How am I going more slowly through this than through Bahubali 2 (total of 26 parts, definitely feels like this one’s going to be more than that)? Oh that’s right, I skipped the sad bits of Bahubali. May have to skip the sad bits of this too, I’m not sure yet. Anyway, this part isn’t sad! Sort of. Wistful? Poignant? Anyway, not straight up sad. (full index of JHMS coverage here)
Previously, Anushka and Shahrukh were traveling together and falling in love, but with the understanding that as soon as she found the lost ring she was looking for, it would all be over and he would go back to being just a tour guide and she would be just a client. And then they were attacked by some people who they thought had the ring, it was very emotional, Anushka was distraught seeing Shahrukh hurt, almost maddened, and in the middle of treating him she suddenly found the ring in her bag. But decided not to do anything, just hide it in her hand.
And now they are carefully leaving the workroom where they were captured. Shahrukh is overly protective, not just guiding Anushka, but almost guarding her, putting his body between her and the rest of the world. Even on an empty street. Meanwhile Anushka is looking at him like she wants to memorize his face. They are strangely out of tune with each other, both focused on the other but in very different ways. Anushka is internal, trying to decide what she feels. While Shahrukh is external, his feelings have moved outside of himself, he is trying to show them through his actions.
The lighting here is this gorgeous warm yellow dark light. It’s the same yellow of the “Radha” song, but deeper. Just like Anushka dress is that same red, but deeper, and Shahrukh is in the same black, but with a blue shirt underneath, and a darker black leather jacket. Their feelings haven’t changed in substance since then, just in depth.
They go from the yellow street to a streetcar. Really interesting choice to set this song here. All along they have had intimate moments while traveling on trains. There is something unique about train travel, while airplanes are just a matter of moving from here to there as fast as possible, and cars put a distance between driver and passenger, on a train they are all the same and there is a feeling of being in transit while still somehow tied to the earth. Shahrukh first started to fall in love with her on a train, watching her sleep on the train from Amsterdam to Prague, and again on the train from Prague to Budapest. Budapest to Prague, they both felt it, shared that important moment of preparing for a good-bye, holding each other. Prague to Portugal was an airplane, no visuals of that. But now they are on a train again. Only, separated. Anushka sits, while Shahrukh stands at the back.
(Remember when this song teaser first came out and I used it as an excuse to do a TGIF post on men in leather jackets? Good times!)
You know the movie Flying Down to Rio? Famous for a couple of reasons. First, it was the first Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie. Second, a bunch of chorus girls were strapped to the wings of tiny prop planes and did a kickline in mid-flight. Yes, for real. Oh, and third reason, very catchy title song! And for me it was the first movie where I saw the trick of editing to astral project characters (not Fred and Ginger, the boring actual hero and heroine Gene Raymond and Delores Del Rio).
(Go 2 minutes in for the plane dancing. Just speaking for myself, you could not pay me enough to make me do that!)
So, this movie is from 1933, there are probably other movies I haven’t seen from even earlier that used the same trick. Because it’s one of the simplest and most effective film tricks. You just show the same thing in two ways, what the characters are actual doing in real world, and what they wish they could be doing, what they want to be brave enough to do. It’s not a fantasy exactly, not like they want to change everything around them, they just want to change themselves.
It’s what we do all the time in real life, that’s why it works so well on film. You wish you could say the smart thing in class discussion, or were brave enough to ask your boss for a raise, or to just walk out of the room before you got in a fight with your mother. Or didn’t walk out of the room but stayed there and had the fight. You wish you could be a braver better version of yourself. Or, sometimes, you accept that you aren’t that braver better version and it will never happen, but you have learned to live with it by fantasizing that you are, by imagining what you want to do instead of doing it. And film is the perfect way to show it, because just like our minds rewind what just happened and then imagine it a different way, you actually can film the same thing multiple ways, changing only what the characters are doing within the scene.
Shahrukh in this scene has bifurcated himself. What he desires is so strong, he is almost projecting it into the world. But at the same time, he is under such firm control that in “real life” he is barely moving. He stands at the back while Anushka sits down. Again, the farthest apart they have been in ages. And the pain of that makes him send himself forward to her. Skipping ahead to the end of the film, after Anushka leaves, we see Shahrukh just broken, empty, barely able to function. His soul is locked to her now, if she is more than 6 feet away from him, he has to send it forward to her. And when she is all the way across the seas from him, his soul is lost forever. He has nothing left inside. It’s not just heartbreak, it’s an emptiness, a heart-loss.
And to avoid that here, put it off temporarily, he has to send his heart forward to Anushka. He can’t be with her right now, his feelings are too fragile, but he also can’t be away from her. So he stands at the back of the train car while she sits in front, and his heart sings to her “Yaadon Mein”, and inside he is moving ahead, sitting behind her, singing into her ear.
Purely from a technical side of things, Imtiaz had a very light touch with fantasy versus reality. The one other passenger in the car disappears in Shahrukh’s fantasy. And, more interestingly, Shahrukh is cleaner and nicer looking than in reality. His hair is nice and fluffy, his jacket and shirt are a little more put together, and the scarf Anushka tied around his head is gone. It’s not a huge difference, but we can see that his ideal fantasy version of himself, someone slightly better than he is in reality. He needs to improve for Anushka.
There are only a couple of shortcuts between “reality”, with Shahrukh standing back with his heart in his eyes, and “fantasy”, him singing to Anushka. It’s a really simple moment. And the two parts fit together perfectly. Even with just the song and the look in Shahrukh’s eyes, we could almost get the same message. He loves her so much he can’t contain it, but he isn’t going to say anything, he is going to put her far away and just look at her. The fantasy part fits in naturally with the gaze he gives her, we in the audience don’t need any more explanation than that to understand what is happening in his heart.
Now, what I find even more fascinating is Anushka’s part. Shahrukh sings his heart out to her, silently, and she senses it. She looks back in reaction to fantasy-Shahrukh singing into her ear, to see “real” Shahrukh standing alone, just looking at her. And then the female part of the song starts. But, see, Anushka doesn’t split into ego and id or whatever, she is still just herself.
This is what I have been saying all along, and will really get into in the fight after “Raula”, Anushka isn’t aware enough of herself to have ego and id. She doesn’t know how to examine her emotions, to want something or feel something and set it aside. And so Shahrukh feels love, and he projects it onto an idealized version of himself. Anushka feels love, and she has no other self to project it onto, she is just her feelings, integrated with the rest of her. And that is why she is able to act. Shahrukh can keep denying and dealing with it and projecting and dreaming. But Anushka doesn’t have those coping strategies, and so she has no choice but to do in reality what she wants to do. And so when she feels that love, she stands up and goes over to him. They don’t touch, they don’t even exactly look at each other, but his face registers that she is there, and her face registers that she is there with him.
For much of the film, since “Radha”, Shahrukh’s reaction to Anushka has been kind of muted puzzlement. He truly can’t believe someone like her keeps coming to someone like him. But he can’t understand it because he is thinking too much, and thinks she is thinking as well. That’s what he can’t puzzle out about her, that she isn’t doing this because of a big plan or a decision she has made or anything like that. She isn’t strong enough, experienced enough, to have a plan or to make a decision. She has no other self that she uses to test out emotions and imagine what might happen next. And so when she is overwhelmed by love for him, she just goes to him. No second thoughts or hesitations.
Woot! Sexy scene! We open with Anushka gently checking Shahrukh’s head, she’s taken off the scarf-bandage, and her coat, and his coat. His shirt has fallen more open (Shahrukh’s poor shirts in this movie, they just can’t keep themselves together). Her early focus on his injury above all else is still there, but it has somehow expanded to a focus on his whole body, you can see in the way she is touching him and moving her hands over his face, she is suddenly aware of his body and her body in a way she never has been before. She has been feeling glimmers of this all along, the moment on the beach at the end of “Phurr”, grabbing his hand to hold during the song in the cafe. But those were, as Claudia says in the comments, “butterflies”. Little flickers in her stomach that were exciting and new and different, but just flickers. Separate from that is the love she has felt for him, that strange bond they have had. The “Radha” effect. One of the wonderful things about the “Radha” song is how non-sexual it is. They barely touch each other, there is no moment where it feels like they may kiss, or want to kiss. Yes, they are attracted to each other, that is always there, but the point of the song is more the meeting of the minds and spirits. And then later “Phurr” gives Anushka the meeting with her own body, the joy of finding it and what it can do for her. And now we have this scene, starting with “Yaadon Mein”, in which those two things come together.
This isn’t a man and a woman making love because they are aroused, because Shahrukh likes her legs and she likes his attitude. This is a man and a woman who want to make love because it is the only way they will be able to feel physically the closeness they feel emotionally in this moment. That is what Anushka has been growing towards, she needs the closeness with him that only physical intimacy can give, but she wouldn’t have been able to handle that intimacy, wouldn’t have known what to do with it, just a few days earlier. Now she can. Her body is ready, and the moment is right, and they are both overwhelmed with love for each other in this second. They don’t even really need to say anything, their bodies are talking for them.
Now, I may be missing a moment here and there (correct me in the comments!), but as I remember it, Anushka finishes taking care of his head and then gently embraces him. He pushes her away slightly so they can be on an equal level and sitting opposite each other. Their hands are moving over each other, their faces brushing against each other. They aren’t kissing, or even fully embracing, just touching. Shahrukh stands and Anushka follows him up, his shirt is now almost fully open, there is a promise of nudity. Her hands brush along his chest, his hands are moving on her body, they are both breathing deeply of each other. He says to her, once again, “raula pe jaan de” (chaos/shouting/craziness will happen), and she says “let it happen”. They move into the bedroom and kind of gently fall onto the bed, with Shahrukh on top. Again, their hands are moving and their eyes are looking into each other, but there is no kissing. As their mouths get close, Shahrukh stops and says “no. Not like this. Not chupke chupke, not with you.” And he takes a deep breath and rolls off of her until he is laying next to her, looking a little away. And Anushka says, “you say you are galat , but any other man in this situation would not have stopped. Maybe your thinking is what is wrong.” And Shahrukh turns back to her and says “I am wrong. But sometimes, I think you can save me”. And Anushka grabs him and says “let me save you”. And he turns in her arms until she is holding him, comforting him like a child.
The most brilliant part of this sequence is the ending. And that it doesn’t feel contrived. The whole thing is building towards Shahrukh being held and comforted in her arms. What they needed, more than anything, was to find a way to express love for each other, something that would make them closer than close. Sex could have been that way. But this moment, with Shahrukh admitting his innermost fears and Anushka soothing them, this works too. It isn’t a “I need to rip your clothes off” kind of desire that they are feeling for each other, it’s a different deeper kind of desire, a “I need to open myself up to you entirely and have you open yourself to me” desire, that could be fulfilled in more ways than one.
What also makes it brilliant is that they don’t kiss. Well, that makes it sexy too. But it’s the kind of sexy that is what is so different about it. All along they have been talking about rules, Anushka in particular has been struggling with figuring out what this relationship is and isn’t. But this scene shows that with love, there are no rules. They don’t kiss, they don’t touch any more than they have touched before. But it is the way they are touching that is different, the way they are feeling on the inside that makes it powerful. Sex and love is all mixed up together, you can’t separate one from the other, if you love someone like they love each other, something as simple as a stroke of the head can be sexual more than loving. And something as intimate as sleeping in each others’s arms can be loving more than sexual.
Beyond that, the lack of kissing shows that they are on an equal level in this scene. Anushka is completely inexperienced and Shahrukh is completely experienced. But they both want the same thing, they both just want to touch each other and be with each other right now. And they are both so swept away in their emotions that they can’t control themselves, Anushka to maintain her “virtue” or Shahrukh to seduce, her to woo her, to do anything besides what he naturally wants to do. This is where they have met in the middle, finally. They love each other so much that this is completely new to both of them.
In my interpretation, I don’t think Shahrukh, in all his experience, has ever felt something quite like this before. Just in the last section, we learned about the first love whose memory he clings to, Kulwant Kaur. From his description of her, and the light way he refers to it, I think we can be sure that at the most they shared a brush of the fingers in passing, nothing more physical than that. But on the other hand, if this is the memory he clings to, I don’t think there could have been anything after that which measured up. I don’t think any of his many many relationships since reached this level of love before, during, or after the sex. And certainly Anushka, with her tepid family approved kind of relationship, would never have felt anything like this. They are, finally, no longer guide and client, but both of them a little lost.
All of that is just from the body language, I am sure this scene was extremely improvised, it feels like they both just threw themselves into it. But I am also sure that there were a couple of dialogue markers they had to find a way to hit naturally. Which they did, more or less. And all of that dialogue is important.
First, there is the “raula” line. This is the third time it has come up. It was Shahrukh’s initial casual comment about what would happen if he seduced another client, it was Shahrukh’s comment after “Hawayein” when he first realized that Anushka had fallen for him as well even if she didn’t know it yet. And now he is saying it again. It’s a very general term, in the first usage it could have just meant “my boss will yell at me, I will lose my job”. In the second usage, it could have meant “we are about to lose control of ourselves” or “you are going to get mad at me, there will be a huge fight, we will hurt each others’ feelings”. And in those first two times, Anushka didn’t fully understand what he meant. Because, again, it’s a general phrase. It’s something whose meaning is conveyed more through context and intonation than the actual specific words. Heck, Shahrukh himself may not have known exactly what he meant by it! But now they are communicating as much with their bodies and eyes as their words and they both know what it means. If they keep going, keep touching each other, there will be orgasms and ecstasy and love that they can never forget. That is what Shahrukh is taking one last time to warn about, and which Anushka is rolling right over saying “yes, I am ready, let it happen.”
And, jumping ahead, it does happen! Like I said, the ending of this scene is where it was going all along. They kept going, and “raula” happens. Not because they had sex, but because they gave in to that need for closeness and ended up bonded to each other. “Raula”, the song we get in a few minutes, changes the meaning once again. Their “raula”, the chaos and madness and wildness, wasn’t sex. It was being together, it was planning a wedding together, hosting a family, experiencing life as a married couple, beginning to build a life. That’s what Shahrukh is most afraid of, and that’s what Anushka, in this moment, is embracing.
And then there’s the moment when he stops. They both play that second so well. It is difficult for him to stop, but it isn’t frustrating. And it isn’t frustrating for her either. The peak they were reaching for wasn’t sexual desire, it was love. And she loves him more after his confession, and he loves her more for comforting him, that is the peak they needed to satisfy themselves. And we can see that because he doesn’t roll fully away. This isn’t “oh no, I can’t control myself!”, this is, “I choose to change this from a moment leading to sex to a moment of just being together, and for me, they are equally satisfying”.
I don’t usually try to put in Hindi words, because I am not the greatest at Hindi, but in this scene I want to use the 3 actual words because they were translated wrong in the subtitles, and I don’t know if there is a really good translation out of Hindi. “Raula” is the first one, “chupke chupke” is the second. The subtitles have it as “on the side”, which is just completely wrong! “Chupke chupke” means silently, or secretly. It gets at a whole world of meaning for Shahrukh. His previous relationships to him were things to be hidden. Not just by himself, but by the women. We saw that in how he came on to that girlfriend of a friend in the club in Amsterdam. That was part of what made him feel good, to have this secret power over other men, that he had taken their women and they didn’t even know. But it was also part of what made him feel bad, that he was something they women didn’t want to admit in the bright light of day. With Anushka, he doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want to be something she is ashamed of, for himself. And for her, he doesn’t want her to feel like she is shameful, feel like this is something wrong.
It’s not just “no sex before marriage!”, it’s “no sex in a way that implies we are doing something we are ashamed of, we are doing something that we don’t want the world to know about.” All the things which should be making them feel free, the hotel room all to themselves on the other side of the world from everyone they know, are what is restricting Shahrukh. He wants to be in India, he wants to be in their own home with a sign out front saying “Mr. and Mrs. Mehra are having procreational sex inside this house right now”. Or, you know, just “Mr. and Mrs. Mehra” but we all know what it means. This different kind of sex, this sex that is really love-making, for him it is incomplete if it isn’t done in such a way that tells the world what is happening, that makes it clear they are proud and not ashamed.
(He wants this. As do we all! This is the scene that caused my friends and I to discover what we call his “you forgot I was sexy” face.)
And then there’s “Galat”. “Galat”, as I understand it, can be “wrong” like “it would be wrong to do that”. But it can also mean “wrong” as in “not right”, like “the fruit has gone wrong”. Shahrukh is saying that he himself is wrong/rotten/broken and Anushka is changing it, saying that it is his way of thinking about himself is wrong/bad. And her argument shows more than anything else her own new maturity. I don’t think the Anushka we first met would understand what was happening between them right now enough to know that most men wouldn’t be able to turn away. After all, her fiance had never tried to have sex with her. But now she knows that this moment right here, with a warm receptive woman offering herself, is something that most men wouldn’t be able to turn down. And she knows that she is that woman, that there is something different about what she is in this moment than what her fiance or any other man has ever seen from her. I mean, she asked him to tell her exactly what he does with these women! Well, now she knows, it is something that can’t be described, it just has to be understood.
And there is also her understanding of exactly what he needs to hear. At first, she was so in love with his bad boy image, trying to make sense of something different than what she had ever known. And most women are probably like that with him, enjoying the danger and the badness of it. But just as she is different, he wants that stamp of social approval with her, so is he different for her now. She doesn’t want the bad boy any more, she wants to remind him that he is better than he thinks, that she believes in him even if he doesn’t believe in himself.
And that is why he thinks she can save him. Because she believes in him, and because she makes him want to believe in himself, to be a better person. He is trying, that is why he turns and curls into the fetal position at the end of their conversation. He is turning back into a child, a baby, wants to be reborn and start fresh. And she turns into his mother, calming him, wrapping him in her arms, soothing him.
And it works. For the first time, he feels worthy of spending the night with her not on the floor, but in her bed. The next thing we see is the next morning, him waking up wrapped in pillows and blankets. Loved and pampered, for once in his life.
And there’s another double length post for you! Come back tomorrow to have a big fight with me over the meaning of the whole “Raula” sequence!
dontcallitbollywood 
Pingback: Jab Harry Met Sejal Scene By Scene Index | dontcallitbollywood
Howza! Spot on and almost too evocative. The only thing I will point out is that the song in the trolley begins with the female singer, and switches to the male voice during his fantasy. I remember, because when it happened the first time I saw the movie, the male singer’s voice was so high, I was confused and thought it was the woman’s voice until I saw Shah Ruth’s lips move. Shah Rukh’s lips. And now I need a cold shower.
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“Shahrukh’s poor shirts in this movie, they just can’t keep themselves together”
Okay, I laughed.
Even if this movie sucked, it would have been worth it just for the physics of how those buttons are managing not to break.
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After all those heroines being sewn in to their Salwar’s, I think it was our turn, don’t you?
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looooooooool
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Couple of language corrections: 1. He says Sejal raula pe jaana hai (it’s going to become a mess) and she says harry raula pe jaan de(let it become a mess!!) It’s the first punjabi sentence she’s saying in the whole movie. It’s not coincidence that her line is what he uses in the song he sings in Frankfurt few days later. She made him a singer again! Like Geet did to Aditya 🙈
2. When he rolls off of her, she says I know you think I’m layak trust me I know now (ummm risqué!! How did THAT pass the censor boards?!) but any other man in your place would he have done what you did? Think about it maybe you too have been carrying around a wrong image of yourself.
The you too refers to when harry meets gas in the cafe and they are worried he’s a criminal and after the meeting harry says this guy was really nice we were having such a wrong image of him and he’s saying he has the ring and we can go pick it up tomorrow.
It’s also a throwback to right at the beginning when at the airport he “talks back” to her and she’s like you keep such a different image of yourself when you’re a tour guide.
The rest of it I’m too emotional about right now so I’ll write to you tomorrow 😘
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Thank you! Once again your memory/language skills are invaluable. Speaking of the “layak” line, were you part of our “erection of the soul” discussion over on the Jab We Met review. There was debate about why exactly Shahid and Kareena got so awkward after the almost hug. I am holding firm to my innocent version where they felt something IN THEIR HEARTS at that moment. But some other people were considering a more literal “felt something”.
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I wasn’t part of that discussion. But I do think Aditya and geet felt something in their soul. They weren’t this far into foreplay as these two. Things, um, take time.
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Oh good, my pure and innocent version of filmi love can survive. Soul erection it is!
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Also geet and Aditya are not in that stage of their relationship. And Aditya is certainly not the sexual beast that harry is 😬
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And Geet is at least as innocent as Anushka. Now I want to watch the hotel clerk scene again!
Speaking of Shahid, in Vivah, did they have sex that night on the roof or not? I think the official version is no, but I watch the song video and it really feels like “yes”.
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Omg! No never. Vivah shahid wouldn’t even dream of having sex with her. No way.
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But the lyrics are literally “I have that right”!
How about Hum Saath Saath Hain Salman that moment when Tabu leaves him alone with Sonali in the bedroom?
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He says I have that right …..to look at you to my hearts content.
Even in hssh it’s just some very heavy petting I think. They want they run down the stairs after that…uff…and Salman nuzzling her….😍😍😍😘😍
My fav Suraj b romantic moment/song though is the o ajnabi song from main prem ki deewani hoon. Kareena and Hrithik were soooo into each other back then. And Hrithik looked so sexy. Yum.
Suraj Barjatya movies just don’t have pre marital sex 😊
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I’m awfully fond of the push-up scene from Maine Pyar Kiya. Best Salman has ever looked!
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Oooh Maine pyaar kiya is the first movie I ever remember watching in screen. I was 3. Still can’t see the sexual angle in any of it. It’s much too innocent or maybe I regress into a 3 year old when I watch it 😌🙈
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I still can’t speak properly about the rest of this sex scene. For someone like harry who’s gotten only perfunctory hugs from women he has sex with to get this all encompassing all woman( an all woman is a child, a friend and a mother when need be) hug must mean so much to him. Her holding him doesn’t emasculate him. It makes him feel stronger, healed, better able to deal with the situation they are in. The next morning he’s literally a changed person.
The whole movie has been about Sejal transforming but this one night is all about harry transforming. His demons being put to rest.
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Beautiful. I’m actually scared of this coming out on DVD and/or Netflix because I’m going to want to watch it every day. Ultimately, it’s just so hopeful about the power of love without being maudlin.
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Haha! This happened with katru veliyidai for me. I watched it 5 times in the theatre and watched it everyday for a month on amazon prime when it released. 😂 I’m sure it will happen with jhms also. Already watched it four times in the theatre. Now waiting to binge on Netflix.
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Oh, that is a really interesting film to put in contrast with this one! Both not exactly the sweeping romance they look like at first glance, both with incredibly complex characters and internal performances that take multiple watches to fully understand. And great songs, of course.
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I am an extreme romantic and last year was very dry for me movie wise(instead I discovered Agatha Christie Anand devoured some 100 odd books by her). But this year has been amazing. Baahubali, Katru Veliyidai, Wonder Woman, JHMS and hopefully Padmavati by the end of the year. My heart is spent with all the love ❤️
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And here is where I do my Raabta plug! It’s a little silly, but if you have been craving over the top romance, it’s pretty darn good.
Oh, and my favorite Agatha Christie with a touch of romance is Sparkling Cyanide/Remembered Death. And if you want something Christie-like, but slightly deeper and more romantic, check out Marjorie Allingham and Dorothy Sayers.
On Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 2:37 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I love sparkling cyanide! Dream of a movie version with deepika and Ranveer ❤️
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No! Alia! So she can sell that whole “I was a teenage in the flashback” thing. Oh! And Pooja can play the older sister!
Can Ranveer be the villain? Because I think he might be more fun there than as the hero.
On Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 10:25 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I am a huge Ranveer deepika fan so typically end up imagining them both in everything 😬 I find alia repetitive sometimes. And she’s too cute. She’s got no sexuality at all! Not that there’s anything wrong with that but I like heroines like deepika more 😌
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Raabta? Really? I was looking forward to it but wondered if it was worth it. It’s on amazon prime so I’ll look st it anyway ☺️
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I AM SO JEALOUS OF INDIAN AMAZON PRIME!!!!! I am tempted to figure out that thing where my computer lies that it is in India, just so I can have access to it.
On Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 10:26 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh that’s easy to do! Just get a plug in for your browser. I did it for years with Hulu and Netflix USA 🙈
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Yeah, that’s it: an all-encompassing-all-woman-hug…for me the ‘veritable’ highlight of the movie…and Sejal is right: she is the one to ‘save’ him (and strangely, she is ‘saved’ at the same time…in a span of a very short time – in this scene – she could display an impressive gamut of her femininity).
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Yes, harry is her lover, friend, protector, child- all in one. And she’s not playing catch up anymore. She is his female equivalent without any cue
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Censor board let pass swearing in other languages. Girl in Safar is cursing like a pro and Russian guy’s language isn’t nice either.
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Yeah I learnt a new curse word from nastajja also putamadre 😝
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I had a problem with Nastajja or whatever her name was. It wasn’t czech name and her id stated that she was borne in Czech republic, her birth place was small town (they should have asked for some simple czech name). And an address is on the other side of the card. 🙂 And why did she give cafe her id card? You can’t pay with it or anything. Its purpose is more or less like a passport.
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It’s artistic license, cmon 😊
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Ha, ha, yes, a cold shower…or just a shower :D…yeah, VERY evocative…easy understandable with such a strong desire on both sides.
Well…*cough, cough*…THAT was the scene I waited for since the Fado song…and nicely the music’s timbre keeps the same. Indeed, joyomama, it’s the woman’s voice first starting when she hides the ring in her right fist, continuing when Harry takes her left (!) hand guiding her, then doing this protecting guiding on the back…
the tram (agree again with you on the means of transportation…double sense intended 🙂 )…the focus keeps on Sejal…what will she do with all those thoughts and memories that burn her/will burn her…yes, I find her lost, too, a bit like sleepwalking, like still impossible to take a decision. Harry is in the background, watching her from afar because he feels very clearly that Sejal is in an ‘inbetween’-situation which he isn’t anymore, so he can protect her back, can be the caring voice behind her, but letting her know his longing now.
I have looked up the translation for the song because I wasn’t in the mood to read any translation until the moment Harry woke up in the morning…just couldn’t keep my eyes from both…in any way I had tears in my eyes because I felt that they were kind of already feeling the loss of the other. The translation, too, seems clearly to indicate the feeling of separation, of the roads taken together dying…they’ll live being here and there, not far away, not separated, but not together neither.
As the female singer started with Sejal ‘betraying’ Rupen symbolicly, the male singer ends with Sejal clearly ready to betray Rupen physically, too. To leave behind the daughter her family and her fiancé left behind in Amsterdam.
She moves – in an upright position, Harry – sitting – lets her do…until she closes in to his face and they embrace, his head against her breast. I found that immensely touching because it was a tender and erotic gesture at the same time.
Thanks to your lines, Margaret and p, I now know what they talked (but somehow I guessed it). He is hesitant because he feels that Sejal is in a mood to give in to a desire he didn’t try to stir but he knew was inside her all the time…since the moment he confessed to be a womanizer…since the indemnity bond…since her speaking the words that if ever she would have intercourse with him he would not be the one to blame. But damn, how much he would like to make love with her! But he is the man! He is in the knowing! He has to refrain himself! He ‘should’ not give in!
And what is sweet Sejal doing, that curious girl-woman who has turned into a sensual want-to-be-woman-woman, she takes him by the hand and leads him into her bedroom…she is ‘ready’ oh, yes. Harry stumbles (really!) and gives in because, because, actually he is ready since long…but one moment, please! Is her ‘ready’ the same ‘ready’ as his??? Basically, he has nothing to lose…Sejal could/would lose a lot, probably more then she could bear. In my mind I still can see that his mind is working overtime while she is pure feeling. And he still keeps to be the caring one…needing to be cared for…and just when Sejal embraces him in a – I bet – totally unknown comfort, the female voice of Yadoon mein is to hear. (Yes, I admit, I was all senses and not words.)
In my opinion, Imtiaz did something ingenious because he put two people longing for the best of love (the unconditional one) in a streaming of exceptional situations with – at the peak – a life-threatening, scary one. When one has faced something like death, love making is kind of life-confirming. And what they had lived together in about a week did not leave really time to think things over…So, Imtiaz made the more experienced one in emotions make the stop (intersection light flashing red, red, red) and the having got more empethatic one give the hero solace. (Sejal is definitely on her way to become wife…but a last thing is to do…and it’s not Harry’s friend’s wedding…)
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I love how, when this scene happens, their feelings are overwhelming them but it is clearly still their choice. Like, Anushka has had a little wine, she had a little scare earlier, all of that I am sure is playing a factor, but mostly this is something she wants to do and is ready to do. It isn’t a “Zara Se Jhoom” moment where she is out of control and Shahrukh is being a gentleman and resisting because she isn’t herself. No, his choice to refuse is because according to his very high standards for their relationship, it shouldn’t be like this. Because he wants more and he wants more for her. I saw it as less about worry over what would happen to her afterwards, as knowing he would be disappointed in himself afterwards, that something he had held as previous and perfect would be broken.
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I had a more bold idea about Sejal to be ‘ready’.
We don’t know what she is thinking about a life with Rupen, the ring, a life with Harry, the love-life she would like to experience…
I felt that she only made a decision when she sniffed Harry’s jacket…when she got a full dose of his scent…she wants to touch him, she wants to be touched…she wants to know what it could feel to make love with a man so charming, caring, tender, viril, attractive, experienced like Harry is, with a man she has a feeling for that is doing her so much good…before having to go back to meet Rupen with other eyes, with knowing eyes…she simply wants Harry to be her first man.
And he clearly lets her know that he wants the same – to be her first man…but not this way…and he has not a false image of himself but a highly developed feeling for what she can live at the state she is at the very moment. Intuitively he does not want her to confront her people in India in a weakened position…he wants her to keep being strong andcome to him free of any obligation – which she still isn’t. I really think that for him it is the genuine feeling that it is not ‘right’ at this moment/time, neither for her nor for him.
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For me, i am not sure that she is thinking clearly enough to think of him as her “first” before Rupen. But i think you nailed it with the fact that she isn’t free, she hasn’t made that break. Maybe emotionally she has, but intellectually she hasn’t, and Shahrukh knows it, even if she isn’t thinking clearly enough to understand. Their first time should be after she has decided that he is the one she wants, after she has made that commitment to him and to herself, not just because they are feeling it without saying it.
Which of course is what happens, she breaks her engagement and is completely free, and he says to her all the things that he was afraid to say, and then they can be together, fully together.
In my imaginary version, I think if they had actually had sex, it would have changed what Shahrukh did next but not her. She still would have insisted on taking him back to Frankfurt for the wedding, and she might have still needed to work through her awareness that being with him was changing her and what that would mean. But I think if Shahrukh had made love to her, it would have made him feel like he had the right to fight back, the right to say “no, you aren’t going home, you have to stay here with me”. That is what he is resisting here, he doesn’t feel like he has that right, and to actually make love to her to him means that he would have that right. Again, his old-fashioned view of Indian womanhood that he has been resisting, to have sex means a proposal, and he can’t propose, not yet, he isn’t good enough.
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I love that we all can interpret this movie so differently. In my mind, if they actually had sex at that moment, it would have probably served as a coming of age experience for Sejal where she would have been able to go back to India and Rupen after finding her own bearings. She would have grown up in order to be ready for what was waiting for her elsewhere. I could easily see it being not a soul crushing experience for Harry as well – perhaps knowing he has the ability to connect with someone and feel emotions again turns him into a better man for his own separate future as well. It could have been a memorable experience but one that is not meant for always and forever.
I felt that by refusing to have sex with her, Harry is giving her and them the possibility of a real future together. That this means something other than just one memorable experience. He won’t allow to happen under these circumstances – Sejal won’t be a cheater, he won’t be someone an engaged woman sleeps with, and it won’t be something he’ll allow himself to get into unless it comes with a commitment. Prior to that, he wouldn’t have even allowed himself to think of a future with Sejal but I think now he is even if Sejal hasn’t caught up yet. It wasn’t a no – it was more ‘not right now, not like this.” He won’t allow her to have this without strings attached.
It was also her indication that there is more to him and that his own image of himself isn’t correct. He isn’t a womanizer in the sense that he enjoys sleeping around and being with lots of women. It actually eats him up. If he was actually with Sejal, he would never cheat on her or be with anyone else again. If they had actually slept together, neither one would have understood that.
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Oh that is a really interesting idea! By leaving it unfinished, it means they have to/can meet up again. I agree, she still would have gone back to India and probably broken the engagement. After all, she knows at this point that she has the ring. There is nothing holding her here. And it might have healed something inside of him. But it also would have been a good-bye. By putting it off they are, once again, avoiding saying good-bye forever. There is something they still have to do.
I am also suddenly seeing this through the lens of a golddigger playing hard to get! Which I know isn’t what it is supposed to be at all. But if you flipped the genders and had a super sexy woman turning away at the last minute from a rich man like this, it would be such a clear “you better put a ring on it!” moment! Just makes me laugh to think about it.
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Yes! The thing is that Sejal has been dying to be seduced by him. She has basically been begging for it to the point that she gets infuriated by the fact that he is not trying at all with her and doesn’t find her “layak.” She has been dying to know what it would be like to be with someone like him. Earlier, he was not getting into it for other reasons like like his job and her age and childishness. But now when she’s visibly matured and he’s made it known he finds her “layak” he still won’t sleep with her. The only way it’s going to happen is she gets rid of her old relationship and makes a commitment to him.
Also as the older and more mature one, I think he’s saving her from herself too. He really doesn’t want her to be a cheater or the type of person who does this to her fiance (even if he doesn’t mean much to her). In the clear light of day, it would have left open the possibility that she might really regret her actions of the night before. I think Harry sincerely doesn’t want to ruin and taint her in that way where she has to feel bad about what she’s done or become. He sees her as being pure and has from the beginning and won’t ruin that for her. She deserves to be making love within the bonds of a real relationship, not like this.
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Absolutely agree with anon on Harry’s thinking. Extremely spot on and exactly what I wanted to say. He is protecting her from herself. And he won’t let her have him no strings attached. You want that sexy piece of ass you better her working 😬
It’s the reverse pretty woman 🙈
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I’ve seen this 7 times and the last few times paid special attention to this scene on the sofa and in the bed because so much is going on here. So I hope I have it right.
After Sejal finishes with a cotton ball to his head and determines he’s no longer bleeding, she holds his head and kisses the top of his head. She shifts around and he is holding her tightly, with his face on her stomach and his arms around her back. She sinks down opposite him, and they’re touching each other’s faces and he tells her she must go back. She asks why. He says raula pe jaana hai. And she responds, Harry, raula pe jaan de. They then fall back onto the sofa and nearly kiss, whereupon Harry jumps up and tries to pull away. The look on his face tells a lot–he seems overcome, conflicted, and disgusted at the same time (disgusted with himself as I saw it). She approaches him, takes his hand and leads him to the bed in the adjoining room. When she lies back, he looks at her with what I thought was a mixture of uncertainty and amazement, and then falls on top of her. And we in the audience (at least me) are thinking, are they really going to do this?
Then comes the bit about not doing with Sejal what he has done with the others. Sejal says, “You think I’m better than the others (layak), don’t you? I know you do.” She then asks him if someone else was in his place, what would that person have done (in the same situation)? Then Sejal says, “The person you think you are, you aren’t that. Perhaps that is the lie.” At this point Harry is no longer on top of her but next to her. As she’s talking, he raises his head and either kisses her shoulder or almost does (this part I don’t have down). But he has tears in his eyes and says to Sejal, “Sometimes I think you can save me.” Sejal turns to face him, puts her hands on either side of his face and whispers, “I will save you.” Harry holds her arm and rolls over so he’s facing away from Sejal, but grips her arm with both his hands, sort of feeling her holding him, or maybe more accurately holding her to him so she is wrapping herself around him.
What a scene! And in the end, I agree, Harry is in a fetal position, and Sejal is comforting him, as he holds one of her arms with both his hands, and her other arm is under his head, with her hand stroking his hair.
I also think you are spot on in seeing this outcome as deeper and more important to both of them than sex would have been. It felt to me like their souls really connect here, and I believed in this moment that there would (ultimately) be no turning back.
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It really does go back to that first hotel room conversation, Anushka promised she would be in control, and she is. She is the one forcing the situation here over and over while Shahrukh resists. But not because of something simple like wanting to have sex with him (maybe a few days earlier that’s all it would be, but not now), but because of her overwhelming love for him, and his for her, and wanting to show that and experience that physically. And that’s his resistance as well, not that he doesn’t want to have sex with her exactly, but that he doesn’t think he is worthy of so much love. And that’s what the ending is, she is giving in all that love he was resisting, just in a different way.
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Thanks for all the words I missed …
It’s a happy thought that their souls might have really connected at this moment (although I think they did way, way earlier…because souls connect ‘on the spot’…it’s just the rest of the person that has to follow)
I love the way to look at this scene as “deeper and more important” than sex…it was the highest grade of intimicy they could have without sex, I think (that’s why I love the quasi reverse position of him being cuddled in her arms, holding on at her arm).
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The scene at the sea before Gas attacks Harry, and this sequence are my favourite parts of the movie. I wish I could watch it again soon and your posts only make me more inpatient.
@Karthik Watching Tauba song will never be the same again 😉
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As usual loving all the comments, thoughts, reactions, and interpretations in the comments. In addition to another stellar analysis, Margaret!
I interpreted the whole song in the tram as happening in Sejal’s head only, not in Harry’s. As others have said, Harry’s knows something is up with Sejal, something different since Gas’s place, and as they walk to the tram, he’s in that role of caring for her while she’s all up in her feelings. Then on the tram, he gives her space. I think by this time Harry’s feelings toward her are straightforward. But he’s not sure what she’s feeling.
Sejal is processing so much right now. The Fado singer, the beach, the danger, finding the ring. I think fantasy Harry coming to sing to her, to caress her, kind of represents all of the aspects of her coming together now to tell her that he is the person whom she wants and needs now. And it feels so real to her that she has to look back, a bit surprised to see him still standing at the back of the tram.
Of course he sees how she’s looking at him, but again he doesn’t want to push or presume anything, so he breaks eye contact. The moment when she gets up to come to him, and he just watches her like he wants her so much (both loves and desires) and can’t believe she might really want him too. Have you guys felt that feeling, before a first embrace or kiss with a boyfriend/girlfriend, when you know it’s going to happen–there is almost an electrical charge between you, it gets hard to breathe? That’s the feeling I got at that moment. Yowza.
Everything that happens in the room everyone has already discussed so beautifully. I’m really glad they don’t have sex, and I’m really glad they further break down both of their hang-ups about “types” of people. Margaret–thanks for pointing out its the first time they sleep in bed together instead of on the floor. So perfect, and I LOVE the scene and the tone next morning. Sejal has learned so quickly how to get Harry out of his head, how to help him feel worthy, and how to help him be a better person.
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Ooo, I may like your interpretation even better than mine! That it is all in Anushka’s head, and she is the one pulling out that inner voice from Shahrukh.
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That version works for me, too. My assessment of this film has only improved through this discussion. It promises to be the kind of movie experience that offers something different with every viewing, This is my next DVD purchase, for sure.
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Thanks, procrastinatrix, for reminding me of just how much happened in that one night before they were embracing in the hotel room. Of course, you’re right about Sejal being all up in her head. It isn’t only the discovery of the ring that’s going around in there–its everything else that’s happened. And I love the way you see Harry on the tram–looking at her, knowing something is up but giving Sejal the space she needs.
Margaret, this discussion has been one of the best of your scene-by-scenes I think. It has made me want to see the movie again even more. So how soon will a digital/DVD version be available???????
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Yeah, I don’t know what this means, but this sex scene post has almost twice as many views as all the others! Maybe it just means we are all low people who like reading sexy scenes?
Anyway, I am sticking with 6 weeks after it is out of theaters, it will hit Netflix. Please oh please, all powerful Red Chillies Gods! Make it so!
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I meant to say that the entire scene-by-scene analysis you’ve done for this film, and the great comments and discussions, have been among the best of all your scene-by-scenes, not just this one post.
Although I tweeted about it again today, and got some retweets, so I am hoping others who haven’t known about this space are checking it out!
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I’ll just quote anonymous:
“I love that we all can interpret this movie so differently.” …and all those directions make sense!
If Imtiaz would have faded out with Harry and Sejal together before Harry stops it, the story could have taken another route…this journey of both has so many unpredictable turns or could-have-beens/might-have-beens…it simply amazes me.
Btw, I want to stress that after the Budapest-playinng fiancé-romancing scene, it is the second time Sejal is leading Harry into an intimate encounter (and…well…she does it a third time as we know)
Procrinastrix…electrical charge!…yes—but everybody who had not connected with the movie till this ride on the tram may have also missed that. The song…obviously he wanted to give her space (and time) to deal with…what?…if indeed he guessed/knew that Sejal has found the ring what would her withholding it mean for them-him-her? Was she already taking a distance? Wasn’t it important to let her know that although the roads together were dying he would be there, never very afar from her (there must be a reason for the male voice taking over, keeping hold until she has taken the decision/gives in to her wish to be intimate with him on another level than in Budapest)?
Hearing the female voice singing again when she helds Harry in that comforting hug…for me it’s like a fullfilment…like getting told that one doesn’t have to have sex to make love.
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oups…sorry…I meant “procrastinatrix”!
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” I am sure this scene was extremely improvised, it feels like they both just threw themselves into it.” One quibble: Shah Rukh has said over and over how shy he is about love making scenes and he can only do it as another character and with the director’s version. I think Imtiaz scripted that scene closely so Shah Rukh would plot out exactly what he would do. THEN with the actions planned the magic sets in and he turns on that “switch” he says he has that makes him so sexy.
I love the idea that the tram scene is all in her head. Makes the most sense and explains her actions next.
I love the fact that when she dances in Raula she is completely nature, charming and graceful, unlike her awkwardness in the clubs. This is the true her. She is more of a village girl than a Mumbaiker. Maybe she’s never really felt at home either. Maybe she’s never been at home in her family and Harry feels like home to HER as well. That grabbing wallet scene is great and probably NOT one she has seen her parents play out. A wealthy family would not function like that.
Also, his steel bracelet. Its there the whole time. I love that small symbol that he hasn’t given up his whole past.
Aside from the joys of reliving these scenes, I know I am so involved in this scene by scene because of how it was not appreciated as a film and it was so so good. So at least you and we are giving it its due.
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For the lovemaking scene, not that it really matters but it is interesting to think about, I wonder if Imtiaz gave them multiple versions? Because it feels like this particular sequence is so beautiful and seamless, I can’t imagine it was just plotted out and nothing else. But I could imagine that they tried out different versions, starting on the bed, standing, sitting down, and so on, until they found the movement sequence that was the most natural. Because when we write it out (my memory in the post and the other memories in the comments), it isn’t really a logical progression, it feels more like the randomness of real life than simply hitting marks in a script. Compared with, say, the Gazebo scene which had a natural progression and shot series and so on.
And yes to her dancing in Raula! It’s also that she has finally found the right place to dance. In the club, she was too big and too enthusiastic for all those bored skinny white people. The same kind of dancing that we see here, if done there in tiny little club clothes in a tiny dark little club space, would look terrible. But in this big open room with her flowing clothes and friendly smiles and everyone just having fun, it looks perfect.
And good catch on the fact that their spousal teasing is something she probably never saw in her own family, and would never have had with her own husband most likely. Now I am picturing young Anushka visiting a middle-class friend’s house and being jealous of her teasing parents, but hiding that away.
The more I think about about this movie, the more sure I am that we are meant to see Anushka as never quite fitting in with her family or the place she came from. She seems like this perfect spoiled rich girl with nothing on her mind, but as Shahrukh slowly forces her to open up, we are finding a different Anushka inside who was never that happy.
On Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 3:01 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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In terms of family, they perfectly complemented each other! Harry has no ties and I think he actually needs them. He needs to be responsible for someone, to have someone he can’t disappoint, to have that rootedness and bond. I think one of the reasons he behaves so well with Sejal is that he feels responsible for her. He’s able to improve his behavior because someone is counting on him and if not for himself, at least for her he has to control himself.
Harry is the kind of guy who will function much better in all parts of his life when he’s married with kids. It will give him the grounding he needs to not act out, not be irresponsible, to try harder in his career, etc because now it’s not just for himself. There are others counting on him. All the freedom he had by himself was stifling him.
With Sejal, it’s the opposite. She needs to cut some ties, remove herself from the setting with dozens of relatives and aunts and uncles and everyone constantly in your personal business. She’s very constricted by all the rules and restrictions. Even in her job, she is made to feel like a child because even at work, she has to listen to Dad. If she married Rupen, it would have added a whole another set of people who would be curbing her freedom – a house full of husband and in laws where she likely would not have even been able to raise children in the manner she wanted because the elder in-laws would have kept advising her in that too.
Harry and Sejal together can have a little small close knit family of their own without too many outsiders to get in the way. I imagine with Harry support she would eventually quit working for her family too.
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I agree completely. I would add, I also think Anushka flourishes with responsibility. But real responsibility, Shahrukh needing her to take care of him emotionally, being able to plan the wedding she wants to plan, all of that. Not the kind of responsibility she probably had at home, where she always had to answer to a bunch of other people with every decision.
Mostly I think they are two people who don’t really fit with most other people. Shahrukh had to go his own way and run away from home because he couldn’t live that life that was planned out for him. And Anushka is doing the same in her own way. And now they get to come together and start their own family, so they aren’t alone any more, but they also aren’t stifled.
Procrastinatrix (I think) in the comments linked to a Shahrukh interview where he gave his version of their post-film married life. Which isn’t canon or anything, we can picture whatever we want, but it works really well for me. His vision was that they move to a small town, Anushka works as a lawyer, he stays home and maybe writes a book, eventually they have 3 children (because of course Shahrukh would think 3 children is the perfect number), and he stays home to take care of them all.
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This bracelet pushes me crazy, Imtiaz Ali t always wears this bracelet, and he makes all his heroes wear it, Jet, Vid, Jordan, Harry, on the highway the gang men wore it? Mahbir was wearing his mam anklets as a bracelet
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Do you mean this bracelet?
I wasn’t sure from your comment. If so, it is a religious thing, one of the 5 symbols of Sikhism. It can also be worn sometimes by Hindus who are not Sikh. In this particular film, along with the Ik Onkar tattoo and some other small things, it is a sign of how Harry/Shahrukh has maintained his connection to his Sikh faith in small hidden ways despite his otherwise European appearance.
I’d have to rewatch the other films to know why the other heroes might be wearing it.
On Sun, Oct 29, 2017 at 6:48 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes, this is bracelet, I’ve searched the other films of imteaz ali and i found it constantly present
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Here is more information on it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_(Sikhism)
It’s a deeply religious symbol, equivalent to a Hijab for a Muslim woman, or a cross for a Christian. It is primarily worn by Sikhs, but sometimes also by people of other faiths. Imtiaz Ali himself is Muslim, not Sikh, but I think he might have been raised in a majority Sikh area? It might be meaningful to him for that reason.
On Tue, Oct 31, 2017 at 12:15 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Also, somewhere someone commented on Vivah. NO, they did not have sex on the balcony. The last scene of the film makes it very very clear that is the first time. What he has a right to is to be there with her all night. Just like in JHMS on the train; being his girlfriend simply gives him the right to stare at her endlessly.
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That was me! I always find Rajshri films so odd, because either everyone is having sex constantly, or else they are blowing non-sex thing way way out of proportion and I am never sure which. Like, Shahid and Amrita have to do this elaborate secret meeting just so he can LOOK at her? And Salman has that “someone’s coming” reaction at the end of Pehle Pyaar because he doesn’t want to get caught dancing with her?
On Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 3:05 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The movie is on YouTube you guys!! Red chillies heard our wails and teeth gnashing!
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YOU’RE RIGHT!!!!! And it’s legal too. Dang, that’s fast!
On Wed, Sep 6, 2017 at 11:21 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I bjust ugly it. Srkpalooza tonight!
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forgive my incoherence. and of course its legal! I would never touch something pirated.
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After leaving the workshop, Harry is so protective of Sejal that he feels she’ll break. After getting on the tram, he stays back while she sits in front. He gives her space because he knows she’s going through alot of emotions. As the song plays, she looks back at him as if to make sure he’s there. When she comes to the back they make eye contact. Without going into the entire foreplay scene, which others have done brilliantly, I feel Harry and Sejal did make love. Just not intercourse. This making love was so much deeper than just a physical act. Because of this night, the next morning dawns much brighter.
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Well, I’m going to get into the foreplay scene again! Because I have THOUGHTS that I have been waiting to discuss.
One thing that really stood out to me on my many many (many many MANY) re watches of this sequence is that there are hints all along of Shahrukh just needing to be held and Anushka needing to hold him more than anything. Which goes back to what you were just saying about the scene walking and on the tram. Shahrukh is so worried about her, which is shaking him, and what he needs more than anything is for her to comfort him and put him back together and prove to him that she is strong and has survived and is here with him.
Anyway, for the foreplay scene, it starts with her holding his head against her chest in a very womanly/motherly comforting kind of way. When she pulls back a little and sits down, his head is tipped towards her breast for just a second, as though he wants to go back there, be comforted again. The moment that makes him stop is when he briefly grabs he rand bends her back on the sofa, that’s when he recoils and stands, because that’s what he doesn’t want, a dominating moment over her. In the end, she is the one who takes his hand and leads him to the bed. And when they fall on the bed together, he lands on top (because he needs to he for the staging to work of him rolling away), but he comes down kind of softly, like she is guiding him.
The whole thing makes as much sense, or maybe even more, as leading to her comforting him rather than sex. I don’t think that was what either of them actually necessarily wanted that night, maybe him more than her.
On Fri, Sep 8, 2017 at 3:22 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Exactly, Nancy…that’s what I thought/felt, too. And it makes so much sense also what you writes here, Margaret…and anonymous, P and all you others.
When I watched the movie, it was intuitively that I felt, Sejal hugging Harry the way she did in Portugal was the absolute highlight of the movie in terms of “highest turning point” or most important turning point. There already was a hint to this scene coming, when Harry asked for a hug on their way to Prague (and Sejal giving one twice because the first one wasn’t ‘right’ the armrest being between them) – it is the first tight hug Sejal gives Harry (what a comfort for such a lost man – and what a courage he mastered to ask for it). Then we get a third tight hug (oh gosh, how much I love all those things coming in “3” in this movie…that would be a really philosophical discussion…and/or theatrical one as in “3 acts”).
Making love without intercourse…that indeed is soul-healing (as physical love-making could have been life-confirming in Harry’s and Sejal’s situation). But as I always see several layers in most of the scenes Harry and Sejal have (am I obsessed with the number “3”???) This one, too, is an amalgam of “what makes them act like they do”.
Imtiaz is a director who tries out all possibilities of a scene in his head, even while observing the rehearsal. He will not show anything to the actors, he will only talk to them…and with actors like ShahRukh and Anushka (but more ShahRukh) with whom he connects on more than one level, there will be an intense talking. ShahRukh would listen, ask questions, try to act out Imtiaz’ vision. Imtiaz will observe, ask him to repeat or to go to him for another talk or ask him to act out a vision ShahRukh has of the scene (sometimes it’s only some movements, another body language).
You remember what Karan told about the ‘reunion-scene’ between Rahul and Anjali at the summer camp? I bet, there is a lot of improvisation…of going with the flow of the play, especially as ShahRukh has the skill to pull his partner into the mood of the scene (yes, he has a switch in him although sometimes he need a moment of total focus into himself).
I imagine that the guideline for this scene was indeed Sejal guiding Harry (Harry the passive one – his caring ‘work’ had be done), Harry vacillating between letting go and resist, Harry resisting and then letting go with Sejal’s help (because from now on Sejal will have the desire to protect him/care for him as much as he has the desire to protect her/care for her). I also imagine that during this scene, there only was the bare minimum of needed people around (like in the KANK-scene when Amitji took over to directing) and that they worked with more cameras than one at the same time (with one on a trolley zooming in and out and with a steady cam with which the cameraman can easily change positions).
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I agree so much
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OMG! I’m in love. Someone saw this film from the perspective that I watched it from. Someone devoted the time to break down the scenes. This is amazing and all the people on this thread, even they observed it so amazing! Man, I’m in love. Thanks, you all.
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I am so glad you are enjoying them!
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I realise this post is old but i only just discovered the movie and I AM OBSESSED. Plus, M these scene by scenes and the discussions under them are making it harder for me not to be.
Ok so ive seen the movie quite a lot and just wanted to point out something i’d noticed after Sejal discovers the ring. She goes to Harry and her mouth is slightly open and to me it definetly looks like she wants to tell him something but then sees his face and he starts talking about gaz’s rings and she decides against it and just hides the ring away and plays along.
Now i dont know if im seeing things cos i have watched the movie an unhealthy amount of times but i found it very interesting if that is the case. She has defintely been in control of majority of the things which happen in the movie. Even thoigh she states it in the begining it didnt click for me until i was reading some of these comments.
I think its one of the main things we get to know about her and she reveals it in the very beginning of the movie!! She’s the one who tore up her boarding pass and got off the plane. She gets Harry to come with her and follow her for most part of the film. She makes sure her family remain happy and unaware on the other side of the world. She even tells Harry about the ring, and she didnt have to. She could have just left without telling him about it and he would have gone home thinking how all of this was for a ring they still never found. But she does tell him and it instead, well i think, gave him a feeling of she maybe does want me (back to him saying she asked so many times, this entire scene and the engagement all happened with her having found her ring, she wasnt lying to herself and avoiding the fact that they were looking for a ring cos she’d found it and was in complete reality when she desires him in this way whereas Harry is still under the fantasy that they have created and realises this also when the figth at the balcony happens. And i thunk thats why Sejal is so calm during that scene and he gets so fustrated cos to him she isnt understanding that all this is a lie, unaware that she had accepted the truth the night before).
Please do tell me what you think! I am like 4 years late but am lovinggggg all the posts you’ve made about the film and discovering so many others!!!
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Welcome! If you are obsessed with this movie, you have found your place! I have sooooooooooooo many posts. Also, i fyou want something similar but different, Imtiaz Ali’s recent movie Love Aaj Kal was also critically/popularly hated, and I also found it really deep and good.
I like this interpretation!!!! Sejal makes decisions and takes control. I would expand it to say that tearing up her boarding pass might be the first major decision she has made for herself in her life, and once that was done, she was on a runaway horse and somehow had to find a way to keep going moment to moment. it’s clear her family picked out her fiance, probably picked out her law degree, and so on and so forth. But when her fiance said it was her fault she lost the ring that was one step too far and something snapped and she tore up the ticket and ran after Harry. From then on, she had to do whatever she had to do to stay free and keep going.
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LIVING for this film analysis this is so awesome
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So glad you like it!
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Please tell us more about the “forgot im sexy” face xD as a fan oh Shahrukh since I was like 11 years old this was hysterical to me
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So glad you found me! And yes, it is SUCH a specific face. He’s all soft harmless sweet puppy dog, and then just when you start to relax and treat him like a brother, BAM! he pulls out the “oh yeah, I’m sexy, you forgot, you silly thing” face. Remember his face when he says “sorry about the sari…ma’am” in Main Hoon Na? THAT FACE!
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