I recently read that in yet another act of self-referencing, Break ke Baad refers to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH) as a movie that played an important role in the romance of the lead characters. Incidentally, that same day, KKHH was playing on one of the Hindi movie channels. I happened to catch the first one hour of the movie and was incredibly depressed by it. And that’s exactly how I felt the first time I watched it when I was in school.
To start with, the movie conveys that tom-boyish girls wear ridiculous clothes. Also, they have outrageous haircuts. It almost seemed to try too hard to justify why Rahul fell in love with Tina and not Anjali. Anjali was funny, cute and an amazing friend. But Tina had the long flowing tresses and the short skirts. Can you blame Anjali for trying to look like Tina to win Rahul’s attention?
So in the end, for Rahul to finally fall for Anjali, she had to change into a demure, coy long haired, sari clad woman .. basically morph into Tina v.2. Also don’t forget Aman who loved Anjali unconditionally for who she was and yet got jilted at the altar because hey, what’s a broken engagement between two friends?
For an impressionable teenager like me this meant the following:
1) Hot guys don’t like tomboyish women
2) If the girl is willing to change her complete personality to accommodate the boy’s liking he will love her back
3) If you wait for your first love perseveringly, he will love you back in return provided lesson#2 is incorporated.
So, I threw out my jeans and wore my mum’s salwar-kameezes (much to her consternation) and never got over my first crush. And for that, I blame you. Yes, Karan Johar, I am looking at you.
The Bharatiya Naari always gets the guy in Bollywood. Although, to Break ke Baad’s credit, they let the female character remain unconventional till the very end, when she confesses her love but still asks why they have to get married.
Karan Johar – The biggest irony lies in him. But hey! its a business – Bollywood makes what sells. Which is why in my next avatar[ after QC] I am becoming a film maker. Casting Calls soon. Watch this space.
NOT even going to lie, the first time I cut my hair short, I used Kajol/Anjali’s hair in this movie as my excuse 😉
That’s awesome! I wish I had used a desi as a vision to queer up my hair instead of trying to look like a white lesbian lol
TC: I love this article, I hate how SO MANY movies do that.
its true karan johar is a business man not exactly a film maker
he wont go out of the way to leave an impact on the society
he makes what sells
dont take it too seriously
@Broom:
I can’t wait till a Size 12 girl with a pixie cut wins the guy in the end.
@QueerCoolie:
I almost read Casting Calls as “Casting Couch”
@MissZero:
The same mushroom cut?
@Anurag:
I am so encouraged by your love, I wrote another blogpost. Believe me, MJ is very grateful and shocked. 🙂
@Rakesh
You’re right. The films that do try to go the unconventional route, die a rather painful quiet death in the box office.
😀 Some of the greatest directors have been known to have had dalliances with their actors. Just keeping with tradition.
True. The movie was so irritating!
Kajol was looking super cute in the first half. In the second one, she was yet another bollywood heroine (secretly) waiting for the hero since big bang happened. So damn irritating.
This is similar to my experience. I just turned 28. I came out to myself 6 months ago. It has explained so many things about myself. Thanks for sharing your story.
its a hot movie!