Movie Review: Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is a whimsical display of emotions in the most ‘KJo-marries-Ranveer’ way possible. Every character gets an emotional backdrop adding to the overall drama.

It’s a tale about the clash of two contrasting Desi families – the ‘Crazy Rich Indians’ power-packed Punjabis ‘Randhawas’ & the classy Bengali babus ‘Chatterjees’. But, it’s not Rocky (Ranveer Singh) & Rani (Alia Bhatt) who fall for each other to give birth to this emotional & entertaining carnage between two groups, it’s their grandparents.

This is the most ‘Ranveer Singh’ Ranveer Singh could ever be. He’s everything one would expect him to be in a Karan Johar film. He would have you at ‘Helllllo Bebz, this side Rocky Randhawa!’ Be it a simple ‘scuuuuze!’ or the dramatic poignant dysfunctional family monologues, Ranveer masters each and every single thing proving there’s no limit to this man’s range. You just can’t put a pause on what his talent could do with scripts like these.

Alia Bhatt’s earnest presence blends in extremely well with all the craziness happening around her. It’s a tough task to match the towering madness of Ranveer in this film, but she does it with such ease. Yep, her character falls into the trap of being a part of a bit flaky side of the narration, but it’s okay because of the balance the script maintains throughout.

Dharmendra, majorly, has one dialogue throughout the film, and it comes at a juncture where you’d shed a tear or two for the crazy Randhawas & no one could’ve done better than Dharam ji. His track with Shabana Azmi is both emotionally satisfying & a bit stretched in parts. But, yes, you wouldn’t have gotten to see these veteran stars in such a style in any other film apart from this, and I’m not complaining at all. It’s Shabana who would take your heart away once again with all her charm & eternal beauty.

With the screenplay & story divided amongst all three Shashank Khaitan (Humpty Sharma, Badrinath Ki Dulhania), Sumit Roy (Gehraiyaan) & Ishita Moitra (Four More Shots Please, Unpaused), the latter is also responsible for one of the most colorful one-liners we’ve heard in Bollywood. This feels like an event film from frame one, and the feeling remains constant throughout. The story, despite its predictable route, packs in a lot for lovers of Hindi films like us.

 Karan Johar has used a little over 20 on-the-face references to classic Bollywood films through songs, dialogues & each one of them is masterfully blended in the screenplay.

All said and done, this has everything that the Bollywood family entertainers were missing; it is precisely what would transpire when Ranveer’s CRAZY makes some steamy love with KJo’s ECCENTRIC.