He has terrible fashion sense and constantly over-accessorises (thanks to Aki Narula). I’m not surprised Taani didn’t recognise him. Shah Rukh doesn’t play Raj as cool – he is a nerd’s idea of a cool dude and always that bit off key. And so Raj is born vulgar, extrovert, inappropriate Raj Kapoor who can say and do things that Suri won’t. But he can’t stop himself from trying to get closer to her. The idea is Suri will go watch Taani at her new dance class, and then surprise her with the new look. Suri’s flamboyant hairdresser friend Bobby (Vinay Pathak in excellent form) helps with a makeover. Shah Rukh strikes the right blend of physical comedy and heartstring tugging pathos as Suri. The expression on his face when he sees the tiffin Taani has prepared for him is priceless. He plays Suri as mostly subdued, with a shy romantic streak blooming as he dares to dream. This is one of my favourite Shah Rukh performances. He sees her laugh watching movies and tries to understand the appeal of filmi heroes but he is worlds away from that flashy style. In his own beige way he tries to show his feelings, hoping his actions will speak for him. Suri doesn’t do macho or overbearing – he is atypical for a romantic lead.
He sleeps in the attic room and calls her Taani-ji, so painfully polite. Surinder is considerate as well as shy and doesn’t presume on his new wife.
Seeing her disappointment on top of her grief he wants to do something to make her happy, or at least stop her from giving up on happiness. He is an unassuming man who has fallen into a rut. Surinder Sahni works at Punjab Power (motto: Lighting Up Your Life) and lives all alone in his family home, a huge ornate house. There is ample entertainment in the romance, humour (please note I am not using the C word), dancing and music. Aditya Chopra hits some false notes including a ridiculous sumo wrestling interlude, but it’s really a story about people not gimmicks so I can turn a blind eye. Personally, I think that if you suspect every man who looks vaguely like your husband or boyfriend is him in disguise, you probably have bigger issues than the film does. I know some people object to the premise that she doesn’t recognise her husband immediately. It has excellent acting by Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, and characters I could empathise with or understand, even when I didn’t agree. What happens if she recognises him? What if she prefers the ‘other man’? How can he get himself out of this situation? And who will win the big dance competition? He masquerades as another man, utterly different from his everyday self, and starts to woo her. He changes himself to become a man she could love. He loves her on sight, she doesn’t see him at all. A prematurely middle aged man marries a bright, lovely young girl immediately after she experiences a family tragedy. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi requires some determined suspension of disbelief.
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