Back in 2008 when Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi released, everyone was fascinated by Shah Rukh Khan’s transformation for the role. It worked in favour of the film because the collective curiosity of the audience drove them to theatres. People were willing to accept the gaping holes in the narrative and the problematic plot points, because everyone wanted to know exactly what newcomer Anushka Sharma was made of. After all, she was debuting with King Khan under the Yash Raj Films’ banner.
So I rewatched the movie because I never understood how the whole relationship dynamic ever worked between Taani, Raj and Surinder. Did Taani suffer from partial amnesia while dealing with her own marriage? In no other way can you explain what happened in the film. Go on, I dare you.
The misogynistic beginning
Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
It all starts when Surinder Sahni, who is a simple man, arrives at Taani’s engagement because he knows her dad, Professor Gupta. You can understand that he is simple because Aki Narula ensures that he is dressed perpetually in perfectly crisp trousers and a shirt, combs his hair neatly to the side always, wears specs and dad sneakers because aur kaise dikhaye simple? Tragically, the baraat is killed in an accident and Taani is left at her own wedding, groom-less.
Cue the obvious dad heart-attack because how can you possibly digest the news that your daughter is not going to get vivaah-ed? Hell to the no. Even on his deathbed, he only wishes that Taani gets married. Who else can fulfill the role except for the seedha-saadha Suri? He agrees because he already likes her from the first glance plus her dad is sorta urging the situation to happen. Did anyone ask Taani? How about she tells everyone how she wants to deal with her fiance dying? Does anyone care that she clearly got no time to grief this massive loss? Is shaadi everything? WHUT.
Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
The simple life
Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
Suri is very courteous and righteous. He never oversteps his boundaries, he leaves his own room for her, takes her for movies every day ( how was that even possible, no one really knows) She literally doesn’t care about any of it. Instead she finds a dance competition poster and decides to enroll in it. Here’s where all the sorcery happens that cannot be explained.
Suri realizes that he cannot woo Taani the correct way because he is “too simple” and Taani only likes “macho, manly’’. All hail the sympathetic stereotyping Bollywood tries to justify. So he takes the help of his extremely questionable friend, Bobby ( Vinay Pathak) who believes in streaked spikes, fitted shirts and chain-belts to turn into what Taani “wants’’. Someone more masculine, someone less of a coward. Geez, Bollywood, you could’ve toned it down a bit.
Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
All hail the dumbfuckery
After Suri transforms to Raj, who is the cool-dude version of Surinder, he joins Taani’s dance class as a means of getting closer to the newly married Taani. Here is the biggest, most unavoidable flaw that we’ve been trying to figure out for years—HOW DOES SHE NOT REALIZE IT’S HER OWN HUSBAND? Sure, he doesn’t have a moustache now and he dresses different and talks strange, but he still IS the same-looking person. One needs to be purposely ignorant if this happened IRL.
Just, HOW?
Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
Moving on, as luck and Bollywood logic would have it, they’re paired together. Taani initially hates Raj, he’s the definition of obnoxious. However, after repeated efforts and dance practises together, she’s like, “meh, he’s not all that bad’’. Taani is also going on rides with him and enjoying power max.
Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
The Filmy Finale
The duo end up going to the finals because aur kaise aage badhe yeh movie? Raj confesses her feelings to Taani and by this point in the movie, she’s also in love with him. They decide to elope together on the night of the competition despite Taani realizing that she’s being absolutely selfish with Suri. Surinder, on the other hand, realizes that he can probably never come back as himself because it would mean blowing his cover and confronting the truth. What an absolute pickle. Yeh kabhi hua hai real life mein?
Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
In the middle there’s a lot of time where Suri is shown making a lot of effort towards Taani’s wishes. Like winning against a Sumo wrestler, going to temples and having your face converted to a giant painting and shown to you by kids etc. No biggie. He loves you, we get it. Basically Taani realizes she’s making a mistake and decides to not run away. She confronts Raj and goes for the competition where voila, there’s Suri AND HE KNOWS THE WHOLE DANCE.
Now Taani understands that Raj and Suri ARE THE SAME PERSON. How did she not before, that’s a question only the team over at Yash Raj can answer. Taani accepts the whole situation as a sign of love because internalized trauma se hi toh pyaar badhta hai, didn’t you know?
The end.
Lead Image Credit: yashrajfilms.com
