Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani shows Karan Johar’s skill at reworking his own kahaani

Instead of laying the blame of sexual harassment on a girl’s short skirts and backless tops, a female journalist lectures a male politician about his sexist attitude. A son stops his father from assaulting his mother and another son questions his mother for poisoning his upbringing with toxic masculinity. No one walks away weeping with folded hands and moves to London. A woman is great with numbers and a man is a professional dancer. It’s all good in this Dharma 2.0 hood, but here’s what still makes Rocky Aur Rani a true-blue Johar kahani, albeit with generous influences of Chopra and Bhansali.

Punjabi patriarchy

Karan’s films have always had fathers who were dominant, hard-hearted, emotionally distant or egoistic. Whether it was Yashvardhan Raichand in K3G, Varun Dhawan’s dad in Student of the Year or Ranbir Kapoor’s father in Ae Dil Hain Mushkil. Interestingly, in Rocky Aur Rani, Johar creates a patriarchal woman. Jaya Bachchan is cold, emotionally shut down and even gets to say her husband’s dialogue from K3G ‘Keh diya na bas keh diya’ to enforce her authority. As a side note, Ranveer’s dad Tijori dresses and looks suspiciously like Big B from Mohabbatein and undergoes a similar overnight change of heart as well.

Havelis not homes

No one in a Karan Johar film lives in a regular apartment, or lives in an apartment that looks regular. Remember the Raichand Palace which Shah Rukh reaches via helicopter? Even Konkona SenSharma’s studio apartment in Wake Up Sid which Johar produced, looked prettier than any home I lived in when I was single. Not surprisingly Rocky lives in Randhawa Paradise which is a White House knock-off, while elegant Rani lives in a large colonial-style bungalow that reflects her family’s elegant anglicised lifestyle complete with red wine at dinner and a Tharoor-esque mother.

Cross-cultural love stories

Rani is Bengali, Rocky is Punjabi, and they are as different as chalk and cheese. Quite like Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor who were Tamilian and Punjabi in ‘Two States’, a film produced by Johar. In K3G, Kajol was from Chandni Chowk and Shah Rukh was from well, Buckinghamshire, England pretending to be Delhi. But the heart wants what it wants, even if it brings along a million obstacles.

Family members on staycation

In Karan’s world, bringing the family/families on one page is a huge deal. Rocky and Rani live with each other’s families for a few months to win the in-laws over. In K3G, Hrithik became Yash and stayed with his brother Rahul in London, trying to bring his estranged family members closer and Alia and Arjun spent time in Chennai and Delhi trying to get each other’s parents on board with their love story in Two States.

Plus-sized people

K3G and Rocky Aur Rani are Johar’s most aesthetically similar films, pitched similarly and mounted with equal extravagance. There is a plus-sized sibling in both stories but while Hrithik Rohan went from being called Fatty and Ladoo to a lean mean green-eyed machine, Golu or Gayatri played by Anjali Anand in Rocky Aur Rani, thankfully stands up for herself and fights for her dignity. She gets a job and a life without worrying about getting thin first.

Extravagant modes of transport

People in Karan’s world casually travel in extravagant modes of transport. Whether it’s Mr Raichand buzzing around in monogrammed helicopters, Rocky speeding around in his Ferrari and in one case a green car to match his green blazer, or Shah Rukh Khan being dropped home in a sports car by his wealthy friend Naina (Rani Mukherji) after a party. Travel, like homes and clothes, is never basic in Joharland.

Romance and relationships

Characters in Joharland are constantly trying to strike the balance between Pyaar and Parivaar (love and family). Whether it’s Rahul in K3G who pays the price for falling in love by losing his family, Alizeh (Anushka Sharma) whose parents refuse to attend her wedding to her boyfriend (Fawad Khan) in Ae Dil Hain Mushkil, Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt working around friendships, proving themselves to their family members and discovering true love in Student of the Year, and of course Rocky and Rani who will not trample over their family’s consent for the one they love.

While there are some directors who never make the same film twice, Johar is someone who has largely stuck to the same playbook when it comes to directing films. He even works with the same music director, lyrics writer and playback singer. Thankfully for him, people don’t seem to be complaining. It will be interesting to see what Johar does next, now that he has the validation of a successful film at the post-pandemic box office.

Will he let the jhumka drop or find another chiffon smooth tale to tell?