Rocky Aur Rani is definitely Karan Johar's most subversive project, discovers Aseem Chhabra.
There is a moment nearly towards the end of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
There is a Durga Puja pandal, all awash in red.
This is supposed to be Karan Johar's version of Chittaranjan Park, a large Bengali residential neighborhood in South Delhi. Everything is grand and opulent, from the costumes, the statue of Durga, the extras all dressed in red.
And then something happens.
I will not give away the actual scene, but it was at that moment, I said myself, 'Wah, what a solid subversive moment.'
I was thrilled and equally moved during that sequence. It was not something I had expected in a Bollywood film.
Rocky Aur Rani is not a revolutionary film any which way.
Karan has not set out to change the world.
Most of the time, even during its absolute fun moments, the film marking his 25 years in the Bollywood industry, is more or less what we expect from a Dharma production, if we have followed Karan's films since Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
Everything is always on the larger-than-life scale -- the school in Student of the Year, the Manhattan apartments in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, a poetry reading in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil or a gathering of Bengali intellectuals in Rocky Aur Rani.
Very little of it resembles the real world as we recognise it.
But Rocky Aur Rani is definitely Karan's most subversive project.
The film-maker born in a world of privilege, a Bollywood insider like no one else, is ever slightly shaking up things.
He has tried that before, for instance in Dostana, a film he produced, where he showed two straight actors pretend to be a gay couple. Perhaps the representation was far from perfect, but many of my LGBTQ activists friends were thrilled with this small gesture.
Even now, some could say that moment I refer to in Rocky Aur Rani and also developments later on in the film, are just baby steps in the larger context of India today.
But it is good enough, given that we never expect much from Bollywood.
Family traditions have been the foundation stones of Karan's films.
In that sense, many of his films were mere glamorised versions of the world Sooraj Barjatya created in Hum Aapke Hain... Koun
The big difference was that Karan's characters were global Indians. They traveled around the world, danced at clubs, even had extra-marital affairs.
But cracks have long been appearing in the family traditions that Karan first showed in K3G.
And perhaps something else changed in the last few years after Karan was made the central target in the nepotism and boycott Bollywood debates.
Such personal attacks were bound to affect any human being, even celebrities who appear to be shielded by their privilege, wealth and ability to have public relations experts recreate their image.
Karan quit Twitter, which was a surprise, since there was a time when he brought his celebrity friends, including Shah Rukh Khan to that social media site.
He is still on Instagram, but my sense is that attacks there are less effective.
And while Karan is still connected to the outside world through social media, he has tried to make his personal life less accessible.
Is Karan Johar truly a changed person?
Not if we watched the latest season of the Koffee With Karan show.
He still thrives in the world of gossip and surrounds himself with his celebrity friends who he invites on the show to entertain himself and the audience.
But with all the negativity hurled at him, Karan at 51, set aside a previously announced project Takth and focused on Rocky Aur Rani.
He wanted to have fun making the new film, although I know making movies is really tough and not the easiest profession to follow. And he wanted his audience to have fun also.
The first half of Rocky Aur Rani is the most Karan has entertained us.
The way he uses the veteran actors in the film is amazing. The Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi track in the film is sheer joy and a wonderful surprise.
And along the way, he has made minor moves that hopefully will impact at least some people in the audience, how they think of the world, their own lives and how others can live.
