Review of Rocky aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, directed by Karan Johar

Okay, so I’ve been heavily invested in Rocky aur Rani for over two years before it came out, and slightly before it was even announced to be in the works for the public.

Two years ago upon writing these words, my Bangla language partner and I were having our weekly sessions when she told me the news that she was hired to be Alia Bhatt’s Bengali language dialect coach for an upcoming project. She told me the title of it was called Rocky aur Rani, and she was so excited to be working on such a big film for Dharma Productions, especially one that was incorporating Bengali elements so heavily.

So I waited two years hearing the updates from her, and she did end up getting to appear in the movie. If you’re watching and remember the scene where Rocky is brought to the Bengali culture group by Rani’s parents, my language partner is the one who’s like “what?” after Rocky speaks.

I was so proud of her! I ended up being in New York City the week of its release, which was a good thing, as the film wasn’t being shown in my area at all. So my Bangladeshi friend and I hiked all the way to Times Square to go see the movie in a packed theater, which was truly the way to go in the end.

Here’s my review!

When Rocky and Rani try to reunite their grandparents, who are long lost lovers, they find love with each other along the way.

The beginning of the film begins with Rocky, who was born into a Punjabi family that owns Dhanlakshmi Sweets, a global company that’s run by the familiar matriarch, Dhanlakshmi. Her husband is introduced as a man who fell down the stairs one day, leaving him with memory problems.

In the present day, he is bound to a wheelchair while she runs the business along with Rocky’s father. Together, their family is a fairly traditional one, as his sister is being forced to look for an arranged marriage and is called an insult because of her weight, while his mother has to serve everyone before herself.

When at an awards ceremony, the grandfather believes a random woman is someone named Jamini, which causes Rocky to try and go out to look for her. It leads him to Rani, a television news anchor whose grandmother is Jamini. Rani comes from a liberal Bengali family that couldn’t be any different than Rocky’s, but when he appears at her work and starts actively flirting with her, she starts to like it.

The two hatch a plan to get their grandparents to meet, and when they do, it’s revealed that they were former lovers way back in the day, but only for one week. But Dhanlakshmi doesn’t approve of this at all, so she takes the grandfather away.

This leads Rocky and Rani to find secret ways for the grandparents to meet in secret, leading to two different budding romances. As the grandparents hold hands and discuss poetry, Rocky and Rani are making out behind columns.

But from the get-go, we see some differences. She’s highly educated and he can barely speak properly or doesn’t know the meaning of basic words. And above all else, she’s Bengali and he’s Punjabi.

But when Rocky tries to propose to Rani, she sees it as too soon and breaks up with him right there. She’s sent to Kashmir for work and can only think of Rocky the entire time, so when she returns, she tries to tell him about her real feelings, leading to the two getting back together.

They then decides to switch households—Rocky will live with Rani’s family, and vice versa—to try and get over the barriers between the two. Rocky is spoiled and doesn’t even know how to make coffee, and is excluded from the Bengali group meetings Rani’s parents have because he is seen as an embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Rocky’s family treats Rani poorly. She has her in with the mother and sister, who she basically tells to liberate themselves from the power dynamics at play here. Eventually, they do. Rani also sends Rocky’s mother singing clip to a television show, which asks her to come audition.

But things hit the fan at a party when Dhanlakshmi tries to force Rani’s father to do Kathak, his passion, on stage, which makes everyone who doesn’t understand mock him because he’s a man doing something seen as too female for a man.

Rocky is horrified by this and begins to attend Rani’s father’s Kathak lessons, learning how to dance. When Durga Puja rolls around, Rocky invites his family and performs with Rani’s father, effectively pissing off his father and grandmother.

When a confrontation happens, Rani pushes his father, which creates more tension between the two, but Rocky, his mother, and sister decide to leave the household later that night. They are interrupted by the grandfather having a medical emergency, and he dies.

In the final scenes, Rani’s family goes to the funeral. Tijori, Rocky’s father, visits their household after and tells them Rocky is outside and wants to be married to Rani. She runs outside into a musical scene with Rocky, and the credits scene is their gorgeous wedding.

Overall Thoughts

This was such a good movie—the audience was dying of laughter throughout and there are some scenes that are really good gems. I genuinely enjoyed this one so much, and Rani’s speeches (and her family’s) about acceptance and being more liberal towards women and gender identities in dance were so pleasant to see.

I told my friend that I thought this was going to become a modern classic one day, and I stand by that statement. This was such a beautifully shot movie, too, and some of the scenes were absolutely gorgeous to watch on a theater screen. So glad I had the chance to see it.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more content.