One year ago, on this date, Karan Johar returned to the theatres as a director after seven long years. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was his first film as a director since 2016. In the interim, he had produced and presented over a half a dozen films, and been at the forefront of trolls' wrath on social media. Many were wondering if the director still had it in him. With Rocky Aur Rani, he proved that cliched saying about form being temporary and class being permanent. Not only had his filmmaking evolved and become more sensitive with the changing times, but it hadn't lost an iota of the entertainment quotient for which he was known.
But his biggest win in this film was Rocky Randhawa - a flag as green as they come, while remaining a man's man. To take a Delhi boy - pardon me a Delhi man child - and turn him into a walking green flag is genius. And for this, both Johar and the film's leading man Ranveer Singh deserve credit. If Karan Johar is the man who dreamt up Rocky, Ranveer brought him to life. And so beautifully did he breathe life into this eccentric hero that what could very easily have been a bundle of stereotypes ended up becoming one of most-liked as well as well rounded lead characters in recent Bollywood history.
What is the big deal about Rocky Randhawa, one might ask. There have been relatable characters in commercial entertainers in Hindi cinema before. There have been aspirational characters too. But very seldom do you see a flawed male character with all the vices that we see in men around us (myself included) grow on screen, and that too minus any sermonising. Rocky Randhawa began as a typical Delhi brat with the sensitivity and feminism of a Kapil Sharma routine. But he did not stay that way. He saw the error of his ways, made up for lost time, and was self-aware enough to make amends quickly.
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In fact, the scene where Rocky calls out Rani's family for not allowing him that growth and mocking him is a masterfully conceptualised sequence highlighting how erring people need not be shamed or shunned in this woke world. They need to be embraced after they mend their ways. And Rocky's emotional-yet-funny monologue brought out that message wonderfully.
And all that would have been impossible had it not been Ranveer Singh's smooth depiction of this man. His delivery, both physical and emotional, of Rocky's psyche was a treat to watch. Very rarely do you get a leading man in Indian cinema who appears macho but can be sensitive enough to dance on 'Dola Re Dola' and cry his eyes out (while losing none of his macho in the process). It is the kind of layered portrayal of men that has been missing in Hindi rom coms for years. And it was Johar's fortune that he had an actor like Ranveer to carry off his vision here. A lesser performer could have reduced Rocky to a silly buffoon. Ranveer elevated him to a walking green flag. And we are all thankful for it!
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