Raanjhana was probably one of the most successful movies about unrequited love. Dhanush was incredibly charming as Kundan. He garnered a lot of sympathy for Kundan. But when you look back on the movie and reflect on it realistically - it is deeply problematic. The character of Zoya is unfairly vilified.
Zoya is not interested in Kundan. Yet he persists again and again and again, despite being slapped. If this happened in real life we would be really scared and disturbed by the stalker. Her eventually finding Kundan endearing is almost Stockholm syndrome-like after he metaphorically holds her hostage to his persistence for years.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with her rejecting Kundan due to religious differences but wanting to marry Jasjeet despite religious differences and going out of her way for it. Marriage is a huge commitment and you have to meet the right person. Is it surprising that she did not find her stalker worth committing her life to? She probably made up the religious excuse to let him down easy and wasn't genuinely ever into him. Breaking up and rejecting people is awkward and most humans come up with excuses, sometimes untrue to let down people they aren't interested in.
Is it that shocking that when she actually fell in love with someone on her own accord she was willing to lie and risk everything? People do that when they genuinely love someone. It is not her fault that she fell for Jasjeet, not Kundan. People are not compelled to reciprocate everyone's feelings. And Kundan gets himself into the mess. She had rejected him years ago and forgotten about him. He inserts himself into her life again when he could have been a grown-up and walked away. He is actually so self-obsessed that he is willing to ruin Zoya's and Bindiya's life because he didn't get his way. We should be furious at him for hurting Bindiya and getting Jasjeet killed - but the movie manipulates us into feeling bad by focusing on his guilt instead of everyone else's pain.
The final act of the movie is the complete gaslighting of Zoya. There is nothing more toxic than expecting a woman to forgive her lifelong stalker and the man who had the love of her life killed. It is infuriating that the narrative paints Zoya as a bad person for holding onto a grudge and minimizes the transgressions of Kundan.
These things happen. Both men and women sometimes do spend a lifetime obsessing over someone who is not interested. I don't think there is anything wrong in making a movie of this one-sided obsessive love. But it should never be romanticized. Kundan's ultimate demise should have been the price of his crimes and not martyrdom. SRK was sympathetic in both Darr and Anjaam that at moments we do root for him - but the narrative is very clear in the fact that he is a villain who is hurting others in his obsession.
comment:
p_commentcount