Review – Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani

Karan Johar is back to directing films with his latest release Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani. The film stars Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt as the main leads. Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, and Jaya Bachchan play other leads in this film which has music by Pritam.

Plot

The film is set in Delhi. Rocky Randhawa(Ranveer Singh) and Rani Chatterjee(Alia Bhatt) belong to two distinct families. As expected, they fall in love but to convince their families is not an easy task. So, they make a plan and decide to swap places and live with opposite families in order to convince them. While one family has Jaya Bachchan and the other has Shabana Azmi. If this is not enough, there is yet another undercurrent story that is being cooked which comes as a surprise. So, how Rocky and Rani convince their families and end up winning in love is the story of the film.

Performances

Ranveer Singh plays the loud Delhi boy with ease. It is a cakewalk for him to play such a role and Ranveer does his best. But there are also so many scenes in the film where Ranveer goes overboard and hams for no reason. Karan Johar should have tamed his role a bit to make it more natural. Alia Bhatt is the star of the film and she drives the narrative with her terrific performance. The film has stalwarts like Jaya Bachchan in key roles. The legendary heroine’s character is loud and strict and can get on your nerve at times. Dharmendra gives his best and brings emotional depth to the film. Shabana Azmi is at her best. But it is the supporting cast that is miscast. There are several new faces that do not suit their roles and Karan Johar, who casts big stars even for small roles falters in this department.

Technical Aspects

Karan Johar’s film is known to have foot-tapping music but that does not happen as only two songs, Tum Kya Mile and What Jhumka impress you. The rest of the songs are quite ordinary from Pritam. One of the best aspects of the film is the lavish production design. Every scene looks rich and the costumes styled by Manish Malhotra are very good. The editing in the second half is a tad dull as many emotional scenes are dragged on for no reason. Karan Johar’s narration has multiple flaws as the drama showcased lacks proper impact.

What’s Good

Production values
Alia Bhatt’s performance

What’s Bad

Same old story
Ranveer’s Hyper-Action
Drama lacks impact

Analysis

Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani marks Karan Johar’s comeback to direction. Without taking a risk, Karan Johar has taken a story that has family values. The interesting aspect is the manner in which he has set up the conflict. Story-wise, the film does not boast anything new. In a way, there are many scenes that remind us of Dil Raju’s Bommarillu. But it is the candy floss with which Karan Johar narrates the film that makes it look fresh on paper.

Drama-wise, the film lacks in several areas. While Kjo has written the women’s parts quite well, the drama between the lead pair is not highlighted properly. Apart from the key twist that comes in as a surprise, the rest of the film is highly predictable and there is nothing new that Karan showcases with his narrative. Karan Johar plans to narrate the film to the galleries and in this, he misses out on consistency of purpose. Parts of the film are fun but most of it is marred by an undisguised urge to create forced drama.

Ranveer and Alia’s love story starts with a series of entertaining events in the movie. Everything is fun and enjoyable until the film suddenly starts to take itself too seriously and tries to promote certain changes. This change in tone makes the movie feel a bit chaotic and less enjoyable after the intermission. The second half is where the drama was supposed to peak but that does not happen as the climax feels way too fake and rushed.

Karan Johar shows his brilliance in a few emotional scenes which feature Dharmendra but the rest of the scenes are dull. He has the casting of the main lead done perfectly and Alia’s chemistry with Ranveer is also good. When the songs and dance come, the film looks watchable but on the whole, there is nothing new or dramatic that this Karan Johar film has to showcase, and makes this film a below-par and predictable watch.

Bottom Line- Same old boring family drama

Rating: 2.5/5