One of the most entertaining creations from Bollywood was “Yeh Jawaani Hai Dewaani”. It was tossed in the right magic masalas of love, friendship, dreams, passions, and heartbreaks. Despite being an excellent production of the Hindi Film Industry with delightful performances from all the leading and supporting actors, the film lacked practicality!
Let me show you how
The protagonists, Naina (Deepika Padukone) and Bunny (Ranbir Kapoor) are passionate about their respective dreams. Naina is a doctor and lives with her family, she aspires to be the best in her field while leading a normal family life. Bunny, on the other hand, loves to travel and wants to make that hobby into a full-fledged career with no responsibilities of a family. Looking at these basic details a person like me would feel that there is no possible match and healthy future for these characters. But as we all know; Bollywood likes to be blindfolded to the realities and hardships of life and love. And there we have a love story blooming from impracticality and no logic for the future.
Was it toxic and inconsiderate of Bunny to propose to Naina or real love?
It was Aditi’s (bunny and Naina’s best friend) marriage where Bunny and Naina meet after several years. They hang out and have a gala time with each other exploring new stuff and keeping their individuality alive for the things they do not agree to. Which is ok right? You cannot always agree with the other person, even if you love them. Having opinions of your own is one of the most respectable things. The film beautifully narrated the difference between Bunny and Naina’s thinking in their tour of Manali (the first half of the movie) and of Udaipur later. Their chit-chat highlighted how they see the world so differently and are still enjoying each other’s company.
How did bunny realize he was in love with Naina?
Bunny gets jealous seeing Naina with some other friend of hers. In this process of overwhelming emotions, he confronts Naina that he loves her. Adding to the sensibility of Naina’s character, she gracefully accepts Bunny’s feelings but with a heavy heart tells him that the possibility of them being happy together does not exist. She understands that people with so dynamic personalities and contradictory dreams do not have a sustainable future together.
But again, Bunny can’t let go of Naina and returns from the airport on new year’s eve to propose to her. In the fairy tale multiverse of Bollywood, no matter what comes out from the mouth of the lover, it is all LOVE. That’s what happened here!
Bunny uses an extremely cheesy romantic paragraph to woo Naina and guess what, the mature, sensible girl says YES just to have a happy ending! According to the end, Bunny tells Naina that he still wants to fulfill those dreams but he wants to do it with her by his side. He still wants to travel but with two tickets taking Naina along.
Knock-knock logic!
No matter how charming the proposal looked did it not lack logic? Bunny was and is still passionate about his dreams but was he considerate toward Naina and her choices? He wants her to accompany him, does it not mean she is the one who has to sacrifice her dreams now? The ending of the movie lacks clarity of thought, it requires one of the characters to lose their individuality in love. But if you are losing anything in love, are you really in love?
My version of Naina
If I was the one narrating this story and building Naina’s character she would have definitely turned down the proposal. My understanding of love is not sacrificing one individual, either both of them share the load or there is no load at all. Naina had dreams of her own, she wanted to raise a normal family, have kids, and take care of her parents. If her love is making it all give up, then is it even real love?
Naina could say “NO” I can’t give up on my dreams just because I love you Bunny and neither should you”!
Love is not black and white, rather most of the parts are grey, and to survive in those grey parts you have to get real! You have to be practical and sometimes think with your head and not your heart. Love is not just a feeling only two people can share, you can love your goals and dreams more than you adore anything in this world. I would have cheered Naina to go on and explore her life. Find new motivation every day to work even hard, have a great time with her parents, and maybe look for someone who relates more closely to her way of life.
Sometimes love stories should leave cliched Bollywood romances and focus more on the passions of the character. It is high time that we bring up stories where the protagonist stands for themselves and not some cheeky romance tale that lacks sanity.
If you are Naina, be practical!