117: The Brave Heart will take the Bride (a.k.a. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge or: DDLJ)

            There is an indescribable feeling that comes from being swept up in a movie.  You nod your head and tap your knuckles on your knee with anticipation.  Without premonition you confirm your appreciation for each new development with a whispered but jubilant “yes.”  I’ve never “stood up and cheered” as so often reviews claim that audiences do, but with some movies you can’t help but at least offer a few congratulatory claps of your hands to the nonresponsive closing credits.  They can’t hear you, but you do it anyway.  Such was the case, for me, with Aditya Chopra’s The Brave Heart will take the Bride (1995).

            I’ve been split on Bollywood films in the past as many are remakes and rehashings of themselves or Hollywood movies, but despite rather conventional and even hackneyed plot devices here I was completely enthralled by this picture.  Yes, it is as typical Mumbai cinema as it gets, but it gets it right and at all the right moments.  It’s melodramatic, full of product placement, marred by bad fight choreography, and still altogether wonderful. 

What sets Bollywood apart from the U.S. film industry is that these films still defy the concept of genre.  In the Golden Age of Hollywood the movies were all about entertainment, and made for as many ticket buyers as they could fit in the seats.  Pictures were produced for general audiences and often included something for everyone: some comedy, some drama, a little action, maybe some singing and dancing, and sometimes “a little sex in it.”*

            Single-screen theatres, particularly in smaller towns, had to exhibit movies that could draw an audience of more than just one demographic.  This is why every western made before the arrival of Clint Eastwood has a love story.  Because there was something for everyone, people went to the movies just to go, not caring what they were seeing.  Those days are long gone.  Movies are now made to fit the “Male 18-26” set, and at $10 a pop who can just go to see whatever?  There have always been genres, but the lines were once not so distinctly drawn, and directors like Hitchcock were able to manipulate those parameters to make pictures for mass audiences.  These days, directors of big budget movies have less say than the studio marketing executive.

            In India this is not the case.  Films arm still made with something for every potential customer.  Yes, this means that even crime pictures have musical sequences, but if you accept this going in, it can be so much fun.  Though this sounds ludicrous to stateside audiences, subcontinent viewers absolutely embrace it, and often at epic lengths.  Squeezing something for all viewers into a movie accounts for frequent three-hour plus runtimes.  But if you get with the spirit of the thing, this time can fly by. 

            This is the case with DDLJ.  Indeed, the final flashback montage made me realize only at the film’s conclusion how long I had been watching.  We begin in London where Simran Singh (Kajol) is the daughter of a conservative and traditional father (Amrish Puri).  She is promised to marry the son of his best friend, but before she returns to India for the wedding she asks for a month on the continent with her friends.  On the train she meets Raj (Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan), the aimless and carefree son of a rich Hindi businessman.  He too has lived his entire life in England.  Predictably, the two fall in love in an oh so rom-com set up.  When she reveals her forthcoming wedding, the situation gets complicated.  She returns to London, but after her father overhears a conversation about Raj with her mother he moves the whole family back to Punjab to expedite the wedding.     

            Raj follows, and through a rather cartoonish scheme is accepted into the house of Simran’s fiancé.  What follows is an almost nonstop onslaught of dancing and deception as Raj attempts to win the approval of Simran’s unsuspecting father.  While premises within this prolonged façade are outlandish, the script remains taught from a dialogue standpoint, holding the film together and leading to a series of confrontations, first with the father and then the fiancé.

              Themes explored in DDLJ are common to the Bollywood dynamic.  The 1001 text notes the commonality of these pictures from the late 80s and 90s focusing on the large Diaspora of Indian people throughout the world.  As a result of this cultural shift, generational tensions evolved from raising children in a western society.  Contrasting ideas about family and romantic relationships were ripe for the picking as basic premises for drama.  These themes continue to be found in Hindi-centered films in the following decade with international hits such as Bend it Like Beckham (2002).  Speaking of Becks, I’m told that his fame pails in comparison to that of Khan in India, and that this film launched the actor into that stardom stratosphere.

            It’s no wonder why.  It’s an energetic performance that is indeed matched by his beautiful costar Kajol.  Together they shine in moments both big and small.  Also of note is the work of Puri, who conveys so much here.  In the role he is both a father and a son; a man caught between the generations.  He is both noble and an antagonist, and Puri handles these parts equally well.  American audiences will likely recognize him from his work in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and I was more than caught up in the idea that this film could have been promoted in the U.S. with the tagline “Mola Ram Sings!!!”

            On the surface, The Brave Heart will take the Bride hasn’t aged gracefully.  It’s about as 90s as can be in its portrayal of gender politics, overuse of “high fives” and “thumbs-ups,” and semi-grunge wardrobes.  Raj even breaks the fourth wall a la Saved by the Bell a few times.  His final confrontation with the fiancé also leaves something to be desired.  Let’s just say James Caan’s pulled punch in The Godfather has some company in the unconvincing blows category.  Still, these small glitches aren’t enough to pan the film.  It still achieves just what it sets out to; it entertains.  And in that category it shows no flaws.

Language: Hindi (primary)/English

Runtime: 192 Minutes

Available through Netflix.com

Grade: 4 Hats Off

              

*See Sullivan’s Travels (1941)