Karan Johar has made many great films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and the legendary My Name Is Khan. My Name Is Khan is his career best film and after that he seems to have lost. Student Of The Year was somehow a decent film but not upto the standards of Karan Johar. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was crap and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is the 2nd consecutive crap film by him.
Karan Johar, who was known for making family entertainers, has made a pathetic film. He has completely lost his touch. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani fails miserably in each and every department.
Flamboyant Punjabi Rocky (Ranveer Singh) and intellectual Bengali journalist Rani (Alia Bhatt) fall in love despite their differences. After facing family opposition, they decide to live with each other’s families for three months before getting married.
RRKPK had a good concept of swapping families, but it’s not presented in an impactful way. There was a Tamil film called Love Today which had the amazing concept of 2 lovers swapping their phones in order to get to know each other. RRKPK fails to add something refreshing and unique in the narrative and follows the old school filmmaking style.
Karan Johar tries to give many social messages in the film, but the messy screenplay doesn’t allow him to convey what he wanted. The film shows us about women empowerment, self dependent women, father-son relationship, generation gap, gender inequality, following your own passion, importance of family, definition of a family and much more. All these things just don’t go with the flow and become a huge mess on-screen.
Performance wise, Jaya Bachchan tops the list. She is herself throughout the film. The way she behaves off-screen, as we have seen on social media in many videos, is the same she acts on-screen. The casting of Jaya Bachchan gets full marks. Jaya Bachchan whenever comes on-screen steals the show with her attitude. This was a tailor made role for Ranveer Singh. Rocky is a quirky and a funny guy, and Ranveer juts steps into his shoes with perfection. Ranveer goes over the top with his performance many times, but writing has to be bashed here. Alia looks gorgeous in each and every scene. She looks absolutely amazing in the saree look. Alia looks like a typical Bengali girl and she nails the accent. Alia has done a bit of overacting and again writing is at fault here. Shabana Azmi is a fabulous actor and she acts naturally by giving a great performance as usual. Dharmendra had limited screen presence. His role was not that impactful, but he has done a great job in whatever he was offered. I would like to thank Karan Johar for bringing 3 veteran actors Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan in a single project. Namit Das shines in his short role. Aamir Bashir is solid in his role. Rest of the cast is decent.
The chemistry between Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt was loved in Gully Boy. Gully Boy did not show their chemistry in a commercial and entertaining way. The chemistry in Gully Boy was a realistic one with no melodrama. The script of Gully Boy demanded them to act naturally. Karan Johar presents the chemistry between Ranveer and Alia in the most commercial and entertaining manner. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani in order to show their chemistry in an entertaining way, ends up wasting their talent and presents them in a very dull manner.
Each and every film directed by Karan Johar has Shah Rukh Khan’s name associated with it, be it as an actor or a producer. KJO has given 4 to 5 references of SRK in RRKPK.
Direction of Karan Johar is pathetic. It’s so sad to see a director like Karan Johar losing his touch. He has treated the film like a TV serial. There are many flaws in the film which can’t be overlooked. He has gone wrong with the basics. Even a whole full-fledged article will be less describing the mistakes in his direction. It hurts to see a mature filmmaker like him going wrong. Karan Johar should start directing TV serials and he will excel in it.
The writing of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is so bad that it doesn’t make sense. The punchlines by Ranveer Singh are something to watch out for. The screenplay is scattered in pieces. There are a number of flaws which can’t be overlooked. The film goes nowhere and gets lost in itself. The writers did not know where the film was going and ended it somehow by adding all the unnecessary shit in the middle.
The dialogues are hilarious and will make you laugh out loud in the 1st half. The same dialogues will give you a cringe feeling in the 2nd half. The dialogues inspired from WhatsApp messages irritates you in the 2nd half.
The music of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is good but not that great. Each and every song from Karan Johar’s film is a chartbuster, but in RRRKP except for Tum Kya Mile, nothing impresses much. What Jhumka is a nice peppy track with catchy lyrics, but not very great. Ve Kamleya seems like a forcefully added sad song. Rest all the songs are easily passable. The only department in which Ae Dil Hai Mushkil beats Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is its music. The music albums of every Karan Johar film seems to be magical, but RRKPK even disappoints in that.
The film is designed in a typical KJO style with large sets, big grandeur, costume design, glamor, etc, but presentation is below par. Instead of wasting a huge amount on building sets, KJO should have hired a good writing team who would have written a decent script.
The biggest drawback of RRKPK is its duration. The film is 168 minutes long and fails to hold attention. Films of KJO are of longer duration, but have many elements of a family drama to hold you up. KJO has made 3 to 4 serial episodes in the 2nd half.
Makers were calling RRKPK a family entertainer, but here KJO has given a long speech on Bra in reference to women empowerment. What a pathetic scene it was! There are 6 to 7 unnecessary kissing scenes between Alia and Ranveer. They start kissing in middle of the road, in lift, in public places and where not. He has even made Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi kiss on-screen. Ranveer’s on-screen sister is saying words like intercourse and orgasm. This film will be watched by all ages and what impact will it have on small kids. Giving the tag of RRKPK as a family entertainer is unacceptable. There was a time when KJO used to make perfect family drama films suitable for all the ages, but now he has to add cheap things to make his film look cool.
RRKPK is very predictable. Family films are predictable but they have something throughout the narrative which holds your attention. RRKPK seems like an outdated family drama of 2000 which has silly debates, over the top melodrama, long TV serial shots, etc. The film has everything required for a perfect family drama i.e. drama, comedy, romance, music, grandeur, glamor, etc. All these things are not assembled properly and don’t fit well in the narrative.
Overall RRKPK, is a pure torture which should be skipped at any cost to avoid headache. Those who are going to watch RRKPK for Ranveer and Alia’s chemistry, should revisit Gully Boy again. The film has nothing to offer for what KJO is known for. It’s a treat for TV serial lovers, as the film is no less than a TV serial with 6 to 7 melodramatic ad-free episodes. The film is a tough competitor to Ranveer’s Befikre and Alia’s Kalank. An unbearable, pathetic and intolerable Prem Kahaani. Skip it!
Rating – 2/5*
