It's Shahrukh again !!

I have been denouncing Shahrukh Khan for decades now. In every desi party, after having a couple of drinks, a heated discussion always happens regarding the Khans, who is better and how their recent movies are. I have always made sure I say a few words about his inability to act. Yet, inside, I could never deny the charms of the king of bollywood. In fact I have been secretly enjoying him since his Fauji days. It was impression at first sight. His natural skills at flirting & romancing became quiet evident in that show 20 something years ago. Therefore, I looked forward to his new movie as well.

With RNBDJ, he returns in partnership with the man who made him immortal with his romance classic, DDLJ (your truly have seen that one 5 times in theater himself). First and foremost, the DDLJ memories need to be put aside before you start watching this one. It's nowhere close to the debut direction from Aditya Chopra. The movie should rather be watched keeping Mohabbatein in mind. The latter even though a financial success was way too much melodrama and as in desi slang we would say 'chatu' movie.

Shahrukh Khan plays two different types of roles in this one. One is his trademark flirty, witty type character that entertains as usual even though some might say a little 'chatu', and the other is a 9-5 office goer who sets his hair in place with a comb, wears heavy glasses and walks timidly. Both are stark contrast and makes it hard for audience to believe it's realistically possible for one person to be dual pseronailities like that. The subdued Shahrukh in his babu role is very impressive and makes me loosen up my stace on his acting skills somewhat. The peppy characted on the other hand was a bit more complex and should have a mix of both personalities, but it was rather totally separated out from his real personality as if it's a double role. On the second thought, it was a formula movie, so that's allowed, I guess.

The leading lady, Anushka acts impressively, as well, and fits in the character without any overacting. In fact in one sequence where she gets mad at one of the fellow dancers and drives a bike at the speed of 120 to chase her down in revenge, she looks really natural where other biggy heroins of Khan would have overacted. The story is plain and predictable, except for the end that could have been the high point of the movie but lacked a proper built up and release, I thought.

The songs, in my opinion, were mostly just ok and lacked melody, esp compared to both DDLJ and Mohabbatein, even though 'hole hole' number had become somewhat likeable because of it being used for the marketing campaign of the movie. The one that I enjoyed watching and hearing though is 'Dance pay Chance.' It's nicely choreographed and Shahrukh beats the girl at dancing on this one. Overall, a good entertainer and worth watching, but if you miss it for some reason, that's nothing to be sorry about, either, unless you are hardcore Shahrukh fan.