Review: The Romantics
Deep dive into a treasure trove of nostalgia that celebrates the resounding legacy of Yash Raj Films.
The Romantics celebrates the iconic filmmaker Yash Chopra and the legacy of his studio, Yash Raj Films.
Directed by Smriti Mundhra, The Romantics is an ode to the man who defined Hindi cinema and romance for decades.
Featuring interviews from almost 35 actors, ranging from the older generation like Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor, to the younger generation - Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma, and influencers like Lilly Singh (that probably act like the voice of the Indian American diaspora), the show follows the legacy of the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra, and how he gave us some of the most iconic characters, stories, and songs.
From making his directorial debut in 1965 with Waqt, to how The Emergency gave birth to Amitabh Bachchan as the Angry Young Man and to eventually risking his venture on the film Chandni, his winning collaboration with Sridevi, the show offers an insight into the workings of the man and the legend, who even died donning his directors hat. Along with his professional life,The Romantics also features his personal life. His wife, Pamela Chopra, fondly known as Pam Aunty, and his sons Uday and Aditya are widely interviewed throughout the show, that also explains how his elder son Aditya continued from his legacy, and established the studio to what it is today.
Aditya Chopra’s filmography began with the iconic Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge. His second film, Mohabattein, starred Amitabh Bacchan and Shah Rukh Khan, two of the greats at that time, opposite each other. I remember when Mohabattein had released, I was about a few months old. As I grew up, I watched the film several times, and along with DDLJ, I fell in love with the idea of romance in Yash Chopra films.
However, it was not only me and my generation, but the generations elder than me that really delved on the idea of romance and Yash Chopra.
In Karan Johar's Kal Ho Naa Ho, there is a scene wherein characters describe what love means to them. One character, dressed like Raj from DDLJ who features with posters of Chandni and other YRF films says, "Pyaar.. Yash Chopra Ke Geet Hai".
In another Karan Johar directorial, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma recreate the ionic scene from Chandni, on dancing to the song Mitwa, and this is what encapsulates the legacy of YRF. Filled with romance, and love, the production house defined romance for generations to come.
2004 was the first year wherein Aditya Chopra decided to take a risk and experiment with the action genre with the hit franchise Dhoom. Aditya Chopra, who rarely makes an appearance on camera decided to play sport for this documentary and speak about his fathers legacy, and his business accumen helped him to create what YRF is today and how he continues to produce and direct films, and tell stories which need to be old. After several flops, he returned to directing love stories with Anushka Sharma’s debut, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, which was a roaring success.
This just proved the point furthur of YRF being synonymous with love, as that formula always worked for the house.
With archival footage and interesting anecdotes, the show does not ride on the swooning hit of the recent Pathaan, or even show us the different facets of the studio with its shooting floors, music studios, dance studios etc. but makes us nostalgic and sing the songs along with the background music.
Chopra also comments on the nepotism debate that has roiled the Hindi film industry in recent years. While acknowledging that insiders have a starter’s advantage, Chopra reminds us that not every nepo kid makes it. He talks about his brother Uday Chopra’s failed acting acreer and says that the audience is the only one to decide. “The bottom line is that only an audience will decide, I like this person, I wanna see this person. Nobody else can decide that”, he says.
Overall, the show made me feel like a kid in a candy shop. To relive the the swooning, superstar-making highs of DDLJ, the moving melodrama and music of Mohabbatein, the defining moment of Chak De, the status quo-breaking Band Baaja Baaraat and beyond, was a treat.
Interestingly, the show comes to us at a time wherein filmmakers are looking back at legacy and celebrating the movies and what was. With Amazon Prime’s Cinema Marte Dum Tak and Steven Spielerg’s The Fabelmans (which recently released in theatres in India) emphasis is given on stories about how the movies got to where they are today and the origins of the defining storytellers responsible for them. The Romantics does just that - tells the story of the movies and captures a part of us.
