Look at that, they had a lot of item songs! Maybe more than Shahrukh has with any other actress. I wonder why?
Maybe it is because they have so little chemistry? Item songs are about a man sitting back and watching a woman. Kareena and Shahrukh have the kind of distant friendly chemistry that makes it believable they would be dancing separately instead of together. At least, that’s my theory right now, can you think of something better?
First one! “Yeh Mera Dil”. Kareena working her little heart out, and Shahrukh being bored and sexy.
“Marjaani”, just plain fun song, colorful and irresistable.
“Chammak Challo”, so catchy! So happy! So fun!
“Criminal”, the surprise bonus item song! Maybe better than “Chammak”?
dontcallitbollywood 
I have a lot of opinions! This is basically all my posts on social media today for @BollywoodLiveUSA. Marjaani, hands down! Amazing, colorful, f*^& it attitude, they’re smiling, movie in a movie. It’s got it all. Plus I love Kareena’s hair in the second half. But second would be Yeh Mera Dil, so different from the original, but still pulls in enough. More modern, more raw sex appeal, but she’s still Helen-y. And Kareena’s body is AMAZING here, and not too super skinny, and I love that. Which brings me to booty-going-pop-pop-pop…Criminal is great fun but a little oin the nose, like a parody of a Bwood item song. I enjoy Chammak Challo a lot but I’ve danced to it so many times that I’m losing interest in it, then I see the video again and I get happy. I love it for how it inserts Ra.One as trying to be a problem solver as a robot since he can’t actually care. Or can he?
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Oops I meant G.One but you all knew that.
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Isn’t it nice to be in a community where you know we will know?
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I love Kareena’s look in Yeh Mera Dil! She is so thick, in the best possible way, and the moves show that off, especially her strong thighs in all the kicks and bends and turns.
I see Chammak Challo as G.One approaching “party song” as a computer problem to solve and calculating the exact best way to achieve it (hook step, chorus, sexy iconic costume)
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Of course I prefer the original version but I do love that version of Yeh Mera Dil. She looks like she could break him in half and it’s great.
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Chammak Challo all the way. SRK is perfect as a robot, the stiffness of the movements plays to his strengths and his timing is so precise. Love the contrast of Kareena in a gorgeous red dress doing the same moves with human fluidity. Both of them are their best.
Yeh Mera Dil is too herky jerky for me, and I’ve never been able to get past his paisley shirt.
Marjaani wins for best hair, but it bugs me in the context of the movie, and as a song I’m missing the extra dimension of them as characters.
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Finally some love for Chammak Challo! Such a great song concept, perfectly executed. And Kareena gets her best kind of dance too, just having fun at a party kind of dancing.
On Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 2:58 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Criminal and Chammak Cholo; they were the first Hindi film songs I learned how to sing and later dance to.
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I have a soft spot for them for similar reasons. They are maybe the easiest to sing to of all these songs.
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I don’t see the two songs of Ra.One as item songs but as the ones included here as such, they would be my choice. Criminal is just celebration of success and a totally fun and carefree side of the love-relation between Shekhar and his wife…Chamak Chalo a wonderful statement about what dancing can be…even Ra.One in the disguise of Kareena is introduced as skilled in performing like a human than G.One. Genius of all involved! (Well, I love, love, love this movie!)
Even in Don, where I know it is declared as an item song, it is still, imo, important to the story and also included with a before and after (for me, an item song is like the one in Asoka in the pub or Kaal…or the three movie-in-a-movie songs in Billu).
Marjaani is such a catchy and wonderful-to-watch song…I think, I watched it with Billu’s eyes (from the tree). It somehow reminded me a dance rehearsal for a show with ShahRukh and Kareena I could witness.
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Maybe I should say “party song” instead? All of these songs are fun out of context, the kind of song you would watch/listen to over and over again. But only Marjaani is really fully removed from the rest of the film.
On Tue, Sep 22, 2020 at 1:31 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I didn’t particularly like Yeh Mera Dil – I think because they have so little chemistry, and I just didn’t buy into Don being interested in her. Without that, it just seems silly, like she’s acting in a way that is clearly not “her.” That whole sequence just makes me uncomfortable!
I love Marjaani because it’s so dang pretty, and SRK actually looks like he’s having fun with the dance. No pressure – dance only. And the song is upbeat and fun.
I’ve only watched RaOne once. That kid’s hair drove me batsh*t. I couldn’t stop focusing on it and it was so distracting! Maybe I’ll try again. Or, maybe not …
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You are right, he does look like he is having fun in Marjaani! Maybe because he is in character as himself? Like, he doesn’t have to pretend to be in love with someone or something, he is just being a movie star paid to dance.
On Tue, Sep 22, 2020 at 2:42 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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It is seriously one of the only times I’ve seen him onscreen where he genuinely looks joyful – or at least worry-less for the moment.
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I would say “radha” as another time. Which was just acting, it was supposed to be a moment of pure happiness and freedom for his character so he played it that way, but it is still nice to see.
On Tue, Sep 22, 2020 at 2:58 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I agree about Yeh Mera Dil, it made me feel uncomfortable.
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