odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
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Post by odadune on Apr 11, 2015 22:43:14 GMT
The More Casual Fan and I enjoyed this alot when we first rented it some years ago (I wanna say 2012?) I remember finding it a bit slow in spots but being charmed by the fairy tale vibe of this story about a woman (Anushka Sharma in her debut role) who enters an undesirable (to her) arranged marriage with a nerdy man (SRK) in his late 30s or early 40s, who is madly in love with her and who disguises himself as a brassy streetwise type so that he can secretly take dancing lessons alongside her. This lengthy review (by the contributor Bad Wolf at Filmi Contrast) mostly talks about the experience of falling in love with Indian films through RNBDJ: filmi-contrast.blogspot.com/2013/07/if-you-are-not-happy-with-him-if-you.htmlBut it has one line that speaks to me in particular about the effectiveness of this movie and of Indian films as a whole: "For my whole life there were so many kinds of stories I wished to hear but thought I never would due to my culture considering such things to be sappy, cheesy and illogical. But when I saw this movie I realized that everything I had dreamed of my whole life was real and at my fingertips." RNBDJ trades on very powerful archetypes: Beauty and the Beast, the disguised caliph in the Arabian Nights, superego vs id. It's not a logical or realistic story, and there are aspects of it (see below) that I'm not entirely onboard with, but it has its own kind of appeal. It was a pretty divisive movie in the fandom at the time of its release; both this and Om Shanti Om took a lot of flak for casting SRK opposite such young debutantes, and the "love is God" talk (which mostly struck me, at least in the Yash Chopra formulations used here, as being self-serving and unnuanced) was seen as a reversion to the "husband as God" nonsense found in older films. Beth Loves Bollywood: bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2009/06/rab-ne-bana-di-jodi.htmlPost Punk Cinema Club: p-pcc.blogspot.com/2008/12/rab-ne-bana-di-jodi-2008.html
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Post by emily on Apr 12, 2015 18:42:38 GMT
Yay! I'm glad there's a thread for this film.
When I first saw RNBDJ, it was in the time where Bollywood had that "what is this genre I'm watching?!" kind of magic. It was the second Hindi film I ever saw. It remains to this day one of SRK's only roles where I can forget about him being Superstar Shah Rukh and really embrace his character (I'm speaking of his nerdy avatar, of course; super cool Raj is like a parody of himself at his worst). And back before I knew about Anushka, or how young she was, the age difference wasn't noticeable to me...nor does it upset me now.
Though it has its shortcomings (like uhh...how does she not recognize her husband, even sans glasses/moustache??) it remains one of the sweetest films I've ever seen and is undoubtedly cheesy, heartwarming Bollywood to the core. I will always love the sentiment "I see God in you, I don't know what to do." Poetic, beautiful, down to earth.
The music by Salim-Sulaiman is my favorite part. From the dancy numbers "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" and "Dance Pe Chance" to the hopeful "Haule Haule" to the reverent "Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai," you can't go wrong with this soundtrack. It is sublime and sets the mood for every scene perfectly.
This is a great movie to show newcomers to Bollywood, in my opinion. It has its foreign uniqueness, but without being too over the top. I think newbies will enjoy SRK's double role and Anushka's quiet determination, as well as SRK's crazy buddy played by Vinay Pathak. It's a match made in heaven for Hindi film newbies.
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Post by moviemavengal on Apr 14, 2015 1:29:38 GMT
Thank you so much for posting Bad Wolf's review about her love of RNBDJ! I had a similar experience. I saw Lagaan a looong time ago, but my recent obsession with Bollywood started with watching DDLJ and then falling down the rabbit hole with RNBDJ right afterwards.
I just loved that film to pieces -- the fairy tale quality of it, and I loved the big Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte number, and Haule Haule and on and on... Just loved it's sweetness and humor. I love his bromance with Vinay.
Anushka being so young actually fit with the story. Surinder certainly wouldn't have been Taani's first choice of husband. The age difference doesn't bother me either.
I have watched this movie, or parts of this movie, so many times I can't even count any more.
My favorite line is "Make me the hero of my own love story."
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Post by emily on Apr 14, 2015 3:35:37 GMT
I fall in love with RNBDJ with every re-watch. Not many Bollywood films I can say that about.
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Post by chrisanthi on Apr 14, 2015 10:45:17 GMT
I'm so glad to see so much love for RNBDJ this is by far my favourite movie. I know that it has its faults but I don't care; I just love it to bits! It's my default go to movie if I feel bad and I want to cheer up; it makes me feel like there's still love in the world. I know that a lot of people likened the "I love you 'cause I see God in you" line with the whole "husband is God" from Kabhie Khushi Khabi Gham but to me they were different (ok it has been a really long time since I've seen KKKG). In KKKG it was more like the husband is the boss whereas RNBDJ was more like "there's something divine in you, something special and that's why I love you." And let's not forget that the first time we hear that line, Raj says it to Taani. Quite frankly, soppy romantic that I am, I love the line "I saw God in you and so I love you."
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odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
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Post by odadune on Apr 17, 2015 22:04:17 GMT
SOmething I forgot to ask: how do you guys feel about the part where Suri "tests" Tani to see whether she likes Raj enough to leave Suri for him? I took it as him trying to see whether there was any point in trying to "set her free" by ending their marriage: if her personal code of ethics would not let her leave him, then he would be wronging her by trying to leave her, while (according to this reasoning) if he saw evidence that she would be happy and not consumed by guilt on leaving him, he could arrange for a divorce, annullment, whatever.
Or maybe he liked being Raj and was toying with the idea (not really sustainable, but he's clearly not one to think things through) of becoming Raj permanently.
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Post by moviemavengal on Apr 17, 2015 23:52:58 GMT
Because of this thread, I rewatched some of my favorite parts of this movie the other night. Not the whole thing, but I definitely watched the scene where she comes crying to the garage, and he spontaneously blurts out ..... "Then come run away with me if you are so unhappy with your husband."
I have watched that scene, and his explanation to his friend many times.
I think when he blurts out his offer to her -- he is not thinking of testing her. He's so caught up always with trying to make her happy, to stop her sadness, and here she is weeping in front of him -- an emotion she has never shown her husband in person (although he may have heard her weeping in her room.)
Then, he just feels that he isn't making her happy and should set her free. He went into the marriage trying to help, and if it's making her life more miserable then he will step aside and give her the house. He will be the one to move away to Delhi so she can find another "Raj".
I think then he is consumed with the fact that she is really rejecting his true Suri self, and that's got to really, really hurt. OMG the look on his face when he is dressed as Raj and she rejects him for Suri before the dance competition. He is crying tears of joy that she finally sees his Suri steadfast love for her. Gets me in the gut every. single. time. THIS at the 1:54 mark of this clip to the end:
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Post by emily on Jul 29, 2015 23:51:35 GMT
More than two years after seeing this film, I finally tried golgappas last night after being curious about them for so long. (Inspired by the scene where Raj & Taani have a golgappa eating contest in celebration of them making the Top 10 in the dance competition.) Really, really yummy, but whew...spicy! I couldn't even get close to beating Raj or Taani in that contest, that's for sure.
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Post by moviemavengal on Sept 10, 2015 19:58:33 GMT
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Post by dancelover on Sept 10, 2015 20:56:24 GMT
Yep, Aditya Chopra (not to mention Yash) and SRK sure know their BW Classic Movies, don't they! The refeneces are: Raj Kapoor-Nargis (Shree 420), (quick check of Wiki's RNBDJ site) Dev Anand-Nutan, Shammi Kapoor-Helen (she's wearing more than Lara does!), Rajesh Khanna-Sharmila Tagore (Mere Sapni Kya Rani from Aradhna), Rishi Kapoor- Neetu Singh. Dancelover
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Post by emily on Sept 10, 2015 21:44:43 GMT
That's SO awesome, moviemavengal! Thanks for sharing! I'm not on Tumblr, so I miss all the goodies shared there. The thing that gets me, after seeing most (still have yet to crack into a Dev Anand film, shame on me) of these actors in action, is how well SRK channels them, especially Shammi. When I watched Teesri Manzil - from which "O Haseena Zulfonwale" is used in this medley - I was struck by how much goofy Shammi reminded me of goofy SRK. "Mere Sapno Ki Rani" was a revelation for me a few weeks ago...the book on the train scene is almost shot-for-shot! Although after listening to "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte," I was waiting for the inevitable opening line of "Jai jai shiv shankar..." and was disappointed when it never came. PMCC is one of those songs that beginner Bolly viewers will enjoy because it's so lively and colorful, but when you come back to it after watching a lot of old films, it is SUCH a treat.
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