So I never really watched this movie properly, as it's so poorly rated everywhere that I thought it must be a pretentious film that I don't need to invest myself in. I just saw bits and pieces of it in TV, and while I could appreciate Rani's acting from it, I never bothered with the movie.
But a few days ago I was watching the title song from the movie, and was stunned at the acting calibre and the diverse range of emotion Rani was displaying at every frame there. As a fan of hers, I felt I needed to watch the movie, if only for her sake. I downloaded it and started watching it with the expectation of hating it. But boy, I was wrong.
First let's talk about the movie in itself (independent of Rani's performance in it). The first half was excellent - so evocative and a wonderfully crafted honest tale of a poor family's struggles and tribulation. From the witty dialogues to the emotions to the sets to the spectacularly choreographed "Hum to Aise Hain Bhaiya", I could not stop marveling at every scene. Rani's transformation from the village girl to the high class escort was expertly handled too, with enough reasons and in a believable way. The best part was that they didn't try to turn it into a tragedy p o r n that I was expecting -- the family's struggles and those tragic scenes were interspersed with comedic moments, witty humors (esp. from Konkona), funny one-liners that it felt very realistic.
The second half unfortunately drags it down a bit. Rani-Abhshek's romance wasn't very well developed, the whole "Abhishek and the other guy turning brothers in the end" didn't seem believable to me. The ending was too contrived as well. But despite the flaws in the second half, it is still a pretty good movie.
And yes. Rani's acting. I felt this one deserves a special mention here. While I always knew Rani as a great actress, this performance to me is one of the best in the whole of Bollywood. I can't believe that I didn't see it sooner considering I am her fan. She brought out so many ranges of emotions -- from her silliness and a happy-go-lucky girl in the beginning, to her struggles and confusions once she reaches Mumbai, to her life as an escort to being the typical romantic heroine in the end, she did it all here. I thought I would just see her weepy face, but she actually did more than that. Just watch this song and look at the diverse range of emotions and expressions playing on her face: from sadness to hopelessness to anger to jealousy to shame to everything..
I wonder why the film didn't do well? I can see why it wasn't a commercial hit, but why was it so panned by critics and everyone alike?
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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