Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

Johar too has a firmer grip on the old-fashioned premise that undergirds his latest movie. The 168-minute film ends up being ostentatious (Rocky’s flamboyant threads match his aggressively gilt-toned manor) as well as pretentious (Rani is a junior college sociology lecturer passing herself off as a television journalist). The conventional core of the contrived war between Mammon and Marx – it’s still all about loving your family – is the most honest aspect of an overly long, tonally jittery, and stereotype-filled narrative. Apart from the leads, there are noteworthy turns by Aamir Bashir as Rocky’s stern father and Kshitee Jog as Rocky’s long-suffering mother. Dharmendra, one of Indian cinema’s most handsome actors, is a worrying shell of himself. Jaya Bachchan, playing the female counterpart of Amitabh Bachchan’s unyielding pater familias in Mohabbatein (2000) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, carries on with such severity that you worry about her too.

Johar brings his A-game as he wraps a progressive story with the packaging of a well-meaning masala entertainer. The film is designed as this old-fashioned romp with a beating modern heart. If K3G told us 'It's all about loving your family,' his new film brings an update with a few codicils to that template. Two strikingly different scenes are standouts in the film that come right before and after the Dhindhora Baje Re song. In a delightfully subversive moment, two men dancing to Dola Re Dola with so much grace shatter the attributes of masculinity into many pieces. Moments later, a verbal fight ensues between two characters, and the way this scene concludes ultimately turns many genre conventions on their heads. These two impressive stretches showcase Johar's new found directorial voice, which is bold and more mature than ever before.

The choice of actors is perfect, that’s also one of the reasons why the written word carries weight. Ranveer Singh is terrific in a role that seems tailored for him. Agree, he has portrayed a North Indian character in the past [including his launch pad BAND BAAJA BAARAAT], but you cannot accuse him of repeating his act. He makes you laugh with his faulty English, but it’s in the emotional moments that he proves his calibre. Alia Bhatt is in superb form. Her confidence — especially in sequences with Jaya Bachchan — is remarkable. And the outburst towards the pre-climax deserves brownie points. Also, her Bengali dialect will win her immense praise. Alia proves, yet again, that she’s in a league of her own. Moreover, she shares a wonderful chemistry with Ranveer.