Dil Dhadakne Do….!
Rahul was in Karan Johar’s world what the T-Rex is in the Jurassic Park films – lucky charm, star attraction, money-maker, all rolled into one. No wonder then Johar didn’t even change Shah Rukh Khan’s name in K3G after Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Much as his name, Rahul was essentially the same person movie after movie. The guy whose hairstyle is as persistently bad as his sense of humour. He goes from being college stud to boardroom ninja with exactly the same lines, hairstyles and just a slightly different wardrobe. Maggi is the only other great Indian success that has resisted change the way KJo’s Rahul did. Though it hasn’t turned quite as well for your 3 am bowl of hot, piping goodness.
In a heartwarming tribute to Karan Johar, Akhtar turns Farhan Akhtar into her version of Rahul. Farhan in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is the nightmare boyfriend type, a commitment-phobe whose middle-name is ‘charming’.The writer-type with great abs and enough moolah to travel across the world in the fanciest of vehicles. Just like Imraan the copywriter in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, and Sunny, the journalist in Dil Dhadakne Do.
And then there’s the slightly impish, extremely rich Mama’s boy kind, who makes boring look goodlooking. That’s Abhay Deol, the builder’s son in ZNMD and that’s Ranveer Singh, the rich, clueless industrialist’s son in DDD. While they don’t have the same kind of sway over female hormones, it’s the vast difference in the quality of their eight-pack which is responsible for that disparity, not the characters they play.
And scuba driver Katrina Kaif in ZNMD is exactly like dancer Anushka Sharma in DDD – people from London with, umm, professions Indian mommies won’t approve of.
The chartbuster
If you were to ask, how many people lost interest in ZNMD after the Senorita song was dones, you’ll get a howl of ‘ayes’ loud enough to compete with a Modi rally. Now, why was Senorita extra cool, With that song, Zoya Akhtar made the dating prospects of average Indian men very bleak, but no one was complaining. We have another song that’s a chartbuster sung by Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar in now what has become a film tradition.
However, the chartbuster has evolved the way pizza toppings have in our country. Just like jerk-spiced chicken replaced tandoori chicken as best post-beer pizza topping, Zoya & Karan dispensed with shiny lehengas in favour of sexy skirts. The sentiment, however, remains the same – giving the country that one song where all the stars of the film descend on the set, back up dancers pop up like unintended burps and a drunken uncle/aunty character shakes his/her booty, all of them perfectly choreographed.
