Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani Review: Big Heart, Big Noise

Is Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani worth watching?

Yes, with reservations. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is Karan Johar’s most entertaining film in years, a glossy family romance with songs, colour and surprising warmth, lifted by Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt at their most charismatic. Beneath the spectacle, it has genuinely interesting things to say about patriarchy, class and the ways families police love. The catch is that it says them loudly and at length: at close to three hours, the film is overstuffed, and its speeches can feel more like lessons than drama.

What is Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani about?

Rocky Randhawa (Ranveer Singh) is the flamboyant, gym-obsessed heir to a wealthy Punjabi family in Delhi, ruled by his iron-willed grandmother (Jaya Bachchan). Rani Chatterjee (Alia Bhatt) is a sharp, principled television journalist from a cultured Bengali household. Their paths cross through their grandparents, played by Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi, who share an old connection, and the two quickly fall for each other. Knowing their families will never approve, Rocky and Rani try an unusual experiment: each will move in with the other’s family for a while, to see whether love can survive such opposite worlds.

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is directed by Karan Johar, his first feature as director since Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. It is an Indian production in Hindi, released in cinemas in 2023, and it runs close to three hours.

Two stars playing at full volume

Ranveer Singh is in his element as Rocky, a man whose sense of self has been built from designer labels, workouts and inherited privilege. Singh plays him as a comic creation first, all swagger and malapropisms, but lets the character’s sweetness and uncertainty show through. The film’s best running joke, Rocky’s bewilderment at Rani’s intellectual Bengali family, depends on his willingness to look foolish.

Alia Bhatt gives Rani a spine that the story needs. She is funny and romantic, but also the character who stands up to Rocky’s family most directly, and Bhatt plays her convictions with conviction rather than preachiness. Their chemistry makes the lengthy running time easier to bear.

A family comedy with a conscience

The most rewarding parts of the film are the ones that turn its fish-out-of-water premise into social comedy. Rocky’s household is a portrait of wealth ruled by fear, where the men are expected to be hard and the women silent, while Rani’s family is liberal but not free of its own snobbery. The film makes both look ridiculous and human, and the scenes in which Rocky learns to see his own family from the outside are among its best.

The veteran cast is a genuine pleasure. Jaya Bachchan’s formidable matriarch is chilly and commanding, Shabana Azmi brings grace to her role, and Dharmendra’s presence gives the grandparents’ storyline a nostalgic glow. Tota Roy Chowdhury, as Rani’s father, has one of the most affecting subplots in the film, a gentle rebuke to rigid ideas about masculinity.

Johar’s excess cuts both ways

The film is designed as a celebration of Hindi cinema itself, with lavish musical numbers, loving references to classic film songs and a visual palette of saturated colour. When it works, it is a joy. But the same impulse leads to excess: too many songs, too many subplots and a third act that stretches well past the point where its conflicts could have resolved. Some messages are delivered in speeches that stop the film cold, and the tone swings between farce and earnest drama without always smoothing the join.

Who should watch Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani?

It is ideal for fans of big-screen Bollywood romance, admirers of either star and families who enjoy multi-generational comedy. Settle in for a long evening. The content is mostly mild, with some innuendo and family conflict, making it broadly suitable for teenagers and adults.

For similar pleasures:

• Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Johar’s previous film, a more melancholy look at love and longing.
• Kapoor & Sons, a sharper, more intimate family drama about the cracks in a household.
• Laapataa Ladies, a gentler, more understated comedy that also questions how women are treated within families.

The verdict

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is Bollywood entertainment at full throttle, carried by two stars in top form and a veteran cast who give it depth. It is too long and too eager to spell out its messages, but its warmth, humour and genuine affection for family and cinema make it worth the evening.

Rating: 3.5/5