Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh’s newest film Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani is the talk of B-town, as many praise the movie for challenging gender stereotypes.
The film follows the love story of Rocky (Ranveer) and Rani (Alia), who have contrasting backgrounds and cultures. In the film, Ranveer plays Rocky, a fitness enthusiast from a Punjabi family, while Alia’s character Rani is a journalist from a Bengali household. The film seems to have ushered in a new era for Bollywood, offering a fresh perspective after a years-long slump – and audiences are all in for it. The film challenges a lot of stereotypes and gender roles through its diverse characters, but there is one particular sequence that has caught film-goers’ attention.
In the scene, Singh alongside actor Tota Roy Choudhury, who plays Alia’s father breaks into a dance to a classic Bollywood song, Dola re Dola from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas (2002). In the original film, the track, choreographed by Saroj Khan, features Paro (Aishwarya Rai) and Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit) dancing against the backdrop of Durga Puja, serenading Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan).
ranveer honestly deserves all the loud hooting and whistles he got for this particular part from the audience pic.twitter.com/GFVybadNoV
— ` (@dramafudge) July 30, 2023
In Rocky Aur Rani, Karan Johar pays tribute to the song and the choreography through Ranveer and Tota’s characters. The track pops into the film post-interval at a very important moment when Rani, is not challenging but redefining what ‘patriarchy’ means for the Randhawas (Rocky’s family). The Durga pandal serves as the perfect backdrop for two men to break into what is traditionally seen as a song made for women and idolised by the queer community. When Ranveer and Choudhury break into the Devdas track, it becomes a pivotal moment in the film. Tota’s character Chandan Chatterjee is a kathak dancer whose father hit him with a belt for wanting to become a dancer.
Those 2 men dancing to Dola Re in #RockyAurRaniKiiPremKahani does more for the Hindi film hero than decades of chest-thumping herogiri. Ranveer Singh has been trying to make camp cool on & off-screen. The risible becomes celebratory. Small subversive step but big cinematic leap. pic.twitter.com/CyJiH8gj4E
— manish gaekwad (@manishgaekwad) July 29, 2023
The dance to Dola Re in #RockyAurRaniKiiPremKahani redefines Hindi cinema's hero, outdoing years of standard heroism. Ranveer Singh's efforts make the camp concept cool, transforming the ridiculous into celebratory. A minor but significant cinematic evolution. #RRKPKReview pic.twitter.com/HquxyQv0Do
— Arpit Mehrotra (@ArpitMehrotra01) July 29, 2023
While the film still does have its fair share of flaws, audiences feel that it broke barriers and is a sign of a new era in the industry. The film’s director Karan Johar especially received praise for breaking down prejudice and stigma associated with men and dancing. In the past, Johar has received criticism for problematic themes in his older films – in interviews promoting RRKPK, he talked about his directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hain and admitted that he got the “gender politics of that film wrong”, stating how he has evolved as a filmmaker since.
The last few years have seen a steep decline in representation in Bollywood, with films like Kabir Singh, normalizing intimate partner violence taking centre stage. There are several directors trying to bring out a real depiction of women in movies as in life. But these attempts are often offset by the films still promoting gender role stereotypes in various ways. With Rocky Aur Rani… winning hearts, could we finally see a stronger wave of change sweeping the industry?
