Swades was a start, Chak de was better and we all finally started believing that a new Shahrukh Khan was emerging. But by the time all the promos came in and I had been dragged to the movie by my Shahrukh Khan fan friends, the garish clothes in which the 40 something Shahrukh dressed, his over the top dancing, over the top acting and topless bathing, firmly put me off the movie.
Shahrukh Khan plays a typical common man who works for a government corporation, who inspite of having a 9 to 6 job, a moustache and ill fitting clothes falls in love with Anushka, the female protaganist, at first sight. Somehow they are married and the boring Shahrukh tries to make the bored Anushka fall in love with him. After several failed attempts, many of which glorify the small town Indian male's mating habits, he finally hits upon a plan in which he shave off his moustache and changes his hairstyle to emerge before his wife as another of her suitors. Without recognizing him to be her husband, she too falls in love with him and is torn between love and duty.
I have always liked watching Shahrukh act. Its because even in a lot of his worst movies, he is well dressed. To me, he is never an eyesore. He is dynamic and somehow he manages to hold your attention with his on screen antics. But in Rab Ne, he was by far one of the worst dressed Shahrukh Khan in recent times. Even his Pretty Woman dance in Kal Ho Na Ho seemed a lot more better than this.
After directing movies like Dilwale Dulhaniya, I am surprised how Aditya Chopra get involved with a movie that was as bad as this one. It has been ages since I have seen a good movie come out of the Yash Raj banner. This movie will definitely earn enough moollah to keep them going, but a lot is expected from these veterans of the bollywood film industry.
The music wasn't much good, but was hummable. The screen play was bad and the look of both the new look Shahrukh Khans was good enough to inspire a whole host of roadside romeos to get back to the barber shop. Some of the typical dialogues like the "macho" one and "Taaniji" were also worth sneering at. Smiles and laughter did come, but at the end when Shahrukh decides to bid adieu to us all in his Amritsari language.
All in all it was a typical bollywood movie for sure. I could also go a step further and say that it felt like Shahrukh was trying to dress and act like Govinda. Garish, over the top and movie, must watch for both Govinda and hardcore Shahrukh fans. But not for anyone with a little bit of sense and even lesser money to waste.