Did you feel sympathetic for Kundan in Raanjhana?

Raanjhana gift-wrapped stalking and presented it to us as love. The film tries hard to evoke sympathy for Kundan's incessant, manic love and the writers are obviously trying to manipulate us into a sense of how selfish Zoya is. A deeply problematic film, I saw Kundan as a far more flawed than Zoya, and how he couldn't take 'no' as an answer. Predatory behaviour like his can't be called love, he was a train-wreck, an obsessive Devdas without a Paro.

I, for one, didn't feel an iota of sympathy for Kundan. Did you?

Nope. I am not into that obsessive, unhealthy, toxic love. Stalking is not love. Manipulation is not love.

No.

Also, Sonam's reaction to his stalking looked unrealistic.

That movie was hot garbage. I regret watching it as much as any regret in my whole life 😆

No, these kind of characters are so problematic. The way they build up a whole life in their imaginary world with their supposed "soulmate"

But Kundan was on another level. He didn't do anything useful or worthwhile. He was a lazy bum who spent his time day dreaming and the way he messed up his "soulmate's" life - ugh. Disgusting. And he selfishly ruined Swara Bhaskar's character's life too. And the audacity to ask for forgiveness from Zoya 😲 Such a tool.

No sympathy at all.

Hated him. His obsession with Zoya was totally unhealthy. He, just like a lot of people, thought that he can cajole and stalk someone into love.

I felt sad that he died but I would hate to have someone like him in my social circle.

I felt sympathetic toward because Kundan didn't know any better as a teenagers imo. I wouldn't way he was stalking her it was more so that he was infatuated. As for Zoya she was first annoyed but then ended up flaterred by the attention. They were young and at an age it's easy to fall In love and date around and get flutters in ones stomach.

Then, when the romance was discovered, Zoya was shipped away to bigger ans better things which enabled her to have news experiences while Kundan remained on their city ans idealized his '"love story" with Zoya which was -like in a movie- cut short by parental interferences.

He idealized the love and Zoya to a point he didn't even realize she didn't have romantic feelings for him. In his delusion, Jasjeet was an hurdle he wanted to get rid of to have the happy ending he always dreamed he would have with Zoya.

For me they are both products of their society where love and romance is everywhere on screen and songs but girls and boys are expected not to date until they get married. So they don't know anything about flirting, dating and consent.

I especially liked how he repented when he realized the reach of his actions. He wanted to be petty and didn't know things would go so far.

For me Raanjhana is a great movie because the characters were so grey even those who seemed perfect had a flaw.

No. Not really. But I don't question that he loved Zoya- in his own way.

This is my opinion and most people will disagree here but Raanjhanaa is a brilliant portrayal of how our upbringing, social class and education often define how we love, fall in love, seek love, express love.

Kundan, an anpad gawar who has grown up on cheesy BW romance films from the 80s and 90s thinks slitting his wrist is a great expression of love. Teenage Zoya thinks the same, and immediately hugs him with tears brimming in her eyes. So why does Kundan do such reckless acts? Because he simply doesn't know better. His upbringing hasn't taught him any better.

Fast-forward a couple of years. Kundan does the same thing again when he finds out Zoya is in love with someone else. What is Zoya's reaction now?? This time she chastises him by saying "Jahiliat ki BHI had Hoti hai"...Why is the wrist slitting no longer cute to her?? Because she has gone through a life experience that is university and has had the opportunity to mix with cultured people and adapt to a sophisticated way of living. Kundan is still stuck in the place where he was as a teenager.

Raanjhanaa also does a great job in showing that despite our upbringing, education and social class, we possess certain characteristics/traits that are inherently in us:

For example, Zoya, despite her knowledge and worldly experiences, does the same thing that she previously called "Jahiliat"- she cuts her wrist. Why? Because, despite her education and higher social class, she is inherently as impulsive, as emotional and as reckless a person as Kundan.

Yes, I can see how people think Raanjhanaa is a problematic film sending the wrong message to the impressionable youth.

But here is the thing. Perhaps Kundan, despite his violent ways, did truly love Zoya?? As far as the stalking part goes, after Zoya confessed that she loved someone else, there are MANY instances where he tried walking away from her, only to be pulled back into the mess by Zoya herself.

Also, despite being very very selfish, Zoya did possess an innocence that I believe the film did a good job portraying??? Everyone and I mean EVERYONE completely forgets that one fleeting scene that comes towards the end of the film: after finding Jasjeet is dead Kundan runs away in shock and vomits from grief/guilt. He comes back to find Zoya gone. But how did Kundan running away play Infront of Zoya's eyes?? She saw the man who got her lover beaten up, the man who broke her marriage flee the place like a coward!! What was the purpose of showing that scene?? If the entire point of the movie was to glorify Kundan and paint Zoya as selfish, that flashback could have been done without. That scene was included to show where Zoya's intense hatred towards Kundan was coming from. Zoya is also shown to possess some sense of morality and justice. After dishing out her punishment to Kundan, she admits to her crime and hands herself over to the authorities.

I wasn't sympathetic towards anyone.

Kundan was a romatic fool, dumbass had his brain in his dick and got what he deserved.

But Zoya was a bitch, we can't give her leeway just because she has vagina. "Oh she wad shown in negative light", she was a bloody manipulating piece of shit.

And that was the beauty of Ranjhaana, it showed us world isn't filled with glorified lovers like we see in SRK movies, it is filled with selfish people with twisted motivations.

Just because Kundan had Raanjhana huwa background music playing, doesn't mean the movie was glorifying his stalking, or else in the end he would have had the girl.

It seems like unless you show a person as total villain, any negative trait makes people like, "oh they are glorifying XYZ"

But problem is people don't get it, bollywood has manipulated people so much into believing that everything is fine in the world, people feel offended when they see characters who aren't pure.

Good topic I always felt that both Kundan and Zoya were flawed in their own ways and it was messy and toxic too. Personally towards the end i was actually happy Kundan died cos he caused the death of Jasjeet