In today’s weekend blog, it is Bollywood once again.
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) was released in 1995 and is considered one of the best romantic movies ever made. For more than two decades DDLJ was running for single show daily at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir theatre, and it was only discontinued when Covid 19 pandemic set in. It is still considered as one of the most epic love stories told by Bollywood. But if we were to analyse the male protagonist Raj (played by Shah Rukh Khan) in 2020s, we might not be on the same page as those who adore this movie. Sexism, crossing the line on several occasions, toxic masculinity-they could all be used to describe Raj’s character and to be honest, not many of us would enjoy his annoying presence.
The fact is, if you watch this movie now, you could not help but realize there are some glaring flaws in Raj’s personality which have been portrayed as cute because Bollywood spins everything like that. Take stalking, casual objectification-how many times we cringed at the dumb joke made at the expense of a girl in a movie, or been irritated with invasion of personal space. So here is list why Raj would, in most likelihood not get Simran (played by Kajol) in 2020s.
1 No Concept of Space
Imagine dealing with a partner who does not know the importance of space. From the first moment Simran and Raj are stuck in the train compartment, he keeps poking and pestering the poor girl. He even manages to stick her bra in her face. If these things were done to you and then laughed off as a joke, then he might have already been in jail on assault charges. Today’s Simran will say Back off bro.
2 Too Much Entitlement
Even after they are stuck together, which under no circumstances is the premise to fall in love considering the person could be potential serial killer, rapist, murderer, anything, he continues to be a sexist asshole the whole time. He jokes about them having sex when they are in the shed, flirts with other girls and even manhandles her when she gets drunk. All of these under the garb of playful banter. Today Simran will say , No, thank you.
3 Uncommunicated Sachcha Pyars
Considering neither of them checked whether the other one was actually single or not, it was mighty high of Raj to assume that Simran would be waiting for him back in India. He leaves everything to fly back, have a masculine hunting competition with Simran’s fiancé (because that’s how men view women’s worth) and then convince her that he loves her. Why all the drama? If you were that confident that she’s ‘the one’, why not communicate to her so that she can prepare too. Not end up at the wedding with no plan, no prior communication and no sense of future planning.
4 He was College Dropout with No Future Plans
Where was there love story headed? Neither did Simran ever ask, nor did she ever mention what she and him plan to do in the future. Considering Raj never even finished his college degree, how was he planning to take their relationship forward? Even Simran does not seem to be bothered about her own education, financial freedom, either.
5 He’s Probably Someone with Crippling Mommy Issues
To be honest, Raj seems to be overgrown kid with no understanding of women. He often resorts to last-minute theatrics and singing songs to woo women and if that’s how he thinks it works, we do not know what else would be in store had everyone gone ahead and agreed to marry him. Plus he hardly seems loyal or trustworthy, intelligent or understanding. Raj is just not how a guy should be in 2020s.
In the end, DDLJ was a over hype movie, and youngsters loved Raj and Simran in 1990s, because in those days very few romantic films were made, and it was refreshing change after watching action and revenge films. 1990s was the decade when the trend of musical, family, romantic films was revived. Anyhow with the success of DDLJ, two average actors Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol reached super stardom.
Waiting for your feedback on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
24th May 2024