Product Description

This is what happened to Surinder Sahni (Shahrukh Khan) - a simple, clean hearted, honest man working for Punjab Power, leading a humdrum life, when he meets his total opposite and finds love in the flamboyant, fun-loving, vivacious - Taani (Anushka Sharma) for whom the whole world is her canvas and she paints her own life with the colours of rainbow all until unforeseen circumstances changes it all and brings them together. What follows is a journey filled with laughter, tears, joy, pain, music, dance and a lot of love. A journey that makes us believe that there is an extraordinary love story in every ordinary jodi.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14188 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-04-15
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: Hindi
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 167 minutes

Review
Shah Rukh is superb as the simpleton and your heart goes out to him every time he appears on screen. You want the underdog to win and here too, the way SRK tackles this part, you're all the more convinced. As Raj, SRK goes overboard at times. Anushka looks the character and surprises you with a confident performance. It's no small achievement to share screen space with an actor of the calibre of SRK and Anushka manages it very well from start to end. Vinay Pathak is incredible. He contributes enormously in making the proceedings lively. --bollywoodhungama.com

About the Actor
There is not a dot in Bollywood that does not carry Shahrukh Khan's name. He was born on 2 November 1965 in New Delhi, India. He married Gauri Khan on 25 October 1991. They have two children, son Aryan Khan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000). Khan started out his career appearing in several television serials in the late 1980s. He made his film debut with the commercially successful Deewana (1992). Since then, he has been part of numerous commercial successes, as well as having delivered a variety of critically acclaimed performances. During his years in the Indian film industry, he has won seven Film Fare Best actor awards and has had significant box office success. Some of his films includes: Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993), Anjaam (1994), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Om Shanti om (2007), Chak De India (2007) among others.

About the Director
Aditya Chopra was born on 21st May 1971 to the director and founder of Yash Raj Films Yash Chopra and Pamela. His brother Uday Chopra is an actor who made his debut with Mohabattein.Chopra was married to Payal Khanna for five years after which they divorced. He is seeing actress Rani Mukherji and was rumoured to be engaged to her.The year 1995 saw the release of Aditya Chopra s first directorial venture Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. The movie was an instant hit, raked in money and became the longest running movie in theaters. It won him the Filmfare Best Director Award and Filmfare Best Screenplay Award.Apart from directing, he has also worked on the scripts of hits like Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Veer Zaara (2004), Bunty Aur Babli (2005) and Dhoom 2 (2006).

Customer Reviews

RAB NE BANA DI JODI - lighting up your life
To most, a Yash Chopra production is synonymous with big doings - of storytelling done on a lavish scale, of an extravagant love story, and the brightest talents in Bollywood. RAB NE BANA DI JODI happens to falter on several of these elements. But while it may not be on the same tier as past Yash Chopra classics (Dilwale dulhania le jayenge, Veer-Zaara, Fanaa, etc.), it's still very much worth watching. Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan, as expected, carries this romantic comedy.

The opening sequence features two arranged marriages, and both involving the same girl. On her wedding day Taani (Anushka Sharma), young and vivacious, receives the shocking news that the bus carrying her fiance enroute to the wedding had crashed, with her fiance numbered amongst the casualties. Taani's professor father, upon learning the news, suffers a massive and eventually fatal heart attack. On his death bed, her father, not wanting Taani to be alone, talks her into entering a marriage with his favorite student Surinder Sahni (Shahrukh Khan).

Surinder is a nondescript-looking guy, one of those unnoticed types who toil in his cubicle, working as he does for the Punjab Power company, responding to all phone calls with what I think is a pretty neat company motto, "Punjab Power, lighting up your life." Surinder (or Suri) is bespectacled and quiet and kind, and becomes instantly smitten with Taani. But he understands that his marriage to her is only one of conveniece, Taani frankly declaring that she could never fall in love with him, even though she vows to fulfill her wifely obligations. Suri, never expecting someone like Taani to enter his life, professes himself content.

Things go on like this for a time, with Taani continuing to mope and with her and Suri sleeping in separate bedrooms. One day Taani sees a flyer for Dancing Jodi, a dance school competition, and she decides to participate. Suri, longing to see her happy and dancing again, pays for the dance classes and then dons a disguise so that he could be near her, not in a pervo way but so that he could enjoy the sight of her having fun. For the introverted Suri, things are about to get ridiculously out of hand.

It doesn't really make sense, but somehow Suri's best friend is this outgoing, macho salon owner (yes, I said "macho salon owner!") named Bobby Khosla. Bobby does a makeover on Suri and transforms him into this hip, happening cat named Raj Kapoor. Raj wears tight clothes, has poofy hair, and tends to be loud and obnoxious. Thru the luck of the draw, he ends up being Taani's dance partner. Taani dislikes him within moments, but, then again, you know how these movies go. Soon enough, thanks to Raj's antics, Taani is laughing and feeling alive again. And Suri, trapped in a web of his own making, soon finds himself in a fight for his marriage, with his alter ego as his rival. It's all very twisted, but fun.

Fun, because the tone doesn't ever get to that dark place. Shahrukh Khan plays the strutting Raj Kapoor as a caricature, exagerrated and over-the-top. Raj isn't very likeable, but then I don't ever think he was meant to be. It's weird, even keeping in mind that Raj and Suri were the same person, I still could not warm up to Raj. As Shahrukh says in an interview: "The essence of the whole thing is, that you're going to love only one guy - and that is Suri." That's one dichotomy in Shahrukh's dual roles. I don't think much of his portrayal of Raj, even if Raj's resulting traits were deliberate on Shahrukh's part (I'm guessing he intended him to be this aggravating). Obversely, Shahrukh's self-sacrificial Suri is sweet and heart-breaking and thoroughly endearing. As Shahrukh also says, "Ninety-nine percent of the people are Suris," and so many of us Average Joes see ourselves in Suri. With due respect to the showstopper number "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" - in which Shahrukh gets to dance with some of the most famous actresses with whom he's co-starred in the past - it's the terrific "Haule Haule" which really captures my attention. "Haule Haule" embodies Suri's gentle spirit and the depth of his feelings for Taani. In the song, when he beams with happiness and does that little dance, one simply cannot help but be won over.

The subplot to all this, of course, is the Dancing Jodi competition. You can probably guess how it ends. RAB NE BANA DI JODI (which I think means "A Couple Made By God") has its flaws but the effervescent tone, the romance, the nifty songs, and the touches of humor should have you overlooking those failings. It certainly made a killing at the Indian box office. This is Anushka Sharma's cinematic debut, but you wouldn't know it by her self-assured performance and her chemistry with Shahrukh, especially when Shahrukh is playing Suri; it's these two characters whose moments together construct the crux and the romance of the story. And Shahrukh Khan is Shahrukh Khan, in Bollywood the star of stars and his Suri having become one of my all-time favorite roles which this actor has ever brought to life.

What I didn't like? Okay, I initially had some trouble buying into Taani's Lois Lane complex, with her just being unable to pierce thru Suri's fairly simple disguise, but I eventually shrugged it off. Because, I guess, since she doesn't spend a lot of time with her husband (only at breakfast and dinner and the occasional movie date) and since the man is habitually so reserved, I can see where it may be difficult for her to put two and two together. In her place, would it occur to you that someone so internal could put on such an audacious act? Another nitpick is that I just found "Raj Kapoor" to be so annoying and not once did I feel that he was a character in his own right. And then there's Taani's late epiphany which, to me, simply smacks of the quick fix resolution.

What I have is the nice two-disc set with the glossy 3D hologram cover, although it's not cool that Disc 1 sits right on top of Disc 2. Disc 1 offers the feature film (which is 2 hours 44 minutes long) with English sub-titles and the typical song selection option. Disc 2, with the sizable special features: the Making Of RAB NE BANA DI JODI featurette (45 minutes long); the Making Of the musical number "Haule Haule"; the Making Of the musical number "Dance Pe Chance"; the Making Of the musical number "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte," which in addition to featuring five of Shahrukh's past female co-stars is also an homage to different eras of Bollywood (although I think the musical number ""Woh Ladki Hai Kahan" from Dil Chahta Hai did this better); 6 minutes of deleted scenes (no sub-titles); Shahrukh Khan Unplugged - 62 minutes of SRK - and his ego but with that wit and that twinkle in his eye as a saving grace - as he reflects (mostly in English) on sundry topics like this film's director Aditya Chopra, SRK's film preparation, his dual parts Suri and Raj, the importance of getting newcomer Anushka Sharma as his romantic leading lady, his tight relationship with the Chopra family, etc.; Shahrukh and Anushka In Conversation (43 minutes, chunks of it in Hindi), but definitely get around to just before the 32 minute mark to hear an utterly fascinating bit as Shahrukh answers Anushka's question: "Who is Shahrukh?"; and the theatrical trailer and promos.

Despite Raj Kapoor, I ended up really liking RAB NE BANA DI JODI. The ending is very good, even though you do see it coming. The movie has its good share of funny moments, although, as usual with Bollywood, sometimes the humor is forced. But do keep an eye out for the hilarious Dhoom sequence, in which Taani finds umbrage with two fellow dancers on a motorbike and goes tearing off in pursuit thru the tiny streets on Raj's own motorcycle (with Raj on the back). Then there's the funny epilogue to that scene, as Raj fills in his disbelieving but still macho best friend Bobby on that story (and remember that Bobby knows that Suri is Raj):

- Bobby: "So your wife was riding the bike?"
- Suri: "Yes."
- Bobby: "At the speed of 120?"
- Suri: "Yes."
- Bobby: "And what were you doing?"
- Suri: "I was sitting behind."
- Bobby: "What were you doing at the back?"
- Suri: "I had to hold the handbag, right?"

It's funnier in the movie.

A Bollywood romance with a difference
So far, the names of Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra have been behind some of India's most beautiful, romantic movies in the past decade, and this latest production lived up to my expectations, even though it is significantly different from earlier box-office hits like "Mohabbetein", "Veer-Zaara" and "Dil to Pagal Hai", to name a few. The two main aspects which struck me as being most different about this lovely new film, "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi", are the realistic and traditional Indian settings and the unusual story about an unlikely couple. In most popular romantic movies, the stars are young and attractive, and although Shahrukh Khan, the star of many such popular romantic movies, also plays the lead role in this film, his character is quite different from previous roles. In fact, he plays dual roles in this movie, which he has done to perfection several times already, and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is yet another opportunity for Shahrukh to shine and show us even more facets of his limitless talent and abilities. Wearing glasses and a moustache, he is almost unrecognizable as a stiff and boring middle-class working man, but as soon as he speaks, the viewer can look beyond the outer appearance and see the kind, gentle and loving soul within. This is actually the underlying message of this story, and Shahrukh brings it out very skilfully so that the audience follows the plight of this awkward and clumsy geek who is desperate to make an attractive young woman love him for the person he really is. With so many handsome and macho film stars to dazzle the girls, he finds this a daunting task, but is driven by love and faith in God to persist in his quest.

The situation is immediately more intriguing and complex, especially for the Western viewer, because the young woman in question is his bride whom he met only a day before the wedding, according to Indian tradition. The first few scenes are already loaded with deep emotion and drama as we learn that the young woman's happiness over her `marriage of love' - a luxury not everyone experiences - is shattered on her wedding day when her groom is killed in an accident. This causes her father to suffer a heart attack, and on his deathbed quickly arranges his bereaved daughter to marry an old and trusted friend, Surinder, to take care of her. Already in love with her at first sight, Surinder feels the pain of love for the first time in his life when she tells him she has no love left in her heart for anyone after the tragedy, but will do her best to be a good wife nevertheless. And so begins a charming and delightful story, like a fairytale, yet real enough to tug firmly at your heartstrings, as Shahrukh, playing Surinder the geek, disguises himself as a handsome, carefree and manly dance partner in his wife's evening dance class. Even though Shahrukh looks like his usual self as this attractive young man, his acting moves into new heights and dimensions as he plays Surinder the awkward geek pretending to be Raj, the sophisticated ladies' man. Despite still being awkward and clumsy, she appears to gradually fall for him after all, with never a suspicion that he is in fact her dull husband, which becomes a dilemma for Surinder: does this mean his wife would leave him for Raj because of his outer appearance, or would she eventually see beyond the geek exterior and come to love Surinder's fine qualities?

Newcomer Anushka Sharma plays the role of Taani, the sad and lost young woman, with apparent ease and with a manner pleasantly different from the usual popular female lead. In fact, both lead roles are deliberately different in order to create a story with a special deeper meaning to inspire audiences, even with spiritual concepts such as whether this match was made in Heaven. For the romantically-inclined, this movie will surely be very satisfying, if not inspiring, and for Western viewers it will be an emotion-packed adventure through India and the traditions and mentality of India's people.

rab ne bana di jodi
Rab ne bana di jodi, is one of the best love stories you'll ever see. It's entertaining from the start to the end. If you're interested in a great movie, this one is for you.