WHAT WOMEN WANT?

RAB NE BANA DI JODI

Movie Review:

Rating: 4

“What do women really want?”

A confused, dapper-local Casanova with torn-washed jeans who wears glares even in Amritsari dusk , Shah Rukh Khan asks this of his dancing queen Anushkha Sharma. She turns philosophical and says that a woman wants a man to love her more than anything else in the world.

If Rab Ne has a sequel ( they should try that considering “Suri” is now becoming a cult figure) , hopefully they will find an answer to that age-old question that foxed even the great master Sigmund Freud himself.

Shah Rukh plays a bumbling fumbling customer service clerk in a public sector undertaking servicing phone calls. Surinder “Suri” Sahni is madly in love with his monotonous job, and answers his customers with remarkable enthusiasm which would give our 20 something /BPO types an inferiority complex. Tragedy is , that his heart beats wildly for his new bride married to him in typical Bollywood- formula circumstances. The father of the bride has a sudden heart-attack following the bridegroom’s accident; a double jeopardy. The modern-thinking young Miss Millie acquiesces to her father’s last wishes and marries the bespectacled, awkward looking, thoroughly smitten Suri.

Sharma though tell him point-blank that they will have a platonic relationship , and you do not blame her when you look at Suri’s contrasting concave shape to her more proportioned one. But Suri is in luck and in love but having never even touched a woman before, he is as confused and befuddled as a dog trying to comprehend Shakespeare. . With a little help from a spiked , orange-haired salon keeper Bobby Khosla ( Vinay Pathak in a brilliant cameo) with a dress sense more boisterous than his manners , Suri transforms into wannabe dancer so that he can become more hero like for his disillusioned wife, match her step by step, and win a dance reality show with her. And hopefully also her heart. Of course, Suri does so in a contrasting appearance, tight jeans that almost squeeze out his oranges, a skin-hugging Ulhasnagar produced Ed Hardy tees, and a macho walk with large pendulum swings left to right and back.

One of the coolest scenes in the movie is when Anushka gets into a verbal warfare with a grumpy rival, and SRK attempts to make peace, looking shell-shocked as the bitch word is uttered with insouciant comfort by his unsuspecting wife. The movie has some simple charming moments; SRK’s chat with his own mannequin, the sheer delight of receiving the packed tiffin, stuffing up on chicken biryani after a gol-gappa competition, and sharing his emotional graph with his best buddy, who is busy giving him cupid tricks.

Haule Haule and Dance pe Chance are well choreographed, and linger long. The parody of yesteryear heroes is average fare, and the title song is passable. The end credits are worth a delayed exit.

SRK carries the film with his usual hallmark style —-great body language, subtle expressions, and romantic eyes. He switches roles with effortless ease, making both the avatars become endearing . Anushka Sharma is a scene-stealer shining scene after scene with a pleasant presence in front of the camera for a first timer. And she does not let SRKs charm subdue her own chutzpah. It’s a top notch debut. Pathak is so good you want him to cut your receding hairline.

The movie has some silly flaws, but this is entertaining cinema , not a social commentary on marriage readjustments. Rab Ne is a simple story, simply told. I don’t think Aditya Chopra was attempting a master-piece. But Sharma and SRK through a vibrant yet understated chemistry tell us all that to make a jodi, you don’t need words. Just simple demonstrations of it. Some thoughtful action. Tender caring. And maybe even some dance.

So what does a woman really want? May be a man will have to become a woman to answer that foxy question. Because the truth is that sometimes women themselves do not know the answer. Suri does try though. Really hard. And with heartfelt sincerity. And for that alone, you must watch Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.