First of all, I want to clarify that I don’t think all Bollywood romances are bad. Bollywood has its clear share of finely crafted movies, with The Lunchbox being one of them. It is a beautiful film about a middle age widower and a young housewife who never meet throughout the film. It was truly the pinnacle of the Indian romances.
A few months ago a close friend recommended me Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD). She adored it. So I decided to watch it after reading some very positive reviews on the internet.
I liked the character of Naina a lot. She is, like me, shy and studious. Unfortunately her depiction in the movie was very subpar. Though her relationship with Bunny is sketched out in great detail, not much is said about her aspirations for her career. When Bunny asks her what she wants, standing on the top of a mountain with breathtaking views, she replies “Bunny.” Of course, a girl’s biggest prize would be a boy (whom she eventually “gets” by the end of the film). Naina’s clinic is mentioned exactly once in the movie. Then there were her glasses which she stops using much after the mountain scene. With glasses she is awkward and shy; without glasses she is suddenly a very beautiful and sociable person. By some weird cultural logic glasses make a girl awkward, boring, and reduces her beauty. The scene where Bunny pours alcohol on (a glass-less) Naina was female objectification at its best. The character of Naina is very one-sided whose only purpose in the narrative is to serve as a love interest of Bunny.
The movie was about Bunny. It shows Bunny’s struggle with his carelessness which costs him so much. His career is a central topic of the movie. Unfortunately, his often quoted sentence, tum jaisi ladkiyan flirt karne ke liye nhi ishq ke liye bani hai, is also a very problematic sentence. For him, some females are for short term “consumption” while others are for long term “usage.” He also inappropriately haggles her for talking with her friend Vikram. He only realizes his love for Naina when his “property” decides to move on. Of course, Naina does nothing about this toxic behavior and instead decides to reward him with a romantic relationship. In real life these are enough of a red flags to abandon someone.
The depiction of other female characters in the movie wasn’t better either. We get a item number by Madhuri Dixit, a marriage for Aditi without much of a story, and a hyper sexualized Lara. The director could have shown the relationship between Naina and Bunny without these three things in a thousand different ways, but they chose to cater to the male gaze of the audience instead.
Then there’s the problem with the story itself. The director is unable to show organic conflict between the characters and instead relies on depiction of lavish lifestyles. A trip to Manali? Consume. Amazing houses? Consume. Magnificent party? Consume. Extravagant celebrations? Consume. Breathtaking views? Consume. The story does not have much to offer and instead relies on sparkling visuals to cover up this deficiency. This constant consumption is often refereed as one of the core strengths of YJHD while ignoring its legacy as a common excuse for a poor story. (I am not against upper class stories; I am against bad stories.)
YJHD is one of the most overrated romantic films. It serves as another precedent of romance set by Bollywood which is highly unrealistic. This movie only happened to remind me of the four ideals of Bollywood romances: complete idealization of the other person, soul mates, Love at first sight, and love conquers all.
This movie is not a love story, it’s a fairy tale. And a bad one at that.