.
The other romantic family film that made decent earnings is Satyaprem Ki Katha, released in June. The film that looked at an arranged marriage that turns into love. It’s total earnings too is above Rs 80 crore. An entertainer with social messaging, the film falls in the same category as Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. The Kartik Aryan-Kiara Ali Advani film looked at the issue of date rape, while also providing a space for two people brought together by parents, to make the best of the situation, but with sensitivity.
In Netflix documentary The Romantics, Aditya Chopra described his father’s vision in which Indians “aspire to be more than they are”, and respond to movies that show “a world which is better”. In Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, this hope is embodied in the clash and eventual reconciliation of the families, but in Johar’s style.
For now, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is the clear winner. After all, who else but Johar can make two men dance to the iconic Dola Re Dola and elicit wolf whistles from the audience?
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)