If you, like me, assumed that the new posters for Imitiaz Ali’s film starring Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma were just a different version of Tamasha (starring Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone), then welcome to the club. You’ll notice there are just two members in the club (including you) and we have no cookies because I ate them all.
The movie finally has a title. After The Ring, Rehnuma and Raula, the makers settled on Jab Harry Met Sejal.
Like any crazily obsessed Shah Rukh Khan fan, I was excited to see the poster of the movie I’ve been waiting for more eagerly than any future event with real consequence in my life. To be fair, the poster manages to do what it intended to, that is to remind Shah Rukh Khan fans across the world that they have something to live for now. It also gave us an idea of what to expect from the movie titled Jab Harry Met Sejal.
Since I’m not Imitiaz Ali (despite what my mother says about my man hands) nor do I have clairvoyant abilities, I cannot predict the plot of the movie. But I do have eyes and I do have the memory of how little I enjoyed Tamasha, so I’m perfectly qualified to make snap judgments based on the first look. Ranbir Kapoor enthusiasts, I’m giving you a head start in preparing vitriolic Facebook comments. You’re welcome.
Here’s everything we know about Jab Harry Met Sejal so far
Shah Rukh Khan is the new Ranbir Kapoor
Shah Rukh Khan will be replacing Ranbir Kapoor in all future roles as ‘the man child who is perpetually looking for the meaning of life and projecting his angst onto strong, independent women’.
We don’t know if this goes for all the characters Ranbir has played (and will play), like a restless musician (Rockstar/Ae Dil Hai Mushkil), or a restless videographer (Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani), or a restless corporate slave who goes on to become a restless theatre actor (Tamasha). Shah Rukh is going to play Harry, a tour guide from Punjab. His restlessness levels are still not clear.
Anushka Sharma reprises her role as ‘Bubbly Girl in pretty locales’
The Bubbly Girl from Rab Ne Banadi Jodi and Jab Tak Hai Jaan is back. Anushka Sharma is going to play Sejal, a girl from Gujarat. She loves to laugh at dancing men on the streets and stop them when they’re rushing down the streets to catch a bus.
The tagline is perpetuating a heartbreaking lie
I would have looked past the cruel mockery if it hadn’t been for the blatant lie perpetuated by the tagline ‘What you seek is seeking you’. I can say for a fact that this is not true. Shah Rukh Khan has not approached me and asked me to move with him to Paris (yet) and I have spent most of my adult life seeking contact with him for this sole purpose only. Where is the truth?
Anushka Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan will play the tourists (humans) we all despise
You know how you’re casually strolling down your local market, casually minding your own business and then two foreigners come bustling into the scene and disturb everything around to perform a song and dance routine to highlight whatever drama is going on in their life at that moment?
The local people of whichever European town Imitiaz Ali decided to invade always get the shorter end of the stick. Remember when Ranbir Kapoor took over the street theatre company in Prague just because he wanted to show off to Nargis Fakhri in Rockstar? Or how Ranbir Kapoor disrupted an afternoon of peace and quiet for Corsica natives in Tamasha in a bid to show Deepika Padukone that he knew how to live life to the fullest?
From the looks of it, Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma are also following in their predecessor’s footsteps.
There’s going to be a road trip and a proposal (not necessarily in that order)
Imitiaz Ali is doing what he does best. That is, sending his characters on a road trip that will become the catalyst for them to discover who they truly are and make some life changes. When Imitiaz Ali is not busy making movies where Ranbir Kapoor gets to play characters that are the absolute worst, he makes memorable road trip movies (see: Jab We Met and Highway). It seems like this one will also feature some soul searching on the road which will be followed by a proposal.
The ring makes an appearance in both the posters, so it’s basically as important as the main characters. Or it could be an indication of a surprising twist involving Anushka Sharma breaking out of TV screens and informing people they have 7 days to live. Frankly, I’d rather be watching this version than another Tamasha train wreck.
