When SRK Won Me Over- Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

As I mentioned in a previous post, the very famous Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which launched Shah Rukh Khan's lover boy persona and remains at this writing the longest running movie in Bollywood history, only served to leave me slightly bemused as to the appeal of SRK. The movie was fine and he did have some moments that proved he knew how to turn on lovey-dovey charm, but mostly I spent the film thinking, "Really?" Why, I wondered, has this odd-looking man with his over-the-top "look at me!" acting style won the hearts of fans the world over?

I warmed up to him a little when watching Dil To Pagal Hai (The Heart is Crazy), which is an overblown 90s romance full of cheesiness and angst and fate and love and soul mates and Madhuri Dixit running through verdant green meadows and DANCING and some horrifically ugly dance costumes and I love it. I just do. I've heard this type of Bollywood movie described as "candy floss romance," which didn't mean much to me until I remembered that "candy floss" is the UK English term for cotton candy. It fits perfectly. There is nothing of nutritional value in cotton candy at all, but it certainly tastes delicious! And sometimes you just want to indulge.

I'm sure I will devote an entire blog post to Dil To Pagal Hai eventually, but for now, check out the rain song with all the adorable dancing children (watch the kids in the background closely starting at the 2 minute mark to see one little boy miss his cue in hilarious fashion):

But I still wasn't feeling the magic, although his chemistry with Madhuri Dixit is sizzling (Madhuri herself is fabulous).

Then, one night, I was scrolling through the offerings on Netflix Instant Streaming and came across Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (A Match Made by God). I have to admit, the fact that it starred Shah Rukh Khan was part of what made me pretty indifferent to watching it at first. But I thought I'd give it a go.

I planned to just watch it for a little while to check it out but watched the whole thing then and there. I suppose you should know before reading on that I cannot with any kind of objectivity speak of this movie. I love it that much. I love it so much that perfectly reasonable criticisms of people who don't like the movie make me irrationally defensive. I love it so much that it almost ties with Jab We Met, which was on such a pinnacle I thought no other Bollywood would touch it. And in that one viewing Shah Rukh Khan wormed his way into my heart and I totally got it. I don't even find him funny-looking anymore, but impishly handsome. That's the power of his charisma.

The story centers on Surinder Sahni, a bespectacled, quiet-spoken and perfectly ordinary middle class man who is invited to attend the wedding of his favorite university professor's daughter, Taani, played by Anushka Sharma.

He is charmed by her, and who wouldn't be? In fact he is immediately smitten. But she's about to be married and all, so... short movie, right?

No, of course not. I will warn you that the beginning here, which sets up the premise of the film, is an awful lot to swallow, at least for a Western audience. I always give this warning when recommending the movie, as well as assurances that just rolling with it is worth it! What happens is, as fate would have it, a tragic bus accident means the wedding doesn't happen. Suri's old professor friend, Taani's father, promptly keels over with a heart attack. On his deathbed at the hospital he calls Suri in and begs him to marry Taani so he knows she'll be taken care of after her dies. He begs Taani to marry Suri even though she is grieving, because he doesn't want to leave this world worried about her. Both of them agree, Taani to make her father happy, Suri ostensibly for only the same reason (but we know better).

So now Suri is in the unenviable position of being married to the woman he loves, but without her loving him back, and he is at a loss for how to go about changing this. He ends up having a friend change his look entirely and goes to see her at her dance lesson, but though she ends up seeing him there she doesn't recognize him.

Seeing his chance to spend some time with her with no baggage, he ends up playing a double role: her dance partner, Raj, and her husband, Suri.

Raj

Suri

A very sweet love story follows. I love it all. I love the music, and the song-and-dance numbers are very entertaining and sometimes touching. There's humor I actually find humorous, and Anushka Sharma's debut performance is quite lovely. Then there is SRK's performance. He is wonderful in this. The man can actually act! His reaction to the decision Taani eventually makes brings tears to my eyes every time. YES, I KNOW I'm sappy! And sure, the movie is kind of sappy. But it is wonderfully heartfelt and sweet. Also engaging, and technically well-made with brilliant colors and beautiful cinematography. And you should watch it. And if you don't like it DON'T TELL ME because I don't want to be disappointed in you. All right, fine, but while you're telling me, just know that I'll figuratively have my fingers in my ears while singing "Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai" at the top of my lungs.

He just wants her love!

Searching for Shahid, Part 3

So, we have come down to the last of the Shahid Kapoor films that I have seen: Badmaash Company and Kaminey. The two films share some characteristics, too. They both deal, in some way, with crime, and in both there is less of the innocence that I find so charming in so many Bollywood films (both films have premarital relationships and onscreen makeout scenes), but Kaminey is a far superior film to Badmaash Company.

In Badmaash Company, Shahid and a group of his friends decide to form a company, initially set to profit by working around import regulations in India, but then they move to New York to profit from defrauding Americans (why not, right?).

They are successful, make a lot of money,

are predictably torn apart by that money and all the trappings of success, and Shahid learns a lesson and becomes a better person. The end.

OK, I'll tell you some more. This is not a terrible film, there's just nothing special about it. The story is predictable... except for the racism, I have to admit I wasn't expecting that. There is racism when the group negotiates with Thai businessmen and there is racism as they decide to move to New York and Shahid, narrating, explains how fun will take advantage of "Whitey." Unfortunately, I don't speak Hindi (I wish I spoke Hindi!) so I don't know how good of a translation of the original dialogue that is, but the fact is they move to New York and commit fraud, ruining some random New York businessman's reputation for no reason, but hey, no worries, he's white.

The music is forgettable and only comes in the background and in "time-is-passing" montages- there is no dancing to speak of. THE MOVIE STARS SHAHID KAPOOR AND THERE ARE NO DANCE NUMBERS. I... I just... I don't understand.

The script is weak and indulges in some preachiness. (Wait, maybe this is a terrible film... but it is pretty entertaining!) The entire cast does a good job with what they have here, but the story is not strong, and in fact is downright implausible in several parts, and the entire film comes across as slightly cartoonish at times.

Shahid's character is pretty much a jerk for a good portion of the film, but he still gets the sweetest scene, when he reconciles with the love interest, played by Anushka Sharma (I love her in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi!)

He is so good at being vulnerable and open in relating with his romantic counterparts.

The difference between the quality of Badmaash Company and Kaminey is stark. There is a Grand Canyon-scale difference between the two of them. Kaminey is so intense I wasn't sure whether I liked it at first. I have that experience sometimes with movies that really involve me in the tension. I know it sounds strange, but if a few days later I'm thinking about the film still, remembering certain images that impressed me, and starting to feel that I want to see it again, then I know I actually liked it. That's what I experienced with Kaminey.

Kaminey is a gritty and dark film (thematically dark and literally dark- there's a lot of shooting at night and in dimly lit places and shadowy spaces). Shahid plays twin brothers, Charlie and Guddu (Charlie narrates sometimes), so we get two times the Shahid, which is nothing to complain about. And he does an excellent job differentiating between the two characters, one of whom is an honest, hard-working sort, and the other a bit of a thug. His performance here is impressive.

Priyanka Chopra plays Guddu's love interest, Sweety, and her performance was brilliant. I've seen a little bit of her before, but she never impressed me until this film. She is not entirely likeable here, which is part of makes her character intriguing. I didn't always like where the writer(s) went with her character, but it was always believably complex and interesting.

This would be Sweety taking up arms to defend the man she loves. Heck yeah!

The plot involves gangsters, corrupt politicians, dirty cops, and drugs, and how the two estranged brothers both become entangled with all these. It is quite violent at times, but not graphically so. There is great music, and even some dancing, which is very skillfully interwoven with the narrative, not seeming incongruent or tacked-on at all.

The only thing I found a little disappointing was the ending. There was a point where I felt the movie could have ended, and it would have been a powerful, statement-making ending. But it didn't end there, we got kind of a "happy ending" epilogue instead. So that was somewhat unfortunate, but this is still a skillfully made, well-executed film.

This is not a movie for someone who only likes Bollywood for effervescent romances (and I do love those!). But I think I will watch it again, and see if I can get the husband to watch with me. Vishal Bhardwaj directed, and I now very much want to check out more of his work.

So now the search for Shahid has ended. He remains my favorite actor, and will always have a special place in my heart for being the hero of the film that introduced me to Bollywood. Jab We Met is still my favorite Bollywood film. I look forward to seeing Shahid's newer films, Mausam and Teri Meri Kahaani, which came out after my headlong plunge into Shahid's filmography, but Netflix doesn't have TMK, and gives its availability date as "unknown." Sigh. The reviews for these films have been mixed, too. Sigh again. Anyone know of any other Shahid Kapoor films that I missed?