Over the last decade, it’s become cool to disown things – art, specifically – that we loved as youngsters. Some of it is understandable. For instance, I can’t for the life of me admit that J.P. Dutta’s Border was a definitive film of my childhood. Or even David Dhawan’s sappy non-comedy, Swarg.
Introverts unite
Ironically, this is precisely why I have both developed a deep fondness for Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and resisted the pressure to boycott my ownership of this affection. Unlike most Hindi movies that succumb to the whims of social currency, RNBDJ is an innate critique of time.
The easy explanation is that this film dispels the age-old notion of love being an extroverted emotion. It celebrates the introverts who have nothing but cinema as a yardstick to express the physicality of romance. Surinder Sahni is the manifestation of the Indian everyman who believes that love is a story. Hence, he creates an alter-ego that not only helps him fulfil his fantasy of emulating his favourite heroes but also services his urge to manufacture the story he thinks they deserve. Granted, his idea of winning over his young wife Taani is twisted – she is vulnerable, and therefore cannot recognize his alter-ego for the same reason one can’t tell fiction from reality when caught in the throes of grief.
Most of all, Surinder is Aditya Chopra, a notoriously reclusive director reclaiming the humanity of his own narrative. Suri, the frumpy winner of the tradition-v/s-modernity conflict, is a mellow generational confession that signifies an honest director’s response to India’s divide between heritage and merit. Suri is both a snigger and a sigh
Credits: Hindu
Udne Ki Aasha
Kumkum Bhagya
Arjun
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