Ok I finally watched Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Watching the trailers, this promised to be a very exciting fare, especially seeing SRK in a moustache after a very long time (last one was Army), playing a commoner. Finally the King(of frivolity) was playing a role of a different kind after Swades and Chak De. But sorry to say, like most Shah Rukh/Yashraj/Karan Johar movies in the past, this one too starts on a promising note only to fade away into the ghisa-pita category.

Surinder Sahni(SRK) is the man next door (as opposed to boy although with SRK expect anything) who works as a clerk at Punjab Power. A cruel twist of fate sees him getting married to Taani, a young, bubbly and vivacious girl(introducing the beautiful Anushka Sharma), a girl whom he falls in love at first sight. But the problem is, he is a boring man while she craves for a life which is much more spirited and loving than anything Surinder can give her. In order to impress her, Suri does a complete makeover and becomes her dance partner Raj for a local competition. She does not recognize him as he is worlds apart from her humdrum husband. He has flair, biceps, tight jeans and the cheek to flirt with her. So will she choose Raj over her husband or be that goody goody Indian bahu and stay with Mr. Suri? Will she recognize that Raj is the same as Suri? Will Aditya Chopra stop making constant references to previous Yashraj movies? Will SRK stop acting over the top? Will we the audience be spared from such rubbish?

RNBDJ has a wafer thin plot and a ludicrous one at that. The script is a letdown. How can a person not recognize one’s own husband? Ignoring this outrageous cinematic liberty there is precious little character development for Taani despite there being plenty of scope. After the breezy initial thirty minutes or so the movie goes off at a tangent with constant references to Rab at every sticky situation. Like Ekta Kapoor serials, the characters speak to themselves in several scenes which make it agonizingly boring. The motorcycle and sumo wrestling scenes are plain gimmick and should have been trimmed.

Coming to performances, SRK excels as Suri but is loud as Raj. It is largely due to his role as Suri that the film works in parts. Anushka Sharma is confident and simply looks gorgeous in certain scenes. She is a bit tall for our man though. The most likeable performance in the movie comes from Vinay Pathak who plays Surinder’s trusted friend Bobby. As far as music is concerned ‘Haule Haule’ is a brilliant composition and Tujhme Rab Dikhta hai comes in a close second. The other songs are average. Cinematography as with all Yashraj films is superior. On the whole Rab ne while different from other movies in regards to being set in a small town and talking about ordinary people, fails to live up to our expectations mainly because of the writing. Watch it only if you are a die hard SRK fan living by the commandment “thou shall not miss any SRK movie”. Otherwise it is more of a case of"Rab Ne bana di jodi yaa kisi ne sunaa di lori".